Made that Daisy stay another night

[alexthebassist]

Constructive criticism is welcome as always, as well as any questions about gear, software, and techniques used.

[Deliza]

This sounds just like it should! Not being exactly savvy of the genre, my only reservation is vocals have too much of a PA feeling, which is more noticeable around the stops. Knowing you don't like dry-inyourface vocals, I'd still suggest make them cut a little more, and automate down the send for the reverb thru the stops, so everything feels more "urgent?". It seems like you did something like that with the solo; you pass it thru some kind of subtle ADT or delay or reverb or something, but then when it gets to the stop it seems like it's mono again (I'm still having breakfast and listening with cans, so I might just be imagining things, thou). I think voice should have that same focused sound for the stops.

It's also possible you made more timing alignement than neccesary, but again I could just be influenced for what I read in your other post.

Anyway, easily one of the best mixes of this track, nice job!

[alexthebassist]

Knowing you don't like dry-inyourface vocals, I'd still suggest make them cut a little more, and automate down the send for the reverb thru the stops, so everything feels more "urgent?". It seems like you did something like that with the solo; you pass it thru some kind of subtle ADT or delay or reverb or something, but then when it gets to the stop it seems like it's mono again

Yes, I did a little bit of effect automation: all four FX busses fade out fast when that “exclusive solo” part comes in, and then switch back in when it ends. I did the same for vocals, and I didn't really like the sound. However, I'll give your suggestion a try, automating only vocal sends instead of whole busses.

About guitar FX chain: besides the necessities, there are two delays and two reverbs, all done via aux sends, and a stereo widener. But, of course, to avoid phasing issues, I used only a little amount of image synthesis, letting reverbs to do the main part of job. This way it feels more natural than messing around with Haas delay, then detuning, and so on, even if it's all combined into a neat plugin, like Harrison's MicroGlide.

It's also possible you made more timing alignement than neccesary, but again I could just be influenced for what I read in your other post.

Well, I didn't any, except I aligned overheads with the rest of the kit by slightly moving them forward until snare peaks in them matched snare mic peaks, but this can't be considered time alignment, this is delay compensation. I never fix timing, and very rarely use voice tuning. I'm all against that “fix it in the mix” thing.

Anyway, easily one of the best mixes of this track, nice job!

Thanks! Glad to know that I didn't spend that time for nothing.

[Deliza]

I'm all against that “fix it in the mix” thing.

Ok, I misread you from another post. Btw, is this made on Harrison Mixbus?

[alexthebassist]

Btw, is this made on Harrison Mixbus?

Yes. But my personal preference for recording and initial editing (like creating a stereo guitar track, summing toms etc) is still Ardour, it's more convenient when it comes to complex routing, and obviously much more lightweight, as it doesn't carry any of Harrison's processing one can't switch off, so, I've got much more CPU to use for drum sampler and amp sims I need to record my stuff with the sound close to what I want to hear in the end.

[alexthebassist]

Revisited some mastering decisions. Hope you like it more than previous version.

This is a great example why you sometimes should forget a song for a while to get it done better.

[Deliza]

Wow, is this just a mastering fix? It definitely shows! Now v1 feels half cooked, there's fuzz and vibes that weren't there before.