Hi Devilskater666 -- that opening vibraslap delay is certainly a statement! Other than that, though, this is a very sensibly balanced mix (very solid on the vocal and bass, despite the challenges you correctly identified!), with sensitive use of mix effects to blend things together and give an appealing sense of space. A few thoughts, though:
There's some kind of funny little edit that causes a little 'bump' of vocal tail at 2:45. I'd try to get rid of that, because it anticipates (and therefore weakens) the off-beat Chorus entry just afterwards. It also sounds like there's some kind of strange crossfade an eighth-note after that Chorus entry hit -- the bass kind of pulses. Don't know what it is, but again it seems distracting.
I wonder whether the kick and snare/sidekick could come up in the balance a little, and have a touch less of the very initial transient. It just feels that the body of those sounds isn't quite solid enough to match the bass.
The place I'd concentrate the most attention on now, to be honest, is the automation. In one respect, I like what you've done already, in that the instruments and vocal stay where you've put them -- in other words, the short-term balance is great. However, over the long term the mix feels a bit static. I don't get the sense of the sound changing to support the section changes -- the verse feels too much like the chorus and reintro, so I feel a lack of momentum through the song's duration. And the other automation thing I'd do is work at pulling out more of the interesting details (the little Hammond syncopation at 3:26, for instance) so that they poke the listener in the ear more and demand their attention. There's lots of fun musical stuff going on here, but I think you're asking the mainstream listener to work too hard to pick it all out.
Hope a few of those things are useful for you. Another strong competition contender... Thanks for joining in!
(16-01-2019, 11:38 PM)Mike Senior Wrote: Hi Devilskater666 -- that opening vibraslap delay is certainly a statement! Other than that, though, this is a very sensibly balanced mix (very solid on the vocal and bass, despite the challenges you correctly identified!), with sensitive use of mix effects to blend things together and give an appealing sense of space. A few thoughts, though:
There's some kind of funny little edit that causes a little 'bump' of vocal tail at 2:45. I'd try to get rid of that, because it anticipates (and therefore weakens) the off-beat Chorus entry just afterwards. It also sounds like there's some kind of strange crossfade an eighth-note after that Chorus entry hit -- the bass kind of pulses. Don't know what it is, but again it seems distracting.
I wonder whether the kick and snare/sidekick could come up in the balance a little, and have a touch less of the very initial transient. It just feels that the body of those sounds isn't quite solid enough to match the bass.
The place I'd concentrate the most attention on now, to be honest, is the automation. In one respect, I like what you've done already, in that the instruments and vocal stay where you've put them -- in other words, the short-term balance is great. However, over the long term the mix feels a bit static. I don't get the sense of the sound changing to support the section changes -- the verse feels too much like the chorus and reintro, so I feel a lack of momentum through the song's duration. And the other automation thing I'd do is work at pulling out more of the interesting details (the little Hammond syncopation at 3:26, for instance) so that they poke the listener in the ear more and demand their attention. There's lots of fun musical stuff going on here, but I think you're asking the mainstream listener to work too hard to pick it all out.
Hope a few of those things are useful for you. Another strong competition contender... Thanks for joining in!
Thank you so much for your feedback Mike.
I tried to follow your advise as best as i coud in my updated mix and definitely learned a lot in this competition.
Cool mix. I don't have much to say about it. The only thing that jumps out at me is the guitars (and maybe piano) feel a hair thin. I could use just a bit more "body" overall. The guitar on the right (which I believe is guitar 1/mic 3) has some top end buzz that I find distracting and might add to the thinness of the guitar. I like the edits. I'm not a huge fan of moving the whistles but that's strictly a personal opinion. I would consider maybe effecting or filtering them prior to the last chorus so it makes it feel more like a hint of what's to come and makes the last chorus feel bigger and more like a payoff.
I really like the interplay between the side stick and the other percussion in your mix. It adds movement and interest and playfulness. The bass is a big fat 'Walrusy' kind of fat and is also very playful. The arrangement choices are well thought out and engaging, especially to those who listened too many times to this song! I do have one gripe. The ending seems unattended. With all of the attention to the arrangement the ending seems like you phoned it in.
