22-01-2019, 12:53 PM
Hi OlliH! This is one of the nicest-sounding mixes I've heard so far, in pure engineering terms. A lovely warm and enveloping mix sound with plenty of flattering effects adding blend and space. The stereo width is appealing and respectably mono-compatible, although the overall mix tonality could perhaps do with swapping some of the 150Hz energy for some additional sub-100Hz weight, especially on the bass guitar. The guitars all endear themselves to me timbrally, and have some nice ear-candy effects tails bouncing around in there too.
The vocal sound is a definite highlight for me, as it manages to sound warm and present at the same time, which is always a challenge. Its mix level is fairly solid, too, although I think you're still struggling against the recording's internal tonal variations in that respect, and I think you'd find it easier to nail the singer in place if you controlled his low-frequencies with some kind of multiband processor. A touch more true midrange on the vocal might not be a bad idea either, since this would help bring it forward on smaller speaker systems, given that we're trying to target the mainstream market here. Maybe around 1.2kHz? Give it a couple of decibels of boost there and see how it sounds.
The drums sound great to me, delivering plenty of punch without ever coming over as aggressive. That said, whenever the snare played on its own (eg. in the Reintro), I did hanker for a bit more low midrange weight there, in terms of balancing its contribution against the kick, and this issue weakens the fills for me too. The cymbals are nice and smooth, which is great, albeit with slightly spiky ride-cymbal stick noise during the Mid-section.
Although I like the effects use in general, they do seem rather static, especially on the vocals, and I think this wastes an opportunity to make the mix as a whole a bit more assertive and attention-grabbing for mainstream listeners. Just drying up the verses a little would also help improve long-term dynamics, in terms of letting the choruses open out more. In a sense, this is symptomatic of a wider concern for me with your mix: although it sounds great, it also sounds just a bit too 'safe' overall. Verse 2, for example, feels a bit complacent because it doesn't do anything much that Verse 1 hasn't already done, so although I like the way it sounds, it's not propelling me onwards through the song and trying to intensify the emotional content of the material. The Outro also doesn't quite deliver once its initial cymbal hit has faded away, and I reckon you might make more use of the mod vocals to sustain the energy right until the end of the song, as well as maybe making the lead-vocal interjection halfway through a little quieter to avoid undermining the size illusion of the band.
In general, though, this is definitely an impressive mix, and sets something of a quality benchmark in engineering terms. Thanks for letting us all hear it!
The vocal sound is a definite highlight for me, as it manages to sound warm and present at the same time, which is always a challenge. Its mix level is fairly solid, too, although I think you're still struggling against the recording's internal tonal variations in that respect, and I think you'd find it easier to nail the singer in place if you controlled his low-frequencies with some kind of multiband processor. A touch more true midrange on the vocal might not be a bad idea either, since this would help bring it forward on smaller speaker systems, given that we're trying to target the mainstream market here. Maybe around 1.2kHz? Give it a couple of decibels of boost there and see how it sounds.
The drums sound great to me, delivering plenty of punch without ever coming over as aggressive. That said, whenever the snare played on its own (eg. in the Reintro), I did hanker for a bit more low midrange weight there, in terms of balancing its contribution against the kick, and this issue weakens the fills for me too. The cymbals are nice and smooth, which is great, albeit with slightly spiky ride-cymbal stick noise during the Mid-section.
Although I like the effects use in general, they do seem rather static, especially on the vocals, and I think this wastes an opportunity to make the mix as a whole a bit more assertive and attention-grabbing for mainstream listeners. Just drying up the verses a little would also help improve long-term dynamics, in terms of letting the choruses open out more. In a sense, this is symptomatic of a wider concern for me with your mix: although it sounds great, it also sounds just a bit too 'safe' overall. Verse 2, for example, feels a bit complacent because it doesn't do anything much that Verse 1 hasn't already done, so although I like the way it sounds, it's not propelling me onwards through the song and trying to intensify the emotional content of the material. The Outro also doesn't quite deliver once its initial cymbal hit has faded away, and I reckon you might make more use of the mod vocals to sustain the energy right until the end of the song, as well as maybe making the lead-vocal interjection halfway through a little quieter to avoid undermining the size illusion of the band.
In general, though, this is definitely an impressive mix, and sets something of a quality benchmark in engineering terms. Thanks for letting us all hear it!
