FytaKyte: Bitter (Robert's Mix) 13-Apr-2019

[Robert]

Very well recorded tracks from a wonderful band. This song was really enjoyable to mix, so manythanks for the guys of FytaKyte for generously providing their tracks. All comments welcome.

[Cudjoe]

Hi Robert there is something wrong with the snare, apart from that your mix sounds good.

[FytaKyte]

Hey Robert - very cool sounding mix overall - I like the tones and frequency balance, and the punch and fullness...

...However, as noted by Cudjoe, you have some flamming happening in your mix - It sounds like you have moved some of the drum mics off time slightly. I'm guessing it could be samples or something like that. It sounds like it is happening on the tom hits too.

Sort out that issue and you'll have a top notch mix.

[Robert]

Thanks for identifying those issues, guys.
Let me take another look at the snare and toms for time alignment.

[Robert]

Updated mix to follow.

[Robert]

Following the advice about the snare drum, this is the 'corrected' mix. It's actually the same mix - but the overheads and room tracks have been time-aligned with the snare drum. It was a bit of a facepalm moment when I seen the delay between those mics. I really should have checked that. Thanks for the heads-up on that, guys. It certainly makes for a sharper sounding snare drum.

[Cudjoe]

Hi Robert sorry to say that the problem with the snare i still evident.

[Robert]

Thanks, Cudjoe.

I'll look at that again. I know the *problem* isn't down to a time-alignment issue because that has been fixed. I'm presuming it's more a question of personal preference when it comes to the 'tonality' of the snare drum? I actually prefer a sharper sounding snare on this track as opposed to a 'duller' bottom-end sound. When we repeatedly listen to the same song over and over, it gets 'imprinted' and that sound becomes the 'norm'. When we hear a different mix we'll notice differences to the 'norm', and those differences can often attributed to as being 'wrong' although there's nothing wrong technically. That's the dilemma we all face as mixing engineers, I guess. Of couse, in a paid gig, the client is the boss and if he or she wants more bottom on the snare or more reverb on the vocals (or whatever else), we serve the music so that the song ends up sounding the way the artist envisioned. Having the artist sitting right next to you helps tons because changes to the sound can be made quickly and 'approved' (or not). For the next iteration, I'll certainly add more 'bottom' to the snare and hopefully 'nail it' for the artist.