David Tyo - Long Way Home

[mikej]

Hi,

My mix. Comments welcome. Thanks!

[takka360]

Nice balance here and nice solid bottom end .Enjoyed the listen you should be pleased with this one .Great work

[crownoise]

Hey Mikej , nice mix! i really like that upfront vox sound, smooth.

[mikej]

Many thanks for the kind comments!

[Mixinthecloud]

Good dynamics. Good lead vocal. Would like to hear more 2nd electric guitar. Would also like to hear more environment in support of the tempo and emotional context. With that said, this is still a very nice presentation.

[mikej]

Hi, apologies - managed to miss your comment, thanks for taking the time to listen and pass on your thoughts.

Regarding the emotional context my intent with this mix was to keep the vocals close, up front and personal. I kind of wanted to keep everything else out of the way of the vocal, and in the background. It also turned in to a very LCR mix.

The balance seemed to come together quite quickly once I had the vocals where I wanted them, as the other parts felt ok. For me this track worked quite well with just the vocals and acoustic guitar which influenced my mix decisions, and I guess I wanted the other guitar part to be more kind of ear candy rather than a highlight.

I also felt I didn't want too much of that reverb drenched side stick thing going on, but I probably could have got away with adding a db or so more than I did I suppose. As I said, as the balance came together quite quickly and was sounding ok, I pretty much decided to leave it as is.

I think with my mixing I find I am starting to favour things a little drier, vocal forward and up-front, so might just be a difference in taste?

[Skipper]

Nice balance overall. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but although I also like a drier, upfront vocal, I think in this rendition the LV seems a little too far from the rest of the band (mainly in the verses), as if it had been pasted over an existing backtrack recorded elsewhere. Also, where did the backing vocals go? :-) In my point of view, they could support a little better the lead vocals.

Anyway, this is a strong mix. Congratulations!

[mikej]

Hi!

Many thanks for taking the time to listen and to comment - it's much appreciated!

Yeah I suspect you might be right that the vocals are a little too up front in my mix.

Not sure how you found it, but I felt all the raw vocal tracks were all over the shop volume wise. I thought the instruments were recorded quite well though, by contrast.

I think I spent an evening automating all the vocals to get them consistent, then I did the rest of the mix the following night. I guess spending extra time on the vocals influenced my decision to have them up front, but maybe I over did it a bit? My aim with the backing vocals was to blend them in with the main vocals, rather than being their own thing, I thought I got that ok.

I find that getting the right vocal levels (and balancing in general) is quite difficult. If you listen to some stuff, like, say John Denver, the vocals are quite upfront also I think?

It's quite interesting going through the top 50 hot country songs videos on the billboard charts youtube channel, and checking the difference in vocal levels between each of the songs. Seems to me the trick is to match the level of the vocal with the snare, perhaps. If anyone has some useful tips, feel free to share!

I guess I just keep on practicing and referencing!