Trivial Widow DPP mix

[davidpaulpaige]

I've been changing things up lately and thinking differently. Didn't spend much time on it but I liked the experiment. Although I STILL hear some rough edges around the vocal.
I would like feedback, even if it sucks.
Always havin' fun!

[Mike Senior]

Another great effects idea here straightaway -- that vocal modulation effect is truly creepy, which is brilliant, I think! The modulation on the backing vocals in the prechorus also gives nice contrast with the lead. I like that I can clearly hear the rhythm clav in the choruses, although I do wonder whether it could have a little more width and depth in the mix, so perhaps a little short reverb or widener might help that, as well as giving the chorus a bit more width overall -- at the moment it almost seems to contract a little when the chorus hits, which seems a bit counterintuitive in terms of long-term mix dynamics.

Generally I like that there's a bit of a crusty old-school vibe going on here, although the backing vocals do end up sound a little too boxy for me overall. There's a fine line between lo-fi and 'not quite commercial-sounding', and it feels to me that there needs to be a couple more truly hi-fi elements going on in there to indicate that the lo-fi bits are intentional.

Thanks for posting!

[davidpaulpaige]

Thank you Mike Senior for a TRULY insightful critique!
As I mentioned I have recently "reinvented" the way I am thinking about the mix/song as well as, performing the mix. I believe that as a listener you "got" what I was going for... "an ominous, creepy and dangerous vibe" to match the songs main theme juxtaposed against a late 80's early 90's fidelity, especially in the rhythm section.
I felt as you did regarding the width and depth, "shrinking in the chorus". A possible solution I had considered would be to ride the reverb/delay for both the main vocal and the backing vocals. Your advice with adding some more Hi-Fi elements was the kind of push I needed. Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear the track with a sparkling, rhythmic cymbal sound which matched the shimmer of the vocals(i.e. Steve Albini). I simply could not make what I envisioned happen.
Regarding the "boxiness" of the vocals. I have come across this type of proximity effect with vocals before and won the battle. However this track presented a unique problem which seemed to stem from the performer being a bit too close to the mic, mildly under-recorded and/or slightly over compressed(...the USUAL stuff!). There is one section in the chorus that seems as if the singer has gum in her mouth and she seems to slur. Taking out some 400-500Hz with the compressor did much to fix the "boxiness" but it dramatically increased the "mushiness" or slurring effect. So I opted to go a different route. I do agree I missed the mark completely here.
Any advice in this "boxy" vocal situation?

[Mike Senior]

Glad the comments are some use!

Any advice in this "boxy" vocal situation?

To be honest, a bit of EQ might be enough. But before you do that, try adjusting the pre-delay on the modulation effect, because it might just be comb-filtering effects between the dry and wet signal that are problematic here.