03-04-2020, 04:27 PM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2020, 12:27 AM by tjmtruth.)
Okay!!!!!!!!!!! Nobody should assume that these tracks can be easily mixed to sound glued, full, and exciting. Many challenges were presented here, and I spent mountains of time on this mix. The first was the drums. The drums had to be babied, massaged, manipulated, caressed, and more. They somehow struggled to be glued and sound like they were being played in a band. Some problems with frequency poking in the symbals and such. This was one of my challenges.
The vocals, too, were a bit difficult to sound natural within a "band" setting. I was tempted to add some harmonic distortion to the lead vocal to make it sound more "rock" and "hard" (according to the rather hard sound of the drums and distorted bedrock guitars, etc.), but decided not to because her voice was so pure and beautiful to me. So, I found other ways to make it blend nicely. Overall, I am happy with this mix because it sounds like a band is now playing it, almost in a "live" stage setting. I did not overdo this with many effects (well a few). And, I did NOT add any samples or "sound replace" anything. Hope you all enjoy! Comments are always welcomed.
Peace,
Tom
------------------------------UPDATE
Thomas, one of the artists of this song made some very helpful comments and so I went back in there and churned out a much better mix....more of what I think he/they were hearing in their minds. I tried to address each of the issues and I also took care of some other things that were bothering me.
Hi Tom - thanks for mixing our track and sharing !
Nice mix - I enjoyed listening to it ! It wasn't recorded altogether, so yes, some blending is required. I can offer you some observations as I listen through:
The cymbals sound good. The overhead tracks are close to the cymbals, so some attention on them is needed. I like your snare sound and your drum reverb choice.
The bass guitar part cuts through nicely - I felt it's level in the bridge/quiet part was a bit high, but a subjective comment.
Highlight for me was your treatment of the lead guitar sections - those are my parts, so even higher compliments
If you were mixing it for me, there are two key things I would point out. Heavy chorus guitars - they are low in the balance for my taste. It's a bit of a lost opportunity to bring the chorus in with a lot of impact (and especially on the first notes of the chorus - could be automated higher).
The second is the lead vocal reverb choice. It wasn't really warming to it - I get your point about the live feel, but maybe a bit less of that reverb and some use of delays - like you did on the lead guitar - would help in this regard. Totally a taste based/subjective comment, but one that I can offer as a stakeholder in the track.
Solid mix - enjoyed your mix vision/direction. Thanks for mixing our song again !
05-04-2020, 05:03 PM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2020, 12:31 AM by tjmtruth.)
(04-04-2020, 04:48 AM)Shul Wrote: I think your kick is very clicky and doesn't fit the genre..
Not a fan of heavy fx on the vocals.. but all in all sounds balanced.
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Thanks for your input. Yeah, I think I put too much reverb on the vocal. The artist made that same observation. But, I do like my "kick" and I always like to hear the "beater" or "click" of the beater. It also really helps to hear it well on little speakers, phones, tablets, and such.
(04-04-2020, 04:35 AM)ThomasStevenson Wrote: Hi Tom - thanks for mixing our track and sharing !
Nice mix - I enjoyed listening to it ! It wasn't recorded altogether, so yes, some blending is required. I can offer you some observations as I listen through:
The cymbals sound good. The overhead tracks are close to the cymbals, so some attention on them is needed. I like your snare sound and your drum reverb choice.
The bass guitar part cuts through nicely - I felt it's level in the bridge/quiet part was a bit high, but a subjective comment.
Highlight for me was your treatment of the lead guitar sections - those are my parts, so even higher compliments
If you were mixing it for me, there are two key things I would point out. Heavy chorus guitars - they are low in the balance for my taste. It's a bit of a lost opportunity to bring the chorus in with a lot of impact (and especially on the first notes of the chorus - could be automated higher).
The second is the lead vocal reverb choice. It wasn't really warming to it - I get your point about the live feel, but maybe a bit less of that reverb and some use of delays - like you did on the lead guitar - would help in this regard. Totally a taste based/subjective comment, but one that I can offer as a stakeholder in the track.
Solid mix - enjoyed your mix vision/direction. Thanks for mixing our song again !
BR
Thomas
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Tom,
Thanks very much for your input, especially since you are the artist/s, it really carries a lot of weight. I agree about the reverb on the vocal and am going to try something else, like exclusively "delays" and no reverb. I have heard of many mixing engineers using that approach and it may work for your song. I also agree about the guitars in the chorus.....they are getting a bit lost when they have more energy going into it, etc.....just as you said. I definitely want to go back into this mix and post another version with these revisions discussed. Hope to have another mix posted soon. I'll leave the current one for comparison.
Thanks again for your feedback and compliments on the areas that pleased you as the artist.
(04-04-2020, 04:35 AM)ThomasStevenson Wrote: Hi Tom - thanks for mixing our track and sharing !
Nice mix - I enjoyed listening to it ! It wasn't recorded altogether, so yes, some blending is required. I can offer you some observations as I listen through:
The cymbals sound good. The overhead tracks are close to the cymbals, so some attention on them is needed. I like your snare sound and your drum reverb choice.
The bass guitar part cuts through nicely - I felt it's level in the bridge/quiet part was a bit high, but a subjective comment.
Highlight for me was your treatment of the lead guitar sections - those are my parts, so even higher compliments
If you were mixing it for me, there are two key things I would point out. Heavy chorus guitars - they are low in the balance for my taste. It's a bit of a lost opportunity to bring the chorus in with a lot of impact (and especially on the first notes of the chorus - could be automated higher).
The second is the lead vocal reverb choice. It wasn't really warming to it - I get your point about the live feel, but maybe a bit less of that reverb and some use of delays - like you did on the lead guitar - would help in this regard. Totally a taste based/subjective comment, but one that I can offer as a stakeholder in the track.
Solid mix - enjoyed your mix vision/direction. Thanks for mixing our song again !
BR
Thomas
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Thomas,
I posted another mix taking into account all your suggestions. I think it now much better represents what you were looking for. I am much happier with it now. Thanks for your suggestions......wanna always take the opportunity to makes things better/right.
