Overhaul Mix...

[pauli]

I reworked it and did everything I could to fix the high end fatigue...

this is probably the best work I'm capable of doing on this song right now, without taking perhaps a long, LONG break.

[HbGuitar]

Nice and smooth...

Those AcuGtrs are nicely mellowed to be not fatiguing but still carry enough brightness to give percussive rhythm...good job. You've also improved the balance of the elecgtr solo in that pre-nylon section.

I think its safe to say that your work here is done.

[pauli]

Nice and smooth...

Those AcuGtrs are nicely mellowed to be not fatiguing but still carry enough brightness to give percussive rhythm...good job. You've also improved the balance of the elecgtr solo in that pre-nylon section.

I think its safe to say that your work here is done.

Thanks HB. Unfortunately I think many of the instruments' tone have suffered the high frequency bludgeoning, and automating EQs during more naked sections of the mix would help, I felt it was time to draw the line on this one and move on... many a lesson learned, though, and coming into the next one with these fixes in mind (from the beginning) will make it that much easier to avoid this problem in the future.

You're always really great about giving thoughtful, detailed feedback... in my book, you da man.

[The_Metallurgist]

sharing some thoughts, my vision was to ensure the steels, especially because of their inherent fret buzzing and repeated copy/paste notation (hence they had more than a degree of repetitiveness including buzziness which tended to overstay their welcome on my part), were stepped back somewhat in the mix. also, rhythm doesn't need to be fighting with the melody, eh? this would give the electric and the nylon more of the spotlight. by prioritizing the electric and nylon in this way, it enabled them to form the main focus for the listener without the steels butting in all the time and fighting for the "mind" space. and because they were set back a touch, the levels dropped and it also meant i could roll off the highs and at the same time help minimise the fret buzzing and harsh brittleness which came with the tracking - the main cause of fatigue and a source of irritation, at least on my part.

note at 2:00, when everything is jolling along - 2 steels, each doing their individual thing, the nylon and the electric too - there's 5 guitars working if you include the bass? for me, this puts my head in a spin because i have no idea what to focus on, so in the end i focus instead on the skip button, not so much out of desperation, but more for the need of some relief to stop the dizziness. i was forced to mute some stuff especially at this juncture; i felt the arrangement needed some clarity, focus and direction if it was to engage me more.

i think you did an admirable job in the circumstances, but i'm not sure about your vision. i'm wondering perhaps, if being a guitarist is causing you to battle a bit with the priorities, and by prioritizing everything, nothing really ends up getting the priority? i'm also not comfortable with the nylon's top end here. nylon guitars come in a plethora of string tensions, string windings/materials, wood materials and body sizes that you could get away with anything to remove the rattles here and help smooth it up and mellow-out the delivery. this is a song about Tears in the Rain.....mellow was my vision and tone is key to the delivery of emotion? a self-imposed criteria, was not to have a bright mix which could impart a different and perhaps somewhat ambiguous message, at least subconsciously?

a quick mention of the drums....i thought you had them in quite a big space and somewhat distanced to the rest of the stuff. the toms stuck out a bit in my cans.

there's also a loss of flow around the 0:39 area on the way into the key change which isn't quite working here; it gets a bit bumpy and sounds disjointed?

HEY!! WHERE'S THE TAMBOURINE? hahhahahhah well, at least it's one potential source of fatigue eloquently dispatched.

my use of reverb was planned to support the mellow vibe i was seeking. soft furnishings, lots of absorbing material....curtains galore, sofas, carpets, an audience (fantastic absorbers!!), whatever i could indulge in. i wasn't after an impression of a large space, but a small one - small is intimate...i'm thinking about the emotional thing again and how i can add to it. rolling off the top end of the reverbs was crucially important in helping to reduce the brightness of the steels as well as minimise the impact of fret buzz which reverbs can over-emphasize, drawing/distracting the listener unintentionally.

anyway, we all have a different perspective on things, and that's the stuff that makes mixes individual. but i greatly respect your stubbornness and willingness to put up such a good effort here though. i think you managed to shave off the fatigue, but there are still parts of the steel which pinch me on occasion in my revealing headphones, once past the intro (0:30's). but it's so nearly there!

[HbGuitar]

You're always really great about giving thoughtful, detailed feedback... in my book, you da man.

Thanks Pauli..I appreciate your sentiments.. Thoughtful ...hopefully, Detailed - well compared to some e.g yourself, Pedaling Prince and The_Metallurgist, not at all.

But I do try and make my comments in the spirit of the mix that I'm listening to....which isn't always easy especially if I've been mixing the very same track for three days....differences start sounding like faults if you know what i mean

[pauli]

Thanks for listening and sharing thoughts, man. You're spot on, here.

note at 2:00, when everything is jolling along - 2 steels, each doing their individual thing, the nylon and the electric too - there's 5 guitars working if you include the bass? for me, this puts my head in a spin...

...i'm wondering perhaps, if being a guitarist is causing you to battle a bit with the priorities, and by prioritizing everything, nothing really ends up getting the priority?...

A fair observation! Mike calls it the "more of me in the monitor syndrome" (or something like that), and I've noticed even non-musicians tend to mix preferred instruments in too early or too strongly without realizing it. I was attracted to this mix because of the guitar heavy arrangement (and it's quite nice, too) so I should have gone in with my guard up

HEY!! WHERE'S THE TAMBOURINE? hahhahahhah well, at least it's one potential source of fatigue eloquently dispatched.

lol... the tambourine... I spent 20 minutes trying to fix the tambourine, and 20 minutes wasn't worth what it was doing for me. So I said "gosh, you're so stupid" to the tambourine and then cried on my pillow

At any rate, there is a definite lack of vision here because this mix is a rework of my previous effort... and I went into that version with a vision (say that ten times quickly) that was possibly incompatible with the arrangement/style/recording values, or for some other reason not achievable, so it'd make sense that my mix intentions seem fuzzy. The major lesson learned here is to form a much clearer perspective on my vision early enough in the game to make sure I can even achieve it... before I'm too buried in automation/fader rides/EQ to change direction.

And sleep on the damn thing before I sign off on the high end!

I always appreciate your time and effort, thanks!

[pauli]

Thanks Pauli..I appreciate your sentiments.. Thoughtful ...hopefully, Detailed - well compared to some e.g yourself, Pedaling Prince and The_Metallurgist, not at all.

Meh, it's only a contest if you make it one... I like to be very detailed with my feedback, and there are two reasons for that: For one, if my perspective is helpful, and I do like to be helpful, then we're growing together, and that's why we're here. And returning to someone your own perspective when they've been generous enough to give you theirs, well shoot, that's just paying it forward.

And for two... it's a really good way to develop listening skills, I've found. Many, many, many times I've given a long detailed commentary only to find out I had no idea what I was talking about... but when that got mentioned, I went back and listened to the mixes I was critiquing to try and figure out my error. Honestly, that more than anything is the source of anything I really know about doing this mixing thing... so its the best advice I could ever give, with my limited experience: be courageous and offer detailed critiques (if you have time, we're all busy), because if you're wrong, you'll get pounced on and embarrassed, and you'll learn a hell of a lot in the process. And if you're right, well that's progress, ain't it?

[sano]

I like the sense of space in your mix. The acoustic rhythm guitars seem just a tad thined out to me. I feel I want to hear a little more body to them.

A personal preference perhaps ..but the raw bass on this track is very honky sounding to me, and needs a little low end weight, to fill out the 'bottom' of the mix. Some of the mixes have added low end and others not. I think your mix would benefit with more low

[pauli]

yeah, they feel thinner because I turned them way down relative to the rest of the mix. I was just working from the original and trying to address the purely technical issues.

As for the bass, you're right. to me the best move is to cut the honky stuff and turn it up since boosting the lows with EQ is likely to cause some phase issues.

[Chris93]

Cool, this is much warmer sounding. I like the short delay on the nylon, I think that's what it is anyway and for some reason the tom tom sound stuck out (in a good way) as being very nice.

Chris