Sea of Leaves

[lahdez]

Hello,

This is my take on Sea of Leaves. Really enjoyed the tune and tried to do my best. Any comments and/or suggestions are more than welcome.

Antonio S.

[pauli]

Hey Antonio! My apologies for the delay in my response, I've been very busy with a non-discussion zone mixing project (which has a very problematic acoustic guitar recording...).

preamble to me comments: I'm listening on close backed headphones, it's late where I live, so my ultra high end (15khz and up) perception is basically useless, so I won't comment much in that department. It also sounds and looks, based on the file size, that you didn't convert to mp3 at 320 kbps, and that's problematic with the super treble as well... though based on the decent balance elsewhere, I suspect you probably did pretty well with it.

On the whole, this is pretty damn good, man. During the choruses when all of the guitars are playing, the sonic qualities of the mix as a whole are good in a way that i had a hard time analyzing, because the mix was emotionally connecting with me... excellent work! Having said that, the guitars are a bit too strong in the "cheap sounding" region, from 600 Hz to 900 Hz for my taste. You'll find that almost any electric guitar tone will be improved by a slight dip in that general frequency range.. and bass guitars tend to come alive in that range, so it'll help the bass-line cut through on smaller speakers/headphones, too .

Now before I say anything else, it sounds like you mixed based on the fullest chorus section, which of course is an excellent strategy. The reason I mention that is that during the verses, a couple things stand out to me that I think result from a bit of lacking in automation. For instance, the energy and power of the guitars is obviously reduced during the verses, so you can afford to give them a little more low end to beef up their sound, and indeed the fullness of the mix as a whole. I'm not fussing too much, because the choruses come in with so much energy and emotion that a nontechnical listener may very well forget the slight lacking in low end beef, but I think it's worth a little attention because it stood out to me. A simple automated EQ adjustment, and maybe a slight boost in level, will fix this problem.

Another thing that's standing out for me is that the vocal ambiance is a little exposed during the verses. Again, this is a very small quibble, but this technical error is the sort of thing that momentarily makes an excellent mix sound more like a demo, and it may be distracting for some listeners, like musicians, audiophiles, or discerning producers. An automated decreased in the send level, maybe only a dB or too, will make it sound like you're more in control of the mix, and it will feel more natural.

Now on the whole, things could be a teeny bit more open, but the balance is honestly pretty good. I almost forgot entirely to listen critically during the choruses, and other small issues didn't bother me enough to disengage. The guitars sound nice and wide, and it sounds like you managed the phase relationships with the multimics quite well. Your panning efforts with the short lead synth during verse 2 are really, really nice. Much more subtle than my attempt (it seems like so long ago!), and it really felt nice. The vocal sound is great!

Really good work in my opinion... hopefully my headphones are giving me an accurate picture of the sonics, but this connected with me. A bit more automation in the verses and an higher quality mp3 conversion, and this will be fantastic. Looking forward to hearing more of your work!

[lahdez]

Pauli, I can't thank you enough for your invaluable input. I made a 2nd version applying your hints and the difference is huge. Your diagnostic was spot on! Thank you very much. Hopefully you'll notice the improvements you suggested.

Guitars: Cut around 750 hz and slight volume increase. Automated extra 100 and 300 hz during verses.
Bass: Boost around 750 hz.
Vocals: Reduced ambience reverb during verses.


Antonio S.

[manuke]

Hey Antonio, nice mix, haven't listened to many others but this is pretty close to how I imagine the song should sound, has energy and a nice meatiness to it. Just minor quibbles really. Think it's a little thick in the low mids and compared to the voc, the band could use some air, drums in particular could use a little snap. Also, I like where the voc sits but occasionally pops out a bit, maybe a little more automation on that? Could probably drop the gtrs a db or two to let the synth come out a bit, even just for a bar or two, can't really hear it as is. But like I said, minor stuff, just first impressions. But I like how it gets big in the choruses, well handled. Good stuff, glad I had a listen.

[laurieharrison]

Nice! Good and punchy, and suits the song well. Only thing I think stands out is the lead vocal in the chorus sounds a bit 'small' - needs some kind of lift to make it more epic - stereo delay, bit of a HF boost and/or distortion maybe?

[lahdez]

Thanks for your comments!

Manuke - I can really see my mix benefiting from a little extra air for the band and a little less thickness. Good call! I intentionally left the synth quite at the background since I didn't want it to call attention on its own. A decision based merely on personal taste and judgement. That's all

Laurieharrison - Sure, some FX would be fun to try with! When I heard the vocals I sensed a bit of shyness and a performance with a tiny glimpse of introversion. So I aimed for the band to kind of overwhelm and embrace the singer during the chorus. But it is just my personal interpretation. Maybe I could find a way of giving that same feeling and while improving definition?

[FytaKyte]

I had a listen to both the mixes you posted - Good balances here - you retained the energy in the guitars nicely, and the vocals sound quite good, if a little dry.

The main thing I can hear is a build up of low mids - particularly around the 400-500hz mark, and to a lesser extent, in the 200-300hz area - This is tending to make the mix overall sound a little muffled and boxy/muddy. The guitars and bass are the main culprits here. You could actually accomplish quite a lot with just a few judicious eq cuts on the master buss, but a better strategy would be to attack the buildup on an individual track level.

Once you clear that area out, you'll find, not only will your high end appear brighter, but the low end will also be punchier/tighter.

Nice work!