24-10-2014, 04:30 PM
This is based on the last full mix you posted... I haven't checked it against the original, these are just thoughts with fresh ears.
Obviously the compression of the full mix has been discussed at length, so I won't contribute to that any further. One thing on master compression I wanted to mention is that you've kept the low end really clean, considering. Usually on a hot mix I hear a lot of junky distortion in the low end, but it sounds nice and controlled. The bass guitar in particular is very nicely balanced, I've had many difficulties with it. Did you blend the mics?
One overall tonality issue I'm having is that it seems to be really biased toward the high mid frequencies... since this is a loud mix, my opinion is that some taming in this region should be addressed. It's the vocal that's bothering me, it gets pretty harsh during the choruses. I'm not sure if you flattered that region a bit in mastering, I do that sometimes, or if that's something that could be addressed in the mix itself. It should be noted however that I frequently undercook the high mids on rock mixes, because my monitoring seems to exaggerated it quite a bit. A quick spectral analysis of my mix shows there's significant lumpiness around 300/400 that's being obscured by my speakers bias toward 2000-3000, so my listening situation is almost certainly contributing to my perceptions there. One thing I like for smoothing out the high mids is an analog style distortion of some sort... usually saturation, but sometimes transister or tube distortion works, too. Seems to thicken it up, making it less needling less of a challenge to EQ without losing important bits.
You're probably automating the piano buss quite a bit, huh? Never pokey outey, but the counter-melodic fills come out very nicely... really cool, man. Is the content surrounding 500 hZ clashing with the guitar stuff going on there? I agree that cuts are needed in that range on the guitars, but that's also where the meaty body of the tone is, whereas that piano is a little wobbly around there... buildup in that range is tricky (always) but particularly on this song, where so many instruments have important content in that range. This could be taste, but I feel there's a bit too much of the distantly placed piano mic, and it's making the pianos position in the depth field less convincing. I wonder if aligning the two tracks and experimenting with the phase could tighten up the ambiance and make tonal shaping a little more productive?
In all though, much of this mix I really like. Did you relax the dynamic control a teeny bit on the individual track inserts? I'm not sure why this is, but I feel like the individual instrument levels feel a little looser and more natural, although the vocal still seems to be feeding into a compressor a bit overmuch. That's a challenge in this song, though, the vocal dynamics are pretty wide given the density of the mix in the midrange. Good work!
Obviously the compression of the full mix has been discussed at length, so I won't contribute to that any further. One thing on master compression I wanted to mention is that you've kept the low end really clean, considering. Usually on a hot mix I hear a lot of junky distortion in the low end, but it sounds nice and controlled. The bass guitar in particular is very nicely balanced, I've had many difficulties with it. Did you blend the mics?
One overall tonality issue I'm having is that it seems to be really biased toward the high mid frequencies... since this is a loud mix, my opinion is that some taming in this region should be addressed. It's the vocal that's bothering me, it gets pretty harsh during the choruses. I'm not sure if you flattered that region a bit in mastering, I do that sometimes, or if that's something that could be addressed in the mix itself. It should be noted however that I frequently undercook the high mids on rock mixes, because my monitoring seems to exaggerated it quite a bit. A quick spectral analysis of my mix shows there's significant lumpiness around 300/400 that's being obscured by my speakers bias toward 2000-3000, so my listening situation is almost certainly contributing to my perceptions there. One thing I like for smoothing out the high mids is an analog style distortion of some sort... usually saturation, but sometimes transister or tube distortion works, too. Seems to thicken it up, making it less needling less of a challenge to EQ without losing important bits.
You're probably automating the piano buss quite a bit, huh? Never pokey outey, but the counter-melodic fills come out very nicely... really cool, man. Is the content surrounding 500 hZ clashing with the guitar stuff going on there? I agree that cuts are needed in that range on the guitars, but that's also where the meaty body of the tone is, whereas that piano is a little wobbly around there... buildup in that range is tricky (always) but particularly on this song, where so many instruments have important content in that range. This could be taste, but I feel there's a bit too much of the distantly placed piano mic, and it's making the pianos position in the depth field less convincing. I wonder if aligning the two tracks and experimenting with the phase could tighten up the ambiance and make tonal shaping a little more productive?
In all though, much of this mix I really like. Did you relax the dynamic control a teeny bit on the individual track inserts? I'm not sure why this is, but I feel like the individual instrument levels feel a little looser and more natural, although the vocal still seems to be feeding into a compressor a bit overmuch. That's a challenge in this song, though, the vocal dynamics are pretty wide given the density of the mix in the midrange. Good work!
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!