Sea of leaves mix

[Obelix]

My mix of this good song. I think that the original bass was played on regular electric guitar so I brought it an octave down to have more low end.

[FytaKyte]

Nice vocal tones on this mix. Overall, the sonics of the individual elements are good, without too much muddiness or boxiness.

However, generally the mix seems very drum & bass heavy, and a little out of proportion, with the guitars sounding very distant and under-done. It's particularly noticeable when the vocals drop out, as the main guitar hook doesn't really take up the sonic space left vacant by the vocals. Because of the prominence of the bass and kick drum, the punchiness from the midrange supplied by the guitars is missing, and this has the knock-on effect of draining some of the vitality, energy and excitement out of the performance.

I think you may have focussed a little too much on getting a fat bass tone, resulting in a sort of sonic myopia that sets in when you concentrate overly on one element. In that situation, the key to getting the right balance is to "take a step back" by way of referencing your mix against commercial productions in a similar style. If your monitoring is not that accurate in the low end, try comparing your mix with a commercial production on a spectrum analyser - you'll definitely be able to see the lack of balance in the frequency spectrum.

Nice work!

[Mandubien]

Hi Obelix

I agree with the guy above me, the guitars (which I believe are the most important intruments) are way too much hidden by everything else. Do you mix in mono ? It's really important, mainly because if you can hear every track perfectly in mono, well it's gonna be magic in stereo

Drums are very agressive, mainly because of the hi hat during chorus. Some deessing will help.
I prefer the original bass, which can be better separated in the mix using some distortion, just to give presence. Some side-chained compression with the kick will help this last not to compete in the low end.

Keep it up

[Obelix]

V2, will be there in mono and in stereo. I will blend original bass with my lower bass.