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Full Version: "Not Alone" FredyV
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A lot of time was spent on this tune. It's got some dynamic range that needed to be preserved, as well as important passages and sections that added drama and flare. My initial mix was just to get familiar with the song, getting replays in the car and on the iPad for the last 2 months. Mix 2 was to get the lead vocal controlled, make the soft passages more front and center. Mix3 was getting the guitar sections adjusted so that they didn't steal the front and center position. Mix 4 made minor adjustments to the drums to add impact. Please let me know your thoughts.
Better balance and dynamics, far less compression across the board.
Hey there,

Very nice mix.
Drums very upfront. Good tones,a bit to much for me especially the kick drum. The vocals could come more forward, sometimes the instruments step on the singers voice. Maybe more compression, volume automation or even side-chaining?

Cheers,
LukasAngel
(16-05-2018, 12:04 PM)LukasL Wrote: [ -> ]Hey there,

Very nice mix.
Drums very upfront. Good tones,a bit to much for me especially the kick drum. The vocals could come more forward, sometimes the instruments step on the singers voice. Maybe more compression, volume automation or even side-chaining?

Cheers,
LukasAngel

This tune and many others are getting complete overhauls, Lukas. Specifically, I only recently learned how to do clip-gain staging on vocal tracks (make the soft sections louder and loud sections softer, less compressor work when its all closer to even) in my DAW. I'll address the outta control kick drum too. I was stopped at a light and the kids in the car one lane over were boppin' to this song's kick. Cool
Every track was touched in some manner; primarily gain staging and automation of the lead vocal track. The kick drum EQ and compressor was modified so it sits in the mix and not above it. Most of the drum tracks got some additional EQ, to remove mud between 250-500Hz.
Listening on a pair of ATH-M50x here, Dave, and I'm feeling the high mids (you know, the headache inducing ones) are too close to be trouble (master bus EQ for easy fixing?), while there might be a lack a low weight (always hard to judge bass on cans, but I'd definitely push it up and toms also). Cool tape hiss for Mix6.

I remember it shocked me how much drums bleed there was on the guitar track and how it made my life miserable to set the stereo field and global balance for the drum kit. Since you panned guitar pretty hard, could there be some phase stuff happening? I can't check in mono right now, but hihat is eating a lot of stereo space and sounds almost double tracked at moments, probably because it's quite high on the guitar and OH tracks plus it's own mic. I'd like to know what happens if you could pan it right, for the organ wouldn't be fighting with it and guitar could shine a little more. But again, since there's so much hat on the guitar track, that could be difficult. On the other hand, the ride on the second half sounds sweet!
(25-06-2018, 03:51 PM)Deliza Wrote: [ -> ]Listening on a pair of ATH-M50x here, Dave, and I'm feeling the high mids (you know, the headache inducing ones) are too close to be trouble (master bus EQ for easy fixing?), while there might be a lack a low weight (always hard to judge bass on cans, but I'd definitely push it up and toms also). Cool tape hiss for Mix6.

I remember it shocked me how much drums bleed there was on the guitar track and how it made my life miserable to set the stereo field and global balance for the drum kit. Since you panned guitar pretty hard, could there be some phase stuff happening? I can't check in mono right now, but hihat is eating a lot of stereo space and sounds almost double tracked at moments, probably because it's quite high on the guitar and OH tracks plus it's own mic. I'd like to know what happens if you could pan it right, fot the organ wouldn't be fighting with it and guitar could shine a little more. But again, since there's so much hat on the guitar track, that could be difficult. On the other hand, the ride on the second half sounds sweet!

Thanks for the comments, Deliza. Though there might be some phase issues with snare and hihat bleed onto the guitar track, the primary culprit was the kick-in track, I believe. What I hadn't previously noticed was the beater frequencies are a good 3dB above the fundamental thump of the kick. Its the first time I hadn't had to boost any upper frequencies to enhance the beater, and now I've put a high shelf on the kick-in to get that entire upper band lowered down so that its not louder than the fundamental. The upper-mid boosts on the snare that I had so the crack could compete with the beater are tempered.

Also, in the second half of the song the guitar track was obviously overdubbed - there isn't any snare or hihat bleed after bar 125. I tried automating the EQ on the guitar tracks to enhance the presence after bar 125, but even the 1dB boosts at 2k and 4k seemed too pronounced, so I scrapped that idea and left it alone.

Here's the remix.
That v7 update was subtle but definitely better, frequencies way more under control and everything feels more focused. Hard work pays!