Hi,
Fancied a try at this one too.
Cheers!
Update: mix v2 - Quick Test - Added 'glue' and 'bass' (aka distortion and tone control).
Update: mix v3 - Found the kick and bass (hopefully).
Update: mix v3.1 - Bass cut at ~130Hz ish. Much better I think? Thanks again Roy.
Update: Added mix 4.0 - It's been a little while since I mixed this one, so thought I'd have another try at it.
(note: The zip file is named YouMeAndTheRadio_Full but I think the correct song title should be You And Me And The Radio as per the forum title).
I'm in a bad mood day. It's because a girl. I'm going to take it out on this....
I kid of course. Thats not milieu. I'm just generally mean.
My two biggest issues with the mix are:
The weight of the kick and bass. The center, heart of the song is missing. This seems weird because from what I recall of the mix those elements seem to be very apparent. This song needs that solid low end element for the grip. Like they're the tires of the song.
Overall it doesn't feel gelled. It's like a lot of parts but not a mix. The parts don't seem to blend into a dong. That's a typo for song but I'm leaving it because let's be honest, it's not wrong.
I think it could be better. I'm just saying that as a listener. It's one of those songs that just feels like it should be bigger and basic and 80s and like a Mutt Lange production. I know that doesn't help. I just got another text and it's as indistinguishable as my post. I get it now. Still I stand by my incoherent post.
The issues aren't a sonic one but coherence. Now I'm off to buy some flowers. The wrong ones I know but I can only do so much.
Thanks.
I dunno. I quite liked the first mix. I felt the kick was ok and I turned the bass down as I thought it was too much.
You might be right though.
To be honest I feel I have been over mixing and kind of over doing the effects and things, so wanted to get back to just getting a really good balance and kind of do 'just enough' as required, rather than doing too much, over eq'ing and compressing, etc. Maybe I am under cooking things a bit now perhaps? Dunno. I had fun anyway, but you are right that the point is also to create something worth listening to also....
I've uploaded a hasty v2. I was just playing about with an old plugin that I happened to have that I just saw Tony Maserati use on a youtube video where he was looking to add 'vibe', and thought it might help here.
Anyway, I shall go and listen to Photograph by Def Leppard (or maybe I'll check out some Maroon 5 or something) whilst I contemplate a v3. Maybe I will watch that Tony Maserati video again and perhaps pay a bit more attention also.
Cheers!
[note: add relevant words of wisdom regarding relationships here, as required].
Hi!
Appreciate your advice Roy.
I've made some (ok a lot of) changes and have uploaded mix v3. I've hopefully found the kick and bass. Is this more in the ballpark now?
Better? Worse?
I decided to hide the bass on the first mix as it seemed a bit sort of 'boomy' to me in the intro of the preview mix, but I think you are right, it needs to be up front. Hopefully I've stopped it sounding 'boomy' too.
(Oh, I listened to 2010s ish era Maroon 5 instead of Def Leppard).
Cheers!
(18-06-2020, 02:18 PM)mikej Wrote: [ -> ]Hi!
Appreciate your advice Roy.
I've made some (ok a lot of) changes and have uploaded mix v3. I've hopefully found the kick and bass. Is this more in the ballpark now?
Better? Worse?
I decided to hide the bass on the first mix as it seemed a bit sort of 'boomy' to me in the intro of the preview mix, but I think you are right, it needs to be up front. Hopefully I've stopped it sounding 'boomy' too.
(Oh, I listened to 2010s ish era Maroon 5 instead of Def Leppard).
Cheers!
That feels better. The bass might be a little "tubby" but I like the the louder kick and bass grounds the tune better and everything feels a bit more coherent. Is there a snare sample? If so I think I heard an errant one go by in the 2nd chorus.
I totally get what you mean but "over-mixing" and that can definitely be an issue. Sometimes a song should be left alone and cleaner. This feels like one of the songs on the opposite end that kinda needs more. But that's just my perception of it.
I like the vocal delay at the end.
Yeah it feels pretty good. The only thing that jumps out at me is the bass which I'm reluctant to point out because I advocated for more of it. But it might just be a little too fat in the...150hz? range
Hey, thanks for checking back.
A 2nd opinion is much appreciated when you're kind of losing perspective a bit. Listening to Maroon 5 helped too I think, heh.
I wasn't sure if the kick in v3 was too much or not? Listening to some of my other mixes I feel I have probably been a bit shy in getting the thump in the kick and bass maybe?
As an aside, I mostly mixed v3 on a pair of the cheaper akg 240 I picked up a few months ago as they were half price or something. Not really tried mixing on them before but it seems they translate ok for me. They seem quite revealing in the low mids I think. I have beyer 880? and sennheiser hd25s, but haven't had that much luck mixing with either really. I found 880's really easy to well over do the bass on, and the hd25's lack a bit of stereo depth, they sound a bit mono-ish.
Anyway - I shall check the bass again (I should probably actually switch on the sub perhaps...). I think I did a big cut around 200ish, but I shall have a sweep around. You were right to suggest there should be more. I lowered it the mix because I hated the boominess, and it was easier to do that than attempt to fix it I suppose haha.
Yeah, maybe I picked the wrong track to practice a more sort of clean mix on. I just used a delay on the vocal, rather than reverb as something to try out. I maybe could try reverb, and maybe a touch more on the drums also. I dunno, it kind of makes it more modern with the kick and bass, and less reverb, but maybe it does want to be a bit more 80's sounding perhaps?
I should probably go watch that Tony Maserati video now.
Thanks again.
Cheers!
I rarely do it but referencing against other songs definite can help. If nothing else than help reset the ears a bit.
I'm not sure if the kick was too much. It was mostly the bass. And maybe the its issues are a bit lower in frequency than I said. So, it's hard to say. The kick comes i so strong on this tune that you can get away with a louder one than usual.
I haven't used AKG 240s in a while. I generally found the AKGs to be 'darker' or maybe more natural than some other headphones. Not saying that's bad. And when I used them they were more for monitoring during recording as opposed to mixing.
I think in terms of effects I didn't feel it was lacking in version 3. The delay on the vocal was subtle but enough. It felt big enough. The guitars are fairly up front and that helps keep the interest. I'm not saying it has to be an 80s song but listening to it inspires that image and feel to me.
Hi!
Just uploaded v3.1 with the bass cut - around 120-130ish - seemed to do the trick I think? I feel it's cleaned it up a lot. I heard it right away after you mentioned it. Funny how that works! - Thanks.
I'll have a listen out later for the snare thing. I haven't used samples on the drums, and I didn't gate the snare on this one, so it might be something in the recording that I haven't noticed.
Generally I don't find I can judge volume, frequency balance, or reverb on headphones for mixing purposes. (Whether I can on monitors is also debatable, heh). I just picked up the AKGs because I happened to catch them at a really low price. Yeah I understand they are mainly used for tracking, etc rather than mixing. Having given them a shot, It seems I can sort of mix on them ok. I did v3 quite late last night on them, and was quite surprised that it didn't sound as off as I thought it surely would do on the monitors this morning. They are quite light weight and pretty comfortable too.
Good to know the effects are ok, I'll maybe not play about with more reverb then. I think I feel a bit more confident overall in my approach, now that the low end is there. Have to see how I feel about it in a couple of days though I guess, after a bit of a break from it.
Really like this track. I think it is really well played. Bit tricky keeping all the dynamics in the vocal but I gave it a go.
Thanks again for your help and advice, much appreciated.
Cheers!
3.1 is very good. I do like the way your bass sits against the kit. Good definition of all parts throughout the mix. Not crazy about the guitar call and answer and lead guitar character. I think they jump a bit too much and the lead tone is too crisp for the context of the rest of the song. Almost like you tried to hard there. Otherwise this is very well done.