Hey Dave, thanks for the listen and thoughtful comments. Unfortunately, this is one of those dud mixes I put out occasionally when I get complacent.... I'm going to have to turn off all the inserts, throw down the faders and start over, I think.
(22-10-2014, 05:28 PM)The_Metallurgist Wrote: [ -> ]you've hit the sides too hard in the compressor, or you've dropped the side channel down...or you've pushed the mid up? or all 3?
The sides came out louder (RMS) than they were prior to compressing them, but the timing settings are sloppy and there's some rhythmic asymmetry that's contributing to the perception that the side channels are weak. In fact, I'm not sure why I chose to compress the sides, because they didn't really need/benefit from it.... sleepy mixing?
Quote:if i home-in on the sides, it sounds like your panning strategy could be revisited with a view to exploiting the frequency spectrum in the stereoness of your mix?
Doesn't help that my reverb choices were really poor. I usually spend a lot of time getting the ambiance right... automating, fine tuning, additional sends for width and depth where necessary, but for some reason... I didn't this time. This is almost a little embarrassing
or would be if we didn't all turn out duds from time to time.
Quote:
unfortunately, i'm not aufait with the material, just other's mixes, so it's a bit difficult for me to make any practical suggestions in the mix itself. have you got a link to this multi because i couldn't find it on their site?
http://at.thestudio22.com/Song_sucht_Mischer.zip
But be prepared to wade through lots of folders and keep google translate handy. It's worth it... great recordings on really nice microphones. The piano recordings themselves are worth the price of admission.
Quote:my vision would be to bring the vocal out more, and work the instrumentation in the depth field rather than rely merely on panning for separation. if you did both, this mix would open up. there's some coherence issues between the drum kit's ambiance and the illusion of space regarding the other instruments....the sort that happens if we don't take a break for a day and check the mix with a fresh perspective? maybe take a couple of days so your brain can forget what you did. i can never spot my own typing mistakes in the forum unless i read the material the following day!
You're spot on, there. I also mixed this very quietly, so I wasn't hearing the ambiance properly in the first place. There's some mic blending/double tracking spread across the stereo field that I wouldn't normally mess with in this genre, but I wanted to challenge myself and learn a few things in the process: I did
The double tracks are really detracting from the immediacy of the vocal and need tighter timing/tuning, and due care wasn't exercised. Thus, I have wibbly wobbly vocal levels that aren't standing up to the drums.
Quote:i can't help feeling this mix sounds sonically flat (maybe that's Alan's fault - over processing on the master). but it's not the first time i've noticed this. i'm wondering if you've got that LA2A hybrid working a lot or you've been leaning on the Pcomp. it sounds like over-processing to me, and you're losing the transients before they gets to the stereo buzz?
No LA2A here... but there's a similarly simple explanation. I used a tape saturation simulator during mastering and the distortion is smoothing out the transients in the side channel overmuch. I think the compressor channel inserts have too-fast attack times, too. The automation is wanting, too, of course.
Thanks again for checking in (the details on LA2A design were really helpful and information, btw... enjoyed that). I really need to get some supplemental monitoring that doesn't emphasize the 2000 to 5000 range so much, because I always undermix it in rock. I'll make sure you guys see it when I get a revision ready.