Hi ALX, many thanks for dropping by. all views and opinions are appreciated..and especially your time.
(31-01-2014, 12:45 AM)ALX Wrote: Let me start by saying I like the bones of this mix. Nice vibe and sonic impression.
that's always a good start
Quote:Listening in mono the guitar in the beginning of the song is hard to hear. It is also much thinner than the rest of the mix which is very thick from 80 to 120Hz.
there's a lot going on in this mix, the kick is a flipping nightmare of a boomer. no damping whatsoever during tracking, by the sounds of it - budget constraints, i guess. on top of this sonic stuff on the drum kit, the piano with all it's inherent slow decays and a willingness to trample on anything else that moves, and already we can see potential here for unwanted congestion. now add the upright bass.....The most emotive instrument, arguably. it was a focal point for me. my challenge with this thing, was setting it back in the mix somewhat without spilling mud everywhere, especially in the reverb. all good fun.
i don't know if you've looked at this one yet, but it has some interesting challenges.
Quote:The lowend lacks detail.
all low-end by default lacks detail, which is why we use the harmonics from the fundamentals to get the clarity. if you've never put a steep low-pass filter over the stereo buss at 500Hz on any project, then have a go. now show me clarity!
Quote: Listening at 79, 83, and 85 ref levels, I would recommend 83 for this style of music, the vocal sounds too loud and forward on the soft domes, metal domes and paper mono speaker.
yessssssss! this isn't a song...it's a story. my vision wasn't for the vocalist to be immersed with the band....but forward with some degree of detachment. i wanted intimacy here beyond a normal singing perspective. there's no power in his vocal to worry about, for example.
Quote:It takes away from the perception of size. Makes the mix sound (SMALL). Not very wide or deep.
but i didn't want it wide as in "wide". making it deeper would lose the top end by default (and increase the low-end content, which you've suggested was an issue to you). but i did want it a little wider. however, the stereo balance started to go out of control all too readily. now, if i EQ'd this to try and control the power, i'd have lost the textures. i was considering some other strategies to overcome this, but didn't pursue it further. with more time, and a decent cost/benefit analysis, i would have
there were more engaging things to focus my time on, basically.
like they say, if you only have 6 hours to fell a tree, it's good to spend 4 hours sharpening the axe
Quote:This song has the potential to extend outside the left and right speakers and deeper behind.
fully agree, but this would turn the delivery into a song....and that wasn't my vision. i could make this thing wider than a barn door, but you wouldn't like to hear it over headphones. 50 percent listen with buds or whatere's in or on their ears, so it should be a critical obligation to think of these peeps and not have stuff banging out of kilter. but wide wasn't the goal.
any idiot can pan an instrument hard left or hard right, or both even! but not all idiots can create the illusion of an "appropriate" space or sound-stage.
i gave the original mix by the artist, and my mix to my partner. she didn't know which was mine in advance - this was effectively a blind-fold test and was monitoring over headphones. she ended up preferring mine to listen to, saying the original caused her discomfort. i'm not saying this makes my mix better, whatever better is.....but it does highlight that balance and sound-stage requires diligence.
Quote:There is about a 10db dip in the in averaged response curve starting around 150Hz to 400Hz center around 250Hz. There is also a 10 to 15db narrow spike just above around 420Hz.
numbers....i can feel a yawn coming on
Quote:The guitar on the right starts to digitally distort from the middle to the end of the song.
yay! it was meant to
but i did overdo it's amplitude a bit. i wanted this thing to bite, and bite hard in order to announce to the audience that something especially dark and lurid was approaching. i'm wondering by your feedback, if you are engrossed in the technicals, and missing the story and it's delivery? are your expectations focused on traditional approaches to mixing a song? this isn't traditional....well, that was my vision.
Quote:All that said. This mix is very close to being awesome. One of the best I have heard so far.
oh thanks man, that's cool. i will take on board your observations meanwhile [on the low end], however, given the especially challenging low-end issues and my vision here, i did make some uncomfortable compromises. such is life, eh?
again, thanks for popping by and sharing your unbiased perspectives.
catch you later!
cheers
Dave