21-02-2023, 10:38 PM
Well, a lot of it is subjective and a matter of taste.
All the same, there are some general things to think about. You want the choruses to be bigger than the verse. You might want some sort of transition between sections, maybe automate up a snare fill that leads into the chorus to announce that the chorus is coming, etc? You want to ensure each section has the right energy level. You might need to automate the balance of the instuments within each section, compared to the static/rough mix to get a good blend and also contrast.
Some examples that you might be able to hear in mix 2.2:
Guitars at 0:06 are louder than during the verse. The intro needs some impact, but not as much as the chorus so we need to hold back a little bit. The guitars are center stage to start with, but they drop into the background a touch when the vocal comes in for the verse. We want the vocal to be center stage during the verse. Guitar riff at the 16 second mark is automated up in volume compared to the static rough mix. This and other little riffs are automated up in volume. Volume of the overheads are automated up at the start of the verses (mix 2.2) compared to mix 2,1 and the rough mix. As Blitzzz pointed out - the volume of the overheads is actually quite low at those points and needs to be raised in volume to be heard. Guitar volume is automated up for the pick slide at the 45 second mark so that it can be heard and has more impact and adds excitement. Guitars are automated up in volume at the 47 second mark to balance out with the distorted vocal and to give a different balance to that pre-chorus section. We want it louder than the verse, but not quite as loud as the chorus. We bump up the volume of the chorus at the 1:07 mark. I might have automated the vocal and a few other things up in the mix, as well as bumping up the master fader volume. We drop the volume back down at the 1:27-28 mark.
Sometimes all you need to add is a little delay and reverb to get the chorus to open up, as in this Saturn Syndiate mix: https://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/show...?tid=42461.
You might think about adding stereo width, automating up the volume of the room mics, all sorts of things.
Just takes a bit of experimentation and practice.
Cheers!
Edit: To add to what Blitzzz has posted above (as we were posting at the same time!), I find the rough mix kind of guides you in a way. If you check the rough mix I posted in your thread (just faders and panning), the vocal level was driving me nuts, so the first thing I did was to automate that to level it out before I added any processing (compression, etc). The rough mix also helps you to plan out the long term dynamics - you kind of want to work backwards from where you want the most intense part of the song to be.
Whilst working on the rough mix I find I start to get a real sense of where I want to get the track to. I find I kind of hear what I want the finished result to be, and it is then a case of working towards that, once I have a goal in mind.
All the same, there are some general things to think about. You want the choruses to be bigger than the verse. You might want some sort of transition between sections, maybe automate up a snare fill that leads into the chorus to announce that the chorus is coming, etc? You want to ensure each section has the right energy level. You might need to automate the balance of the instuments within each section, compared to the static/rough mix to get a good blend and also contrast.
Some examples that you might be able to hear in mix 2.2:
Guitars at 0:06 are louder than during the verse. The intro needs some impact, but not as much as the chorus so we need to hold back a little bit. The guitars are center stage to start with, but they drop into the background a touch when the vocal comes in for the verse. We want the vocal to be center stage during the verse. Guitar riff at the 16 second mark is automated up in volume compared to the static rough mix. This and other little riffs are automated up in volume. Volume of the overheads are automated up at the start of the verses (mix 2.2) compared to mix 2,1 and the rough mix. As Blitzzz pointed out - the volume of the overheads is actually quite low at those points and needs to be raised in volume to be heard. Guitar volume is automated up for the pick slide at the 45 second mark so that it can be heard and has more impact and adds excitement. Guitars are automated up in volume at the 47 second mark to balance out with the distorted vocal and to give a different balance to that pre-chorus section. We want it louder than the verse, but not quite as loud as the chorus. We bump up the volume of the chorus at the 1:07 mark. I might have automated the vocal and a few other things up in the mix, as well as bumping up the master fader volume. We drop the volume back down at the 1:27-28 mark.
Sometimes all you need to add is a little delay and reverb to get the chorus to open up, as in this Saturn Syndiate mix: https://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/show...?tid=42461.
You might think about adding stereo width, automating up the volume of the room mics, all sorts of things.
Just takes a bit of experimentation and practice.
Cheers!
Edit: To add to what Blitzzz has posted above (as we were posting at the same time!), I find the rough mix kind of guides you in a way. If you check the rough mix I posted in your thread (just faders and panning), the vocal level was driving me nuts, so the first thing I did was to automate that to level it out before I added any processing (compression, etc). The rough mix also helps you to plan out the long term dynamics - you kind of want to work backwards from where you want the most intense part of the song to be.
Whilst working on the rough mix I find I start to get a real sense of where I want to get the track to. I find I kind of hear what I want the finished result to be, and it is then a case of working towards that, once I have a goal in mind.
Just uploaded a mix/master? Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!