01-04-2014, 03:50 PM
hi man, just dropped by out of chance so i'm a bit late on the scene (always late!)
i'm lovin' the clarity you achieved in this mix, and some of the motions and sweeps you got running. the piano has such a nice presence about it, wholly subtle yet evident. i also liked your levels of instrumentation across the field, good balance i thought.
do you mind if i get down to the problem area...to save me typing all the good stuff and prematurely exhausting myself?
big issue with the bass here. can i start off by saying i think you did a marvelous job to try and contain it, but i don't think you won the battle. to be honest, i'm not entirely confident it's a battle that could be won...without beating science. anyway, the center channel is booooomy, really boomy. then you have the bass synth auto panning, or at least you have it moving(!), which is really not a good plan, given it's bass. as i'm listening over headphones (my 23 year-old Ovations!), my ears are being pounded. this is one of the major reasons for keeping bass down the middle. another reason, and this is equally important, is because bass is non-directional and you are wasting a speaker's bandwidth by not spreading bass between the two in mono (i.e. panned centre). it's ALWAYS better to spread the bass energy equally between two speakers.
a really good way to check bass elements generally (indeed, ALL elements) is to see how things fair in mono? if a mix bangs in mono which it will do if the frequency masking issues have been suitably managed, then the mix will be clearer and more detailed in stereo compared to someone who's merely panned stuff to opposite channels to get clarity.....this is what most people do in the forum, sadly. if you check out some of the metal genres mixed herein, you will see what i mean because they pan lead guitars 100 percent wide,complete with lows intact!!! they love it! sometimes ignorance can be bliss...
at the time you did this mix, it's obvious you weren't into mid-side analysis, or checking things in mono (mono ideally being one single speaker....rather than down-mixing stereo to mono into two monitors - this creates some serious phase issues and defeats the exercise to a large extent), but maybe you are now? if not, i think your mixes will REALLY come along leaps and bounds in one big move, once you've grasped the concepts, the tools, and the analysis with a bit of exploring.
finally, i noted in the feedback here that you referenced? now, if you referenced using mid-side analysis, and used your ears along with your eyes to see the spectral output of what you are hearing, and compare and contrast this with your own mixes (drop the reference into your project for convenience, i'd say), this will help big time.
once you've got mid-side stuff sorted out, i challenge you to come back to this mix (hope you still have it available?), and have another go. i'd be interested to see how you manage and whether you agree with my views about beating science!
go easy
laters
Dave
i'm lovin' the clarity you achieved in this mix, and some of the motions and sweeps you got running. the piano has such a nice presence about it, wholly subtle yet evident. i also liked your levels of instrumentation across the field, good balance i thought.
do you mind if i get down to the problem area...to save me typing all the good stuff and prematurely exhausting myself?
big issue with the bass here. can i start off by saying i think you did a marvelous job to try and contain it, but i don't think you won the battle. to be honest, i'm not entirely confident it's a battle that could be won...without beating science. anyway, the center channel is booooomy, really boomy. then you have the bass synth auto panning, or at least you have it moving(!), which is really not a good plan, given it's bass. as i'm listening over headphones (my 23 year-old Ovations!), my ears are being pounded. this is one of the major reasons for keeping bass down the middle. another reason, and this is equally important, is because bass is non-directional and you are wasting a speaker's bandwidth by not spreading bass between the two in mono (i.e. panned centre). it's ALWAYS better to spread the bass energy equally between two speakers.
a really good way to check bass elements generally (indeed, ALL elements) is to see how things fair in mono? if a mix bangs in mono which it will do if the frequency masking issues have been suitably managed, then the mix will be clearer and more detailed in stereo compared to someone who's merely panned stuff to opposite channels to get clarity.....this is what most people do in the forum, sadly. if you check out some of the metal genres mixed herein, you will see what i mean because they pan lead guitars 100 percent wide,complete with lows intact!!! they love it! sometimes ignorance can be bliss...
at the time you did this mix, it's obvious you weren't into mid-side analysis, or checking things in mono (mono ideally being one single speaker....rather than down-mixing stereo to mono into two monitors - this creates some serious phase issues and defeats the exercise to a large extent), but maybe you are now? if not, i think your mixes will REALLY come along leaps and bounds in one big move, once you've grasped the concepts, the tools, and the analysis with a bit of exploring.
finally, i noted in the feedback here that you referenced? now, if you referenced using mid-side analysis, and used your ears along with your eyes to see the spectral output of what you are hearing, and compare and contrast this with your own mixes (drop the reference into your project for convenience, i'd say), this will help big time.
once you've got mid-side stuff sorted out, i challenge you to come back to this mix (hope you still have it available?), and have another go. i'd be interested to see how you manage and whether you agree with my views about beating science!
go easy
laters
Dave
Beware...........Cognitive Dissonance!