22-04-2014, 11:25 PM
OK. Luckily, I still have this project. So here's my attempt at a fix based on the suggestions I've gotten so far. 
Even I noticed the low end was a bit on the muddy side. Originally, I actually liked this sound, but over time listening to it on my iPhone I've begun to think it was a little too much bass. Actually, on the bass track I originally had a full 11.5 dB boost at 80 Hz and a 5 dB boost at 160 Hz because I liked the nice full sound I got when I did it. This was one of my earlier mixes so I didn't realize that even if it sounded great in solo that it might not fit so well with the mix as a whole. I still want to make that bass nice and full, though, so didn't take out EQ entirely; I was just a little more subtle with it.
In this version, there's only a gentle 5 dB boost at 102 Hz and 1.5 db at 2000 Hz; I also added just a touch of 12 kHz for air.
Next, it occurred to me that some of the muddiness might be due to nearly inaudible low frequency content in some channels, so I applied a hipass filter rolled off at 150 Hz on the Snare, Synth 1, Synth 2, SFX, Piano and all Vocal tracks. Also, though I personally didn't think the snare was too loud, I still pulled it down 1 dB to see if I can strike a balance between pauli's taste and mine.
Trying to bring those guitars out more in the mix was the biggest challenge. I couldn't just bring them up in level; they were nearly burying the vocals as they were (a problem I had with this mix). So, to try to get the vocals and guitars to sit together more smoothly without radically altering the mix levels (which both suggestions said were just fine the way they were) I used EQ on them instead, applying a 4.5 dB cut at 950 Hz and a 6.5 dB boost at 5.6 kHz. Unfortunately, that also drowned out the vocals a little so I compensated by applying a 4.5 dB boost on the vocal tracks at 950 Hz, mirroring the notch I carved out of the guitars at that frequency; that seemed to bring them out a little better.
Here are the results of all of these changes. It does seem brighter, that's for sure, but I'm not 100% certain of the balance between the guitars and the vocals.
Thoughts?
Even I noticed the low end was a bit on the muddy side. Originally, I actually liked this sound, but over time listening to it on my iPhone I've begun to think it was a little too much bass. Actually, on the bass track I originally had a full 11.5 dB boost at 80 Hz and a 5 dB boost at 160 Hz because I liked the nice full sound I got when I did it. This was one of my earlier mixes so I didn't realize that even if it sounded great in solo that it might not fit so well with the mix as a whole. I still want to make that bass nice and full, though, so didn't take out EQ entirely; I was just a little more subtle with it.
In this version, there's only a gentle 5 dB boost at 102 Hz and 1.5 db at 2000 Hz; I also added just a touch of 12 kHz for air.Next, it occurred to me that some of the muddiness might be due to nearly inaudible low frequency content in some channels, so I applied a hipass filter rolled off at 150 Hz on the Snare, Synth 1, Synth 2, SFX, Piano and all Vocal tracks. Also, though I personally didn't think the snare was too loud, I still pulled it down 1 dB to see if I can strike a balance between pauli's taste and mine.
Trying to bring those guitars out more in the mix was the biggest challenge. I couldn't just bring them up in level; they were nearly burying the vocals as they were (a problem I had with this mix). So, to try to get the vocals and guitars to sit together more smoothly without radically altering the mix levels (which both suggestions said were just fine the way they were) I used EQ on them instead, applying a 4.5 dB cut at 950 Hz and a 6.5 dB boost at 5.6 kHz. Unfortunately, that also drowned out the vocals a little so I compensated by applying a 4.5 dB boost on the vocal tracks at 950 Hz, mirroring the notch I carved out of the guitars at that frequency; that seemed to bring them out a little better.
Here are the results of all of these changes. It does seem brighter, that's for sure, but I'm not 100% certain of the balance between the guitars and the vocals.
Thoughts?