04-04-2013, 02:27 AM
Hey Kevin,
welcome to this site! You just made my day and ruined my night :-) Here's how. I scanned today's posts, knowing that I should go straight to bed and would not have time to actually listen to any new mix. As I usually don't these days. But I saw with delight that "Good Time" is again receiving some well-deserved attention, started your mix through the PC speakers and... WOW!
So I did my usual homework for this song: set up a DAW project, downloaded all the mixes, aligned their timing and level and then soloed through them through proper monitors to get an idea of the differences.
I like most of the mixes, but yours has a special quality to it that beats all of the others, for me anyway: the dominance of guitar texture! It is like good fast food (I think I used hamburger analogies before): it is supposed to be greasy, it is supposed to have trans-fats! The drums are supposed to be less prominent. And even the vocals are supposed to get drowned in the deep fryer! I really, really like you mix! You wrote that this is your "first attempt at DAW". If it also is your first attempt at mixing in general, then it is quite an achievement! (Otherwise not that much.)
There are other mixes that are quite close to what you did, and you might want to give them a listen. I think Phil 79's mix is closest. He pans the individual voices much wider across the stereo field than you do (you mixed quite mono, with the cymbals peeking out at the remote ends, giving the odd image of a guitar band surrounded by a drumset). That sounds even more interesting, texture-wise. He also has more lows, which in my ears makes for a slightly better overall frequency balance. At the same time, he already exposes the vocals too much for my taste (yes, my taste is special in this regard). I also would not have hard-panned the guitar solo. All in all I'd rate Phil 79's mix slightly better in a textbook sense, but I miss the edge and grit your mix has for my ears. Thus I'm not saying you should go where Phil 79 is, but I encourage you to check what you might like about his mix, and make some very, very careful steps in that direction. (Regarding stereo imagery and some other qualities, I also find fHumble fHingaz' mix extremely appealing.)
Regarding the panning and level of the guitar solo (roughly at 2:15) I suggest you compare your mix to the mixes mentioned above, plus those of MM Studio and Panteley. I think you did reasonably well, and the comparison will show you how/why, but may also inspire you a bit.
As you see, I had much fun triggered by your mix, so thanks for sharing it :-)
Marc
welcome to this site! You just made my day and ruined my night :-) Here's how. I scanned today's posts, knowing that I should go straight to bed and would not have time to actually listen to any new mix. As I usually don't these days. But I saw with delight that "Good Time" is again receiving some well-deserved attention, started your mix through the PC speakers and... WOW!
So I did my usual homework for this song: set up a DAW project, downloaded all the mixes, aligned their timing and level and then soloed through them through proper monitors to get an idea of the differences.
I like most of the mixes, but yours has a special quality to it that beats all of the others, for me anyway: the dominance of guitar texture! It is like good fast food (I think I used hamburger analogies before): it is supposed to be greasy, it is supposed to have trans-fats! The drums are supposed to be less prominent. And even the vocals are supposed to get drowned in the deep fryer! I really, really like you mix! You wrote that this is your "first attempt at DAW". If it also is your first attempt at mixing in general, then it is quite an achievement! (Otherwise not that much.)
There are other mixes that are quite close to what you did, and you might want to give them a listen. I think Phil 79's mix is closest. He pans the individual voices much wider across the stereo field than you do (you mixed quite mono, with the cymbals peeking out at the remote ends, giving the odd image of a guitar band surrounded by a drumset). That sounds even more interesting, texture-wise. He also has more lows, which in my ears makes for a slightly better overall frequency balance. At the same time, he already exposes the vocals too much for my taste (yes, my taste is special in this regard). I also would not have hard-panned the guitar solo. All in all I'd rate Phil 79's mix slightly better in a textbook sense, but I miss the edge and grit your mix has for my ears. Thus I'm not saying you should go where Phil 79 is, but I encourage you to check what you might like about his mix, and make some very, very careful steps in that direction. (Regarding stereo imagery and some other qualities, I also find fHumble fHingaz' mix extremely appealing.)
Regarding the panning and level of the guitar solo (roughly at 2:15) I suggest you compare your mix to the mixes mentioned above, plus those of MM Studio and Panteley. I think you did reasonably well, and the comparison will show you how/why, but may also inspire you a bit.
As you see, I had much fun triggered by your mix, so thanks for sharing it :-)
Marc