Gonna have a GOOD TIME

[FytaKyte]

Oh yeah.. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! New mix is a BIG improvement! Good stuff!

Well first and for most, the Separation of the tracks was the hardest.
Finding out how not only which way was better if left or right, but also how spreading would affect the overall mix was a real challenge. I couldn't get a solid mix at first. Panned several things differently and just didn't work well for me. Having said that the Eq'ing in some instruments would change everything I would tweak the stereo field.

Once I found the separation you hear on the track to be pleasant, the next thing to work on was dynamics. Was also a real challenge. The peaks on drums and guitars.. the volume changes on vocals were a challenge to make smooth without compromising the funky grove the song presents. For example, appart from compression on the vocal track.. I used parallel compression to even out the quiet parts withough sqashing the peaks of the dynamics.
Same thing with the Clean guitar, I used a high ratio on the compressor to squash the peaks of it (yes I did some moderate to heavy compression on this).

Those were the challenges for me.

Cool - It's good to get some insight into your viewpoint. The reason I asked is because it's literally been years since I mixed this track, and I can't remember much about it...

Regarding the panning and separation etc... here's something I've found helpful: Don't restrict yourself to feeling that you have to create a "static" presentation of the soundstage. If you want the guitars or keys to move around to suit a particular section of the, do it! If you need to create a "fake" guitar double to fill out behind the solo, do it! If you feel that a the hammond organ needs to pan quickly from left to right or right to left to highlight a glissando, do it! Don't restrict yourself to any "rules".

Sometimes you need to free yourself from your own (perhaps?) self imposed restrictions. Often times, I find that creating totally different treatments for most elements in the mix for the respective intros, verses, choruses and bridges isn't even out of the question, if it means you can bring an arrangement to life and excite and surprise the listener. Remember, in reality no one listening cares whether it is "believable" or not, they only care about something that excites them.

Here's something else that is important in a song like this, where the arrangement is fairly "static" and relatively sparse. There are a LOT of opportunities to automate fx and really create little surprises and bits of subtle "movement" around the instruments and the vocals. Delay throws, automated reverbs, timed delays, transitional sounds - the more space there is in an arrangement, the more opportunity there is to really get creative with this stuff. I'm not talking about garish, tasteless slathering of fx, I'm talking about using them subtly, yet noticeable enough to unconsciously manipulate the listener's perceptions to feel something about the song.

You've got a great balance and great sounding instrumentation here, but that can be just where the fun starts, if you're willing to go the extra mile and explore those concepts.