18-01-2019, 11:15 PM
Hi Dangerous! As winner of our last mix competition (the 'Colour Me Red' Mix Contest), you'll have plenty of people listening very carefully to your work in this Hannes Keseberg multitrack, I imagine -- and with good reason! As I'd fully expected, the work you've done here is very slick, particularly as regards the balance and general sonics. Everything sounds smooth and full, even the more challenging sounds such as the cymbals, claps, and electric guitars. There's a great laid-back quality to the overall vibe that's really appealing too, and the guitar and Hammond tones you've chosen are meaty, yet at the same time tastefully understated, which isn't easy to pull off. The effects are universally well-judged, giving a beautiful sense of blend, width, and warmth, and I was also pleased to hear what sounds like effects automation going on -- hardly a surprise, then, to find that long-term dynamics were also a strong point.
The low end is nicely shared between the kick drum and bass guitar, and the latter's small-speaker translation is good too. That said, I reckon you could get away with adding a few dB of extra low-end to the overall mix tonality below about 80Hz, in terms of bringing things into line with the references. I'm not sure about some of the arrangement changes to the bass part, though. The strongest one, to my ears, is your decision to mute the bass at the start of Verse 3. However, once it returns again at 1:51, it seems a lot less effective to drop it out again, especially because the original Verse 3 bass part relies to an extent on shorter punctuations for its musical effect, and those therefore lose impact as a result. I'm also unconvinced of the bass drop-out just before the Mid-section. On the one hand, I can see the reasoning: dropping out any arrangement element and then returning it at the onset of the chorus can make the chorus 'arrive' better. However, it just seems a bit half-hearted in this case, because it doesn't really turn any heads as it stands. And if your listener doesn't notice something disappearing, it won't be as dramatic an effect when it returns.
It would be churlish of me to talk about the arrangement in this mix, though, without praising the super-cool intro! Really creative and fun, and also immediately sets up the generally laid-back vibe. That said, I would question using the guitar riff here, because it feels almost like gilding the lily. What you've done simply with the backing vocals and whistle is so strong that I think it's worth just letting that sink in a little longer. And, besides, if you leave the guitar riff out of the Intro, you've still got a trump card in your hand for later in the arrangement.
The main point where I think you're dropping the ball, though, is Verse 2, because it just feels a bit 'more of the same' after Verse 1. To an extent you've made a rod for your own back, because such a creative Intro has set up the expectation that the listener's attention will continue to be diverted as boldly as this, so when Verse 2 doesn't deliver any real change I think people will feel that shortcoming all the more. Dropping out the congas for Verse 1 might be a solution, but it feels to me like you've already upped the ante beyond such subtle changes with your Intro.
A few little sonics details that rubbed a little: the opening guitar line's mono-compatibility isn't great (did you pan the close mics without phase-matching?); the ride cymbal's stick noise is a bit spiky in the Mid-section; there's a bit of a piercing resonance in the guitar tone leading up the Outro; the Outro's vocal texture feels a bit bottom-heavy; and the way the MIDI piano sound surfaces during the song's final fade-out is a little unflattering. Also, although the lead vocal is really solid in the mix (well done there!), perhaps the backing vocals do overpower it a little at times, even when listening in mono.
However, as a whole this mix is extremely well-balanced and polished. That said, I do find myself wondering whether (Intro excepted) it's playing things a bit too safe overall. Everything's in its place and sounding beautiful, but it feels like it's a bit too easy for me to think about other things while listening -- and not just because I've heard this song so often now!
Given that the brief is to provide a mainstream single, I think you could maybe put a bit more work into 'selling' the song at first listen, and refusing to let anyone tear their ears away before it's done. Or, to put it another way, it's probably unwise to have the most arresting part of your mix happening during the first 10 seconds, if it's then all downhill from there.
Hope some of this helps. (Attention all you other competition entrants: this guy is going to give you a proper run for your money!)
The low end is nicely shared between the kick drum and bass guitar, and the latter's small-speaker translation is good too. That said, I reckon you could get away with adding a few dB of extra low-end to the overall mix tonality below about 80Hz, in terms of bringing things into line with the references. I'm not sure about some of the arrangement changes to the bass part, though. The strongest one, to my ears, is your decision to mute the bass at the start of Verse 3. However, once it returns again at 1:51, it seems a lot less effective to drop it out again, especially because the original Verse 3 bass part relies to an extent on shorter punctuations for its musical effect, and those therefore lose impact as a result. I'm also unconvinced of the bass drop-out just before the Mid-section. On the one hand, I can see the reasoning: dropping out any arrangement element and then returning it at the onset of the chorus can make the chorus 'arrive' better. However, it just seems a bit half-hearted in this case, because it doesn't really turn any heads as it stands. And if your listener doesn't notice something disappearing, it won't be as dramatic an effect when it returns.
It would be churlish of me to talk about the arrangement in this mix, though, without praising the super-cool intro! Really creative and fun, and also immediately sets up the generally laid-back vibe. That said, I would question using the guitar riff here, because it feels almost like gilding the lily. What you've done simply with the backing vocals and whistle is so strong that I think it's worth just letting that sink in a little longer. And, besides, if you leave the guitar riff out of the Intro, you've still got a trump card in your hand for later in the arrangement.
The main point where I think you're dropping the ball, though, is Verse 2, because it just feels a bit 'more of the same' after Verse 1. To an extent you've made a rod for your own back, because such a creative Intro has set up the expectation that the listener's attention will continue to be diverted as boldly as this, so when Verse 2 doesn't deliver any real change I think people will feel that shortcoming all the more. Dropping out the congas for Verse 1 might be a solution, but it feels to me like you've already upped the ante beyond such subtle changes with your Intro.
A few little sonics details that rubbed a little: the opening guitar line's mono-compatibility isn't great (did you pan the close mics without phase-matching?); the ride cymbal's stick noise is a bit spiky in the Mid-section; there's a bit of a piercing resonance in the guitar tone leading up the Outro; the Outro's vocal texture feels a bit bottom-heavy; and the way the MIDI piano sound surfaces during the song's final fade-out is a little unflattering. Also, although the lead vocal is really solid in the mix (well done there!), perhaps the backing vocals do overpower it a little at times, even when listening in mono.
However, as a whole this mix is extremely well-balanced and polished. That said, I do find myself wondering whether (Intro excepted) it's playing things a bit too safe overall. Everything's in its place and sounding beautiful, but it feels like it's a bit too easy for me to think about other things while listening -- and not just because I've heard this song so often now!
Given that the brief is to provide a mainstream single, I think you could maybe put a bit more work into 'selling' the song at first listen, and refusing to let anyone tear their ears away before it's done. Or, to put it another way, it's probably unwise to have the most arresting part of your mix happening during the first 10 seconds, if it's then all downhill from there.Hope some of this helps. (Attention all you other competition entrants: this guy is going to give you a proper run for your money!)