#39 Passenger Side – Driving these ‘Streets of Fire’

[Monk]

I see, that's a clap pattern layer I recorded, with some grainy overdriven reverb. Kinda going for a Bowie's "Modern Love" 80's feeling. Maybe it should stick to the snare, I dunno.

If you put the reverb down the middle, it would sound more natural. But how would that impact on the other elements in the mix? Perhaps think about the "illusion of space" you want to create for the band and within the scope and listener expectation of the genre as a whole, before touching anything. Then create the illusion.

The vocal sounds muddy over my speakers which contradicts her forward placement. She's the focus...but what are YOU hearing? Is what you are hearing the same as what's going on inside the DAW? We need to hear the DAW, not the consequences of our environment.

I'd bring the drums up during the bridge, help push the groove. The kick's weak, but that's your cans skewing your perspective - they are exaggerating it in your ear because they boost, but it's causing you to mix bass lower. Enclosed headphones especially are the worst culprits for that. Headphones can contribute to NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss).

It's impossible for a single transducer to deliver everything across the spectrum. Fine for general listening enjoyment, but utterly useless for mixing purposes on their own.

THe bass guitar? Low end issues and definition, but I've not checked the multi to see what you are up against.

You need to keep the bass out of the sides too, it's adding to the boom as well as chowing headroom and muddying up the mix generally. Low end affects perception of treble Anything below 100Hz is non-directional anyway so it's best to keep it out of the stereo domain.

I don't want to spoil the party but overall the mix sounds lifeless. I put it down to over compression. Oh, headphones are terrible for dialling compression because they lack excursion.

Hope this helps