Digital Only Logic Proz Hope and The Sea

[Quathamer]

I feel the character of this song is in the many nuances of the figures of all players. With your mix kind of swimming in reverb a lot of those intimate details get washed away, I'm afraid. Just a little sloppy in places. You've got good energy going but the wash of the reverb gets in the way for me. A lot of lingering artifacts in the reverb.

Hmmm interesting. I don't know what you mean, I can easily hear all the subtle nuances of the recording session. I'll agree, there is a considerable amount of reverb and effects, especially on the sax, my mixes are typically fx reliant but I can still very clearly distinguish all the parts and the intimate details. The drums are clear but controlled, the bass is round, clear, but not ear fatiguing. Guitars are present and balanced, the vocals are up front and articulate, and the horn, my goodness the horn, is just addictive to listen to especially with the effects.

All of this doesn't really matter though. In my mind, because I'm a live engineer turned studio engineer, clarity and nuances mean very little in the broader goal of things. Neither does volume. What does matter is energy and vibe. Look at Adele's track Hello - lots of effects and lots of energy, and lots of so-called mistakes such as low-passing the whole drum kit during the verses at around 300 hz. Where are the subtle nuances there? Good riddance I say, because it makes the track that much more energetic. Energy and vibe is king when it comes to mixing.

Now actually I'm surprised by your comments because your mix is just as sloppy and effect swimming if not more so. There's a crazy slap on your horn that kills the presence of it, there's so much verb on your drums they sound like they were recorded 10 meters away from the mic and not only are the nuances in your mix almost non-existent, the mix itself has very little vibe, presence or energy. This may come across as harsh, but a big lesson I had to learn early on is to come to grips with what the purpose of mixing is - listener entertainment - not audio purity. I know that might sound contradictory, but its all about mixing something that the listener will enjoy, not something that perfectly represents a recording session, or the sound of the room they were recorded in, and certainly not the LUFS.