19-11-2016, 07:20 PM
Listened to the 'final' version, and it certainly has that grungy quality you were looking for, which does work rather well with the mood of the lyrics and vocal performance, so no problems about that from my perspective. It's also the wettest version of the mix I've heard so far, I think, by which I mean that you're wearing your delays/reverbs more on your sleeve than most other mixers here. I love the way this works on those Mid-section guitars, where it steers the mix well clear of trad-rock -- to its benefit I think. That said, I think maybe you could be a bit more choosy about how you apply these effects. I'm all for audible reverbs as creative additions, but for every ounce of reverb we're consciously hearing in your mix, I think there are several other ounces (to use the technical term...) that are simply clouding the picture by adding mix mud and concealing sonic details, as well as distancing the ensemble in general. (I don't think it helps in this respect either that the backing vocals seem significantly more forward-sounding than the rest of the ensemble, as this makes the subjective distancing more stark by virtue of the contrast.)
I like that there's plenty of movement in the compression, especially on the drums (love the fill at 2:11!), which helps add to the general excitement for me. I do wonder whether you've lost a bit too much mid-range punch in the process though -- all the snare and kick attack elements sound quite slender, somehow, rather than meaty. Yes, there's low end on the kick, but it's rather soft-sounding and sub-heavy, and doesn't seem to really punctuate that nice round-sounding bass guitar you've created. Speaking of which, although I do like the warmth of the bass in general, I think the guitars seem rather thin by comparison, so I'd be tempted to scoop a bit of LMF out of the bass and give it back to the guitars.
The distorted vocal sound is another great addition, which again keeps this mix quite rootsy, despite the more electric sound you've gone for. I also like your vocal balancing -- it's not too loud, but it does maintain its position in the balance very solidly nonetheless and demands the attention it deserves. On the other hand, the clean acoustic-guitar transients in the verses seem to sit over it, which is maybe not ideal -- I'd either take some transient off, or balance them lower... or maybe even distort them too!
Thanks for posting -- you've suggested a lot of interesting new approaches to this multitrack, which is one of the things I really love about being able to hear so many different mixes of this song!
I like that there's plenty of movement in the compression, especially on the drums (love the fill at 2:11!), which helps add to the general excitement for me. I do wonder whether you've lost a bit too much mid-range punch in the process though -- all the snare and kick attack elements sound quite slender, somehow, rather than meaty. Yes, there's low end on the kick, but it's rather soft-sounding and sub-heavy, and doesn't seem to really punctuate that nice round-sounding bass guitar you've created. Speaking of which, although I do like the warmth of the bass in general, I think the guitars seem rather thin by comparison, so I'd be tempted to scoop a bit of LMF out of the bass and give it back to the guitars.
The distorted vocal sound is another great addition, which again keeps this mix quite rootsy, despite the more electric sound you've gone for. I also like your vocal balancing -- it's not too loud, but it does maintain its position in the balance very solidly nonetheless and demands the attention it deserves. On the other hand, the clean acoustic-guitar transients in the verses seem to sit over it, which is maybe not ideal -- I'd either take some transient off, or balance them lower... or maybe even distort them too!
Thanks for posting -- you've suggested a lot of interesting new approaches to this multitrack, which is one of the things I really love about being able to hear so many different mixes of this song!