Purple Hat Mob - Access Denied [OoF]

[OctopusOnFire]

Hi,

Nice mix! 

I recall the raw tracks presented quite some challenges from memory (the 'merits' of my mix aside of course heh). 

I am hearing some distortion on the siren at the 3 second mark?  Not sure if it is on the original recording or not (haven't checked yet).  Can't hear it on my mix anyway... Maybe intentional?

Balance and panning choices are generally really good too. 

Couple of minor things that came to mind -

I am not sure about the level of the guitar that comes in at at the 57s mark.  I think if it was a touch lower, it might improve the impact of the synth that comes in for the chorus in the next section?  I feel it needs to kind of bridge the energy level between the intro and the chorus and I am not sure it is quite doing that at the moment perhaps?

Likewise, the lead synth that kicks in for the chorus - it gives impact, but might be touch too much (loud) and pushes the vocal back a touch?  Not sure.

It is tough to be critical with this though - as you say it's difficult to make it work because of the arrangement and there is a lot sharing the same frequency range.  These are the only things I noticed, so the rest is all good.

Yeah, good comment regarding matching loudness for comparison.  I always try and do this when referencing, etc. 

Regarding 'mastering', etc -

Yeah,of course  from personal experience it is really easy to go too far with limiting etc, when the mix is maybe what needs the work.  I think crushing things terribly with a multiband limiter is an essential part of  learning experience though .

Cheers!

Hi, Mikej. Thanks for the feedback!

Regarding your comments:

- Yeah, there's some distortion on that siren. My bad, should be some plugin acting up up the chain, I dunno why would I put distortion on that  . About the guitar, I see what you mean, but I think it's fine the way it is. 

- The fact that most things live in the same freq range forces you to take decisions about volume, panning, etc... I wanted to feature the chorus synth over the lead guitar, and in some way, the voice. For songs such as this one, I've been trying to integrate the voice with the rest of the band. Just make it stand out the minimum amount needed to understand the words. It's something I've been noticing on many songs with busy arrangements and I want to be able to do that, so I'm still adjusting to it. 

- About "mastering", yeah... I say what I say because I've been there. You try to bury your cake in sugary topping, but if the problem is in the dough, you're not fixing it, just masking it. Then, it is very tempting to start your next mix with that mindset. You also start just applying "mixing tricks" without even thinking about what you want to address, just because some "mixing guru" talked about it in some video, but never try to dig deep into the nitty-gritty of being mindful of each and every mixing decision you make. I guess it's all part of the process.