07-08-2014, 01:58 AM
Hey Juan, a good mix in very many ways. There are some lovely delays going on in the vocal tracks, but I think the verse vocal could be louder and more up front. The delay on the vocal break is absolutely magical. Tremolo on the vocal at 3:00 is a bold idea, but in this case it feels like an effect "just because," without serving a specific purpose. A similar effect, maybe with slightly less "wet" in the mixture, could be an interesting way to move a song forward... but I think the beat dropping suited that purpose, so the effect seems a little overdone in my opinion.
I think your overall balance is quite good. I agree with Olli's observation that your mix isn't suffering from any obvious artifacts of overly aggressive processing... which is a foible we've all stumbled upon many times. Sometimes the best mix decision is deciding... to do nothing
These recordings in my opinion are absolutely wonderful, and many of them were processed during the initial pre-mix or during recording, and allowing that to guide your decision making is very mature.
Olli's right... the funky palm muted verse guitar doesn't have enough "cut" to shine in the mix. If moving the corner frequency of the highpass filter is killing the body of the instrument, try adjusting the bandwidth or following it with a low shelving cut.
It sounds to me like you have a pretty hefty amount of compression going on, although transparently. While the sonics are pleasant to the ears, I feel like the track could use a bit more "life" because in some places the transients are a bit blunted. Maybe take a look at some of the instruments your compressing. I like to ask myself a few questions when I revisit compression decisions:
1. Is there a reason I'm compressing this? Why?
2. Would a different compressor work better for this situation?
3. Could I resolve the balance problem with less compression if I instead processed a less important competing track?
4. Would slowing the attack time let the track breathe a bit more?
So this is a quick summary of my thoughts: On a purely technical level, the bones of a brilliant mix are here. There are many fantastic elements, and many of the best attributes of most have been allowed to shine. In terms of musicality, this mix could use a revisit: restrict usage of special FX to enhance musicality, and process less important parts more aggressively so that processing can be more gentle on other parts. This is a great start and has the strong foundation for revision.
I think your overall balance is quite good. I agree with Olli's observation that your mix isn't suffering from any obvious artifacts of overly aggressive processing... which is a foible we've all stumbled upon many times. Sometimes the best mix decision is deciding... to do nothing
These recordings in my opinion are absolutely wonderful, and many of them were processed during the initial pre-mix or during recording, and allowing that to guide your decision making is very mature.Olli's right... the funky palm muted verse guitar doesn't have enough "cut" to shine in the mix. If moving the corner frequency of the highpass filter is killing the body of the instrument, try adjusting the bandwidth or following it with a low shelving cut.
It sounds to me like you have a pretty hefty amount of compression going on, although transparently. While the sonics are pleasant to the ears, I feel like the track could use a bit more "life" because in some places the transients are a bit blunted. Maybe take a look at some of the instruments your compressing. I like to ask myself a few questions when I revisit compression decisions:
1. Is there a reason I'm compressing this? Why?
2. Would a different compressor work better for this situation?
3. Could I resolve the balance problem with less compression if I instead processed a less important competing track?
4. Would slowing the attack time let the track breathe a bit more?
So this is a quick summary of my thoughts: On a purely technical level, the bones of a brilliant mix are here. There are many fantastic elements, and many of the best attributes of most have been allowed to shine. In terms of musicality, this mix could use a revisit: restrict usage of special FX to enhance musicality, and process less important parts more aggressively so that processing can be more gentle on other parts. This is a great start and has the strong foundation for revision.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!