(02-04-2015, 04:28 PM)Obelix Wrote: I mixed this song in an hour. It was a challenging one. The main vocal was main challenge due too big dynamic range it has. The snare was also hard to get it right (when in solo drums sounded good, but in the song the snare went to be too bright). Any suggestions for version 2 ?
When you're having a hard time balancing a vocal with long term dynamics as wide as on this recording, it's often a good idea to split up the vocal track into separate instances for the verse and chorus so you can balance and process each separately.
It's not uncommon when you start balancing on the loudest chorus (as you should be, if you're not already) to get a good vocal level, only the find the vocal is way too quiet during the verses. Most often vocals will also need different EQ and compression strategies at different points in the song as well, and it doesn't just stop with vocals... if a bass guitarists playing style (picked vs. fingered vs. slapped) changes over the chorus of the song, different compression strategies and different levels will almost certainly be required to maintain a consistent low end, so other instruments will also benefit from the same strategies.
Another thing you could try (and this is how I worked on my version) is splitting the vocals different sections into clips on the same track, then using your DAW's item processing utilities to adjust the level of each clip to get a more even dynamic before you even start using plugins.
Either way, before you start using plugins (aside from high pass filters or stereo utilities), your goal should be to find a relatively solid fader position for each track such that you can play the song from start to finish without huge shifts in the mix balance... then you can use plugins to tighten the balance up, and then you can automate the faders to make it sing.
So if you feel like you can't even come close to a solid fader level for the vocal or anything else for that matter without plugins, it should be a strong hint that you either need to mult (chop it up and lay it out on different tracks) or otherwise even out the long term level by directly manipulating the raw audio. That will ensure that you're either set up for varied processing in different spots from the outset, or that the processing on a single track will react similarly throughout the song.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!