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Patrick Talbot - Set Me Free
#1
Hey
Here's my mix, from Denmark.
Mixed "out of box" on my very nice Midas M32
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.mp3    PATRICK TALBOT - Set Me Free.mp3 --  (Download: 10.92 MB)


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#2
That's different jorndyt! Smile
I see that you've made good use of the provided MIDI, that's cool!
Sounds really clean and there's some really nice tones on guitars, bass and keys overall.

One thing though is that it's really bright, a bit harsh even.
I squinted a bit listening on headphones, I was mentally reaching for a high shelf filter to cut that brightness.

The drums and especially the hi-hat sound thin and unnaturally bright.
On the other hand the vocals sound duller in comparison, although there's quite a bit of sibilance, which seems to be coming from a bright reverb for the most part.
For the dullness, I would guess there's some low-mid mud in there that you could cut out a bit.

I'm not fond of the tone of the synth on the right, it's very plain and boring TBH. I would try to add some modulation, something to make it more interesting.

Not sure also why the Rhodes (nice tone BTW, very modern), is split in two for the chord stabs that appear on the right, in the intro for example, it's a bit too much IMHO.
The horns are also a bit tiny in comparison to the drums, I would try to get them thicker if you see what I mean.

Still a cool one, with a different sound that could be made really cool with a few more tweaks.
Keep it up! Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#3


Thanks for your reply
I will try to work with your suggestions, very soon.

The lovely thing to play around, with music is that you are always in learning modeRolleyes


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#4
So, here is a new mix, with some changes


.mp3    PATRICK TALBOT - Set Me Free.mp3 --  (Download: 10.92 MB)


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#5
Well, there's a big difference for sure. But I think you went overboard trying to make it less bright, because now the low end is massive and making the mix sound a bit dull.
I guess if you could find a middle ground between your first mix and this one, you would be in better shape...
But you're right, it's a never ending journey, but a fun one! Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#6
Thanks for you reply.Smile
I've tried a bit different. Horns more wide, and Rhodes more close to center
And a little more brilliance two reverb (hi-cut 7 KHz)


.mp3    PATRICK TALBOT - Set Me Free.mp3 --  (Download: 10.92 MB)


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#7
I don't know. I think it's better but there's some bad muddiness in the low-end that you've tried to prevent in your first mix by boosting the highs. Now that you're back to normal it's more apparent. I would look at the bass first, it looks like it's the main culprit. Toms are also big and bulky.
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#8
I think you may be pushing the top half of the spectrum to compensate for a lack of definition in the low frequencies, which sometimes has a tendency to blur the higher elements of a mix.

Just an opinion, but for me it usually produces a better result when the low end is in the pocket first, then it becomes easier to fade in the vocals. There are a lot of mixers out there who like to fade the vocal in first and build the mix around that and get great results, and I've been successful with that approach on ballads, but most of the time I just wind up with an undefined bottom and harsh mids. My advice... Get the kick and bass in the pocket first, and then you can fade things in on the basis of sonic priority.

Another easy trap to fall into is that with a live drum recording, especially in this genre, we often prefer to start mixing the kit with the overheads, using the close mics in a supplemental role. I've learned the hard way... It just doesn't work with virtual kits. You'll always get a toppy cymbal heavy mix. Better to think of the overheads as cymbal mics and fade them in after the vocal.

One more tip.... You can almost always get away with a low pass filter on any electric guitar recording from 5000 to 6000 hZ. After around 4500 hZ, the musically relevant harmonic content on an electric guitar ends, so it's mostly amplified noise. A low pass filter will give you a cleaner guitar tone that will respond better to compression... And it helps avoid the high frequency issue you're having in the bargain.

Just my two cents Smile keep it up
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
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#9
Smile Hey, and Thank's for all your advises...it's so nice to have some feedback.

I have now done some changes, and I had a little too much of the Drum-loop.

Hope I'm getting in the right direction.


.mp3    PATRICK TALBOT - Set Me Free.mp3 --  (Download: 10.92 MB)


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#10
For the most part it sounds pretty good to me. The treble certainly isn't taking my head off, but I'd still like a fuller and more cohesive bottom end during the full band sections. The music is certainly more enjoyable to listen to in this form.

Now, during the sections where it's mostly Patrick and the organ, I think you've done really well, there. Great delicate touch on the drum loop, nicely understated guitars... organ could maybe be a little further away on the front to back spectrum, but it's sitting nicely where it is right now. Everything sounds great in its own right and blends well. More a matter of personal taste, I'd go for a slightly wetter sound on the accompaniment instruments, and I'd probably low pass filter the occasional delays on the vocal for a slightly more natural sounding echo.

You'd have to ask Patrick exactly what his sonic intentions were in writing the song, but the music to me naturally wants to be punchy and a little bit funky when the entire band is playing. It's subjective, but in my world that means the beat would be best driven by the drums/bass. The main sticking point for me is that the full band sections are too small and quiet relative to the sparser bits. In almost any mix, I personally start the balance by finding the section of the song with the fullest instrumentation and mixing that first so I don't run into that trouble. If you're not running your levels too hot in the mix, though, you might be able to get a fuller chorus by simply raising the levels. A classic mix trick you hear all the time on ABBA's old records is to raise level of the accompaniment and reduce the level of the vocals in the chorus, and the opposite in the verse.

After I find that full section to start the balance, I like to start either with the overheads (for live kit) or the kick drum (for a virtual kit/drum machine) and usually fade it up to about -18 dB RMS... no real reason for the exact figure other than to absolutely eliminate any chance I might run out of headroom, just in case I wind up considering a big change in the mix balance like I'm recommending and I won't have to start over. I say it all the time, probably too much, but gain staging is about nine tenths of the mix. Before getting too technical, a little while back I stopped really thinking along the lines of X should be louder than Y, and I've found it helpful to think more along the lines of Y should be further away than X... that's helped me with the gain staging element the most.

Beyond that specific recommendations are tricky to make without knowing what you're already doing and your taste in sounds, but on instinct I'd say the snare and kick would both benefit from some compression with moderately tight timing settings to shape a slightly more assertive sound with a bit more body. The bass guitar feels a bit on the limp side... I'd definitely recommend a firmer compression ratio for a more consistent bottom end, but make sure it's not too fast or it'll weaken the bottom end and blunt the attack.

You're doing good work though. I've been around and around with this song and have found it pretty difficult to mix, and you're definitely coaxing out some pretty good sounds. Just remember the big picture!
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
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