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Heartbeats - Matt's mix
#1
As others have said this was quite a challenge with the mix of genres - effectively two completely different "bands" merged together. Fun though Smile

All comments and feedback gratefully received, thanks

** EDIT ** v2 mix added which has tightened up the bottom end and tweaked a bunch of other things.


.mp3    Heartbeats - Matt\'s mix.mp3 --  (Download: 10.04 MB)


.mp3    Heartbeats - Matt\'s mix v2.mp3 --  (Download: 10.04 MB)


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#2
yo Matt, did you mix this on headphones?
Beware...........Cognitive Dissonance!
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#3
No, monitors. Though listening back I can hear plenty that's awry with this one so do weigh in with any comments Smile
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#4
...it's the treble again; something is skewing your judgement in this region. if it was winter, i'd suggest it might be the big thick woolly jumper soaking it up before it got to your ears....but the last time i looked, London was enjoying sunshine Big Grin

it's difficult to hang in because my ears suffer, so i can't be of much help at the mo', sorry.

but have a groovy weekend, eh?
Beware...........Cognitive Dissonance!
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#5
Fair comment, it is (much) too harsh. I've gone back in and significantly reduced various treble boosts or enhancements as well as adding a little compression in the 4-8kHz region with C4, would be interested if this now qualifies as bearable?

There's still plenty else in the mix that I don't really like, but a lot of that is down to the challenge of mixing the two genres together, which would make it incredibly time-consuming to get a really satisfactory mix and I don't have that time at the moment.



.mp3    Heartbeats Matt\'s Mix v03.mp3 --  (Download: 10.04 MB)


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#6
it sounds to me like you've gone too far the other way now and the spectral balance seems unsettled to me. also, flicking to mono causes the tone to change, which suggests some stereo vs mono spectral issues. in addition to this, the low-mids are overly congested. in stereo you'd miss this opportunity for EQ which suggests to me that you've tried panning your way out of the masking issues? risky. if a mix works well in mono, it will sound much better in stereo than a mix solely worked entirely in the stereo domain because it forces accurate EQ'ing and clears the spectrum of bloat. it's an easy temptation to mix your way out of apparent trouble when sitting in the sweet spot....but not many peeps listen in the sweet, so they hear the cumulative effects of both speakers....kind of mono more than stereo in fact.

it is a common solution to add treble when the low-mids are congested because it appears to balance the song's spectrum and provide an overall timbre which seems at first hand to be appealing. however, the solution invariably lies in managing the low-mids, which automatically means the trebles will tend to fall into line more easily. as they say, cut rather than boost. so, while the problem might appear to be in the trebles...it's not necessarily where the problem needs to be approached. i'd recommend looking carefully at the congestion in the low mids, then seeing how the treble fits into the new environment, and then tune the trebles accordingly?

why not use this project for a longer work-in-progress so you can drop in when you've got a spare half an hour or so to fiddle, but work on less dense mixes if you've got a useful block of time to kill and have the chance to get to your vision within the time frame? this is a super song to work for the long haul because it reduces the risk of boredom! if i wasn't messing around with Heart Peripheral, i'd have a crack at this one. it's VERY tempting, though, i must say!
Beware...........Cognitive Dissonance!
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#7
Dave, thanks a lot for the advice, that is hugely helpful. I've gone back in and removed a fair bit of low-mids (mostly from bass and the electronic kick, though some of the guitars actually had some low mud that I hadn't spotted before) and tried it in mono as well, and it all seems to be sitting together much better. I'm going to move on from this one because it's starting to feel a bit of a chore but will definitely apply what you suggest to future mixes - intending to try something less complex (which is most of the songs on here!) and see if I can get a more satisfying tonal balance from the off.

Thanks again.
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