Neon Hornet: Take it off_DLR

[DLR]

My mix of song that I recorded in my home studio. It is my first commercial recording for some band.

[Judders]

Good job, it was very well recorded!

Thanks for letting us play with it

[DLR]

Good job, it was very well recorded!

Thanks for letting us play with it

Thnx man!

[Olli H]

Very good mix to my ears.
I like the big role you gave to the bass.
Vox has probably too much some stereo effect. Just a little less, and the vox would be more focused in the middle.

You recorded also the drums? Well done. I liked very much the fact that snare was prperly in the center in those overheads. It’s quite rare nowadays…

[DLR]

Thnx Olli H
Band liked vocal this way so I left it so. Could it be more subtle?.. I think yes.

Yup, I recorded drums too. To be honest, I think I could do it better, but it was my first recording, so there is plenty of time to improve it :-)
Thnx for kind words!

[thedon]

Hi DLR
I Like your recording and mix,
As I''m not really familiar with this genre ,Just wondering if the yourself or the band has any suggestions of an inspirational band I could listen to and use as a reference ?
Thanks

[DLR]

Them vultures crooked

[thedon]

Them vultures crooked

Thanks will have a listen

[The_Metallurgist]

yo,

firstly, a big thanks for making this available for the forum....and well done on your first "gig", may you have many more.

a couple of points on the mix. you've taken a LCR approach on the lead guitars here, but the problem i'm having is that each has an entirely different spectral composition which unbalances the mix. over speakers it's not going to be much of an issue, but the problems really begin to manifest in headphones. you've done a good job in minimising the risks of fatigue, but i'm feeling it, sadly. the arrangement is the problem, fundamentally. the LH panned guitar also contains some room ambiance captured by the mic, compared with the dry RH gtr. this is upsetting the sound stage somewhat, in that the ambiance pushes the LH back in the mix compared to the other. it sounds odd, and kind of pulls in the headphones in an unusual way; i wouldn't use the word uncomfortable, but it is disconcerting....perhaps even a distraction to some.

there's also an opportunity in the low and low-mid range to tidy up the frequencies; i'm finding it heavy going from the congestion. the mix is sounding a little muddy because of it.

when the 4th guitar comes in(!) at 1:52, the mix is overly dense with too much material going on? the ear doesn't know what it should be focusing on and this in itself can result in another form of fatigue.

the vocals sound distant....out the back somewhere. this, coupled with the dry'ish L/R placement of the guitars, contribute to an ambiguous sound stage (e.g. the captured ambiance in the LH gtr mic doesn't help to place it in the same room). the illusion doesn't translate, in other words, to a coherent band performing in the same space.

the mix was missing musical dynamics and has a consistent level all the way through. i think a little change in dynamic would help the song deliver, perhaps by working the transitions between verse and chrous, or the mid section for example.

i've had a go at mixing it, but i took an entirely different approach. i still struggled with avoiding fatigue from gtr2 (the RH gtr in your mix), and the sound stage proved a challenge. actually, to be honest, i found the project a lot harder than i'd originally envisaged at the time of perusing the download.

i have to say though, i was displeased with the Autotuned vocal; i thought the artifacts were overly intrusive. Mike S states that the multis' in the MDL are "free of processing", but it seems that many projects arrive now having been tampered with post recording - my biggest frustration lies with printed automation FWIW. but a vocal is the most important element of the mix because it's this which most people are going to be focusing on, so it is crucial that it sounds as natural as possible - humans instinctively know if the vocal isn't right. i can understand that a vocalist that's not on key isn't going to want to broadcast this in the public domain....but if they do live gigs, then it makes no difference? importantly perhaps, it gives those in the forum an opportunity to have a go at Autotuning a vocal other than their own(!). I can understand the sensitivity of the subject though.

thanks for posting and giving us a detailed listen and a chance to critique. much appreciated.

cheers,,

[DLR]

So, thnx for very technical analysis, but since English is not my first language, I have to read this few more time to fully understand what you said.

In this case I was just rec/mix ing. not a producer, so I didn't want to get involved in that part. The band was "alfa and omega", so they wanted song to be structured this way, although I would make few changes in arr.

Vocal is raw recording without any processing, and I didn't use Autotune or any kind of tune plugins in my mix too. It's just the way that singer sings :-)

Guitars are bit "dark" cause overall feeling of the song, and, on the other hand, if they were brighter it would come up with out of tune caused by playing with lighter (instead of slider) and not so great performance of the player. It could be less muddy though.

Thnx for listening and very detailed comment