I'm Alright

[Skylix Studio]

Here's my attempt of this mix. Looking forward for any advice constructive criticism. I'm looking to learn from you guys

[Mixinthecloud]

When I listen to this my first question is what playback system were you listening on when you did this? In places it works. In others it's way too compressed and the freq balance especially in the low mids is off. I think you missed the mark on this try but I see light at the end of the tunnel.

[Skylix Studio]

I'm using a Yamaha HS 5 with a non treated room. Just a regular home recording studio xD. Any advice to how I can fix the low mids? Cause I'm fairly new to mixing.

[gkallergis]

I like the balance you have in the freq spectrum, but this is hyper-compressed! I know sometimes it might sound better when it's loud, but I would suggest avoiding limiting everything to 0dBFS at the end.

I try to start with a headroom of around 10dB and in the end I have a "normal" dynamic range so that when I "master" I can get it louder without over compressing.

Just an idea!

[Skylix Studio]

I like the balance you have in the freq spectrum, but this is hyper-compressed! I know sometimes it might sound better when it's loud, but I would suggest avoiding limiting everything to 0dBFS at the end.

I try to start with a headroom of around 10dB and in the end I have a "normal" dynamic range so that when I "master" I can get it louder without over compressing.

Just an idea!

For the Mix Buss I'm using 2 Multiband Compressor Just to limite the High Freq so I won't get the harshness at about 2-5k and a comp just to glue them back and the limiter for the loudness. I don't know if thats what causing to becoming over compressed. Is 2 multiband comp too much? any suggestion for not getting a mix too over compressed.

[gkallergis]

I avoid multi-band compressors because I don't know how to use them yet and I can't hear what they do clearly, so I can't comment on that!

I guess you could try getting rid of the harshness with an EQ on the mix bus and see how that will go. If the harshness is too much that you can't get rid of it with the EQ, maybe you should revisit the instruments back in the mix. For example, if you have lots of tracks occupying the same (high) frequency region that might be what's causing the harshness (if we mean the same thing by harshness!).

Usually, I only have a limiter on my master bus as part of my "mastering" and an EQ. Following the 10dB headroom I wrote in my previous comment allows me to keep it clear and not loud while I mix. DUring mastering I can bring the volume up with the limiter. Sometimes though I can't get it loud enough afterwards, but I'm still working on that

Keep in mind that I am an amateur, so take what I say with a grain of salt! Hope this helps!

Cheers!

[Mixinthecloud]

I would suggest using a buss compressor at the most when you mix and not a limiter unless you use the limiter for a specific purpose. Remember there are two parts to this process, mixing and mastering. I tend to group instruments together as needed for dynamics control and ease of mixing. This can either be a stereo buss or VCAs if your DAW allows for that. Use your buss compression on your individual stereo groups as needed or a multi-band compressor. That is where one of those can do some good work. Environmentals can be added either through effects busses or as inserts on a stereo group or even the master buss. there is no right or wrong, it is only what sounds best to you and brings out the character you are engineering into the mix.

Once you have obtained the sonic character you want to represent in your mix and you commit it, then use your mastering to sweeten. I place a limiter with true peak limiting abilities at the end of my chain to ensure I do not enter into distortion. I also use a six band EQ and some mastering compression . The compression is there for boosting level and giving a commercial sound and the EQ to sweeten. Again, the limiter is for protection only. I never hit it hard enough to really hear it. Most of my compression at this stage is parallel.