The best advice I can give you is just keep mixing.. mix, mix, mix and keep a collection of reference CDs and albums from HDTracks.com that fit the style of mixing that your ear like. By the time you've mixed 200 tunes, while also listening to what others here do with the same tunes you work on, you will be able to develop your own level of satisfactory skill set..
But be aware, its ok to be a perfectionist, but as humans, no one will ever be perfect
To develop as mixer, in your case I would first focus on just balances. Don’t concentrate on too many sonical issues at the same time. I think your instrument sounds are already pretty good, but the balances are not optimal yet.
Check balances with low listening levels. you should still hear all the main points. For example with this mix, if one listens it very quitely, one can’t hear drums at all.
In this case, check Kapu’s excellent mix, as it’s sonically similar to your concept. Start with zero level and open it up little by little. You’ll start to hear vox, bass, and drums all together in a good natural balance.
You can check balances also by muteing some critical elements all together. For example:
- mute vox, listen the band
- mute only drums, and listen the balances of rest of the band
- etc
I know, i need a lot of mix for being a good mixer..
After i lot of time, i only play my instrument, but in the last time i start to dedicate my attention to mixing.
Now, after your comment, i listen this mix without headphones and it's true, drums is back than the other, next time i've to check the mix in the monitor, and i think posting here my work and listen other mix of the same song is useful for learn more about this world...
Some simple and coarse tips. If you think that some instrument is a bit quiet, but you can still hear it, then it is too quiet. And vice versa, if you think some track might sound a bit overpowering, but you can still hear other tracks, then it is too loud. It all comes down to your perception through the mixing process vs. the listeners first impression. You know your mix, but it has to translate to the listener as well. In your case the drums. Probably everyone here could hear the drums, but we expected them to be a bit more upfront. Listeners of course have some kind of 'prejudice' for the sound, and you should work with it, not against it. I don't think that is the case here, but just don't waste your time and resources trying to 're-invent' the wheel. Spend some time just experimenting. Overtweak the plugins and/or gear. Find out what really makes the sound worse (it's easier) and then try to reverse it. Twist the eq so that you really hear the bad resonance, smash the compressor so that you really hear when it turns into distortion and so on.
i understand what happen at my mix... i don't know why but the chain effect of the drum track in reaper was off, and the limiter on master was disabled.. i'm the first that was surprise when i listen the mix posted here, because i remember that my drum wasn't lower..
probably i make some test, and i don't open the effect before render..
now, it's better.. if you want to listen the v2, i update the first post..