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colour me red
#1
learned so much again. so much to learn.

118 is the latest one.

115
taking out some 1.6k and 3k from lead vocal,
brought down the kick, swapped the saturation plugin to another one,
some more saturation on guitar bus,
took out some 240 on mix bus,
backed off the limiter on mix bus a bit.

118
i've lowered the effect on the mid section,
took out some 2k here and there,
cut with high shelf filter on tom tracks cleaned some excessive cymbals.
i've stereorized the bass and paned kick and snare slightly off centre
because the mix felt a bit too mono.
i think i've added some top end on vocal or something.


.mp3    mfp049_113.mp3 --  (Download: 7.86 MB)


.mp3    mfp049_115.mp3 --  (Download: 7.86 MB)


.m4a    mfp049_118.m4a --  (Download: 6.24 MB)


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#2
Sounds great. Rocking mix.

The vocals sound harsh in the upper mids. At least in the 1st verse/chorus. After the 1st set of group vocals they mellow out and are ok to listen to. Except in the bridges. The effect on the vocal makes the harshness worse.

The kick really pushes a bus compressor. I don't know if it's a drum bus or a mix bus compressor but I can hear it pump a bit too much every time the kick hits. It's not horrible but stands out. Maybe the compressor has a side chain high pass filter that will prevent the kick from triggering the compressor.

The group vocals are nicely balanced.

Good job.
“When I haven't any blue, I use red.”
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#3
(03-11-2016, 11:50 PM)RoyMatthews Wrote: Sounds great. Rocking mix.

The vocals sound harsh in the upper mids. At least in the 1st verse/chorus. After the 1st set of group vocals they mellow out and are ok to listen to. Except in the bridges. The effect on the vocal makes the harshness worse.

The kick really pushes a bus compressor. I don't know if it's a drum bus or a mix bus compressor but I can hear it pump a bit too much every time the kick hits. It's not horrible but stands out. Maybe the compressor has a side chain high pass filter that will prevent the kick from triggering the compressor.

The group vocals are nicely balanced.

Good job.

thanks, i just got used to those problems while i'm mixing - which i shouldn't.
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#4
often i tend to even things out till there's nothing interesting left.
so i tried not to do that this time and i overcooked it.
i just updated a new mix but not quite sure.

i have just read bruce swedien says,

you can keep your perspective if you learn to trust your instincts as much as possible.
this capability takes a long time to master.

it's kind of tough, isn't it? i think i need much much more experience to get there.
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#5
Wow, solid, quality mix (the 115)! I like the clarity of the drums, the gorgeously rich sound of the guitars, and the balance and level of the backing vocals. I also think the lead vox are good, but I felt that the big reverb/slapback kicked in too hard at the start of each chorus, which sounded unnatural to me. But the whole thing sounds great on my hi-fi :-).
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#6
(07-11-2016, 12:32 PM)IRONWORK Wrote: Wow, solid, quality mix (the 115)! I like the clarity of the drums, the gorgeously rich sound of the guitars, and the balance and level of the backing vocals. I also think the lead vox are good, but I felt that the big reverb/slapback kicked in too hard at the start of each chorus, which sounded unnatural to me. But the whole thing sounds great on my hi-fi :-).

thanks for your comment.
do you mean 'ha!' or 'here'? maybe both.
i thought my mix tend to sound too normal, dry, evened out,
so i tried things to pop out a bit, wetter than i would normally do,
then, maybe i've exaggerate it too much.
but again i was afraid of ending up even out everything till nothing really stands out.
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#7
I listened to your '115' version, and I like a lot of your balance decisions in general here. It's a gutsy vision you've gone for, which is no bad thing with a song that has such a combative attitude as this one. I like that you've kept the vocal solidly upfront, as befits his importance to the track, and that the backing vocals are a good step behind him when they arrive. The blend between the drums and the electric guitars is good too, and gives a respectable 'band playing together' illusion.

As with a lot of the mixes in this subforum, I think the kick-drum's sub-100Hz contribution is stronger than it need be, and that the guitar texture would feel more powerful and full-range if you enhanced the bass guitar's fundamental frequencies in that spectral zone instead. I suspect you may possibly not be able to hear well enough what's going on sub-50Hz in your room, because the kick's putting out a lot of energy down there, and more than I'd really advise -- you may find it does funny things to your mix in some end-user playback situations. Certainly, the subjective impression of kick-drum level in your mix via full-range monitors is very different to the impression via smaller speakers, which is rarely a good idea as far as mainstream mix-translation is concerned. Other than that, though, the overall mix tonality seemed fairly balanced -- although perhaps a fraction over-scooped in the 300Hz region?

Although this is definitely an electrics-biased guitar balance, the acoustic elements actually blend better than I've heard on a lot of other mixes, primarily because the transients and high-end don't seem overemphasised. (I actually wonder whether some people are adding high end to these acoustic guitar parts almost as a reflex, but that's only surmise on my part.) That fast tremolo effect on the ElecGtr03 part in the Mid-sections is very cool -- I like that a lot, as it's almost a little hook in its own right. Not sure about the vocal effects there, though. While I'm totally in agreement that a change in vocal effects can usefully help differentiate that section, and I can also hear the retro kind of idea you have in mind, in practice I think the effect's got too much low midrange, so it gives a rather muddy-sounding frequency build-up that doesn't seem to fit with the clarity of most of the rest of the mix. That said, I love what it does with the "hah" at 2:09, because this gives a great sense of him shouting 'off mic', so to speak, and adds to the sense of live performance for me.

Overall I like your use of more 'techical' mix effects too, and this is clearly part of the well-blended character of what you've done. A couple of small queries with respect to the front-back perspective, though. Firstly, could the ElecGtr04 part have something to glue it in a bit better during Outro 1? It certainly makes a statement by being so dry, but somehow it also seems to undermine the acoustic illusion you've been developing up to that point. And, secondly, are the cymbals a touch too bright? They feel like they're maybe a bit too far forward at points. Besides, if you clear a little of the high end out of the cymbals, you'll be able to get a bit more detail into the electric guitars, for example.

Thanks for uploading your version, and I hope some of the above is useful!
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#8
thank you mike for your comment. it's super detailed and critical, so helpful.
i wish i could've done all you've mentioned right, at the first place but anyway i'm getting better so.. that's good.
after i've read your comment, i've changed things based on your comment and uploaded 118.
i still hear something to improve but, you've helped me to get me into the right direction.
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