Tom McKenzie / Directions

[juanjose1967]

here's my mix of this beautiful song!

[sano]

There is a resonance on the guitar which needs reigned in. It's very overpowering in the mix, from memory I think it's around the 250hz mark. Also the bass level could be increased as it is very low in the mix. With these changes I think you'd have a pretty could mix here.

[juanjose1967]

Thank you, Sano for the tips! Now the bass is a couple of db louder but regarding the guitar resonance, I can't hear it (I'm still new to mixing and my ears are not fully trained yet!). But I trust your advice and I've notched down the 250 hz in the guitars.

Is it better now? I hope so because I love this song!!

[Dags]

Hi Juanjose

You have a good mix coming along here.
The bass is much easier to hear now but maybe it is still being masked a little by the acoustic guitar.
I think Sano is referring to the 'boom' in the bottom end of the guitar that kind of stomps on the bass. (is that right Sano?)
The low notes on the acoustic are louder than the bass at the moment - that's not necessarily a bad thing, as this song lends itself well to being a more acoustic-driven tune - however it might be a little too strong.

I can't remember where I put my EQ cuts for the acoustic.
If you have a spectrum/frequency analyser you might be able to pinpoint where the frequency range is in the acoustic that is providing the most low energy and put a shelving EQ to reduce the level of that range and below by about 2 - 3dB to see if that makes the bass easier to hear.
You can also place a high pass filter on the acoustic guitar from around 100Hz if you haven't already done so. (This only works because there's a bass guitar in the song. If it was just the acoustic guitar you'd leave a bit of 100Hz and below in to fill the low end of the frequency range)

Hope some of this can help you make room for the various instruments in a mix.
The HPF is our friend when it comes to reducing mud in a mix

Dags

[juanjose1967]

Hi, Dags! you were absolutely right! I checked both the bass and the accoustic guitar and yes, there were sharing the same frequencies at 180 hz more or less.

So I've automated a high shelf filter when the bass starts and I think it's now perfect.

You gave me good piece of advice and such a good lesson!! thanks!!!

[sano]

Dags gave you some great advice there and yes I was referring to the low end boom on the guitar.

I like how you used Eq automation on the guitar to reduce the boom, leaving the guitar "full" for the beginning of the song. I never thought about that on my mix. Great idea and I think it worked really well.

The mix is sounding great now, Great job !

[juanjose1967]

tears of happiness rolling down my cheeks (just joking!! I'm a tough guy, you know hehehehe!!)

thanks, Sano!!!

[Dags]

Really well done, Juanjose!
Splendid mix.
The balance between acoustic and bass guitars is better than I achieved with mine

Dags

[takka360]

Nice one,working hard and listening to advice thats paying off for you

[juanjose1967]

thank you guys!!! you're the best!!