I Am Cassettes : Believe - First mix here !

[Kalloway]

Hello everyone !
I've been using this multitrack library for my own practice for a very long time, yet it's the first time I share a mix with you !
This one took me around 1 hour and a half to go, maybe two hours considering editing time (tracks order, subgroups assignment, etc). As opposite as before, I try to go as fast as possible (never taking more than one day to mix) because otherwise I would spend too much time on small details, and ending with a mix that sounds worse than two days before, etc.

I started the mix with drums, replacing the kick with something deeper - I felt something "smoother" than the original trig. I decided to completly skip overheads and to compensate with room and hi-hat/ride, as the OH tracks seemed to completly mess up with space (like, if you balance them completly left and right, you hear everything in both sides, and Hi-hat all over the place, while snare looses most of it's definition). Anyway, I have no drums programer, so I couldn't do much more to replace overheads. I think it's really noticeable with cymbals that are a bit off, but I really enjoy the feeling it gives, so I decided to let it this way. This ended leaving snare really dry, so I just enhanced it a bit with a low-level OldSkoolVerb.

The bass has really not that much on it, only a smooth compressor with a sidechain from the kick to add to the bass/drums groove, and a reamp simulation to help it going through the mix a bit.

I followed up with the piano, only smoothing attack a bit - it felt really aggressive to me.

Then I kept accoustic guitars almost unchanged, as their sound is awesome. I only removed some dB around 1.3kHz to help them taking their way through the mix. Also, the "Center" one has been shaped with a huuuge lowcut and a huuuge high shelf to bring that sort of "Dream Theater" accoustic guitar sound. I love it.

Not much more to say concerning guitars, the tracks were pretty good overall. I only added a sort of echo to the bridge guitar as I heard it like this from the first time I heard the song. And of course some reverb for lead guitars, and a tiny bit of compression too.

The Orchestre was really a pleasure to mix, with once again awesome tracks, and most of the job consisted in placing them in stereo. Compressor on the harp to reduce the attack, and we move on to backing vocals.

I generally love to end my mixes with voice, even though it requires to "carve" the rest of the mix if you want voices to fit in. So I first placed backing vocals which needed a bit of work as they didnt quiet fit in. I had to severely cut some frequencies, to reduce attack of it and to add a compressor to those vocals.
I choosed to duplicate the "wah" track with some detune and delay to enhance stereo image.

Finally, lead voice had to be severely de-essed, that's why I used 2 different EQs, a very smooth and low-volumed reverb and transparent compression.

By the end I literally love the song and I think my mix does fit with the initial thoughts of the artists, I mean, the ambiance feels great. I hope you enjoyed my mix and feel free to leave a comment !

Oh, and just to mention, english is not my native language, so I apologize if there are too many mistakes :/

[Kalloway]

Any thinkings?

[Kalloway]

noone really?

[FisheRecords]

Hey! I have a thought XD
Nice starting point for a first mix.
There are things to fix but overall your mix sounds pretty solid and well balanced.

What i can tell you at the moment is that I hear the main vocals, on some parts very low and some pretty much in place with the rest of the mix or too high.
Try to check your compression and automate to volume as necessary [record the automation live while listening - that's what professionals do ].

Other than that, maybe EQ here and there to fix some problematic freq and changes from things you fix in the mix.
I hear too much energy in the center that can be cleared and emphasized at the same time.

Regarding your Headroom track; It happens a lot when the mics are out of phase or recorded in a weird position.
First of all, try to hear if the drum player is left-handed or right-handed through the mono tracks of the overheads.
Then take the OH track (L/R according to the drummer's hand) and check that track with each individual track of the drum set for phase issues:

You need to check for example: OH (L/R) - KICK; OH (L/R) - TOP SNARE etc.

It can easily bring your kit to the level it should be and the frequencies will be right where they should.
After you did that try to play with each mono track of the OH tracks and see where they sit properly in the stereo image.
You probable need to adjust them like 20% left 60% right for example (not hard left/right as usual) - but this is just a wild guess.

Hope that helps! Overall liked the mix.

[Kalloway]

Hi ! Thank you very much for the review, much appreciated. I will definitly check overheads like you said, hope I will be able to use them ^^ I can't really hear what you're explaining concerning vocals volume adjustments tho, it feels pretty much the same during the whole track to me. I'll check that !

[FisheRecords]

I'll rephrase myself. The vocals' peak levels and dynamic range for this specific singer vary throughout the different sections of the song.

Try to use WAVE's Vocal Rider (if you have it - or any type or transience & compression that can emphasize the singer's notes and deep voice - if you want you can refer to my mix&master for an example of what I mean).
I see you mentioned use used a "heavy" DeEsser on the vocals - a DeEsser is a type of compressor that can deal with a specific frequency range based on the envelope of your EQ (High pass or 'hill').
Maybe your DeEsser is heavily compressing the vocals and that is why i hear it muffled and uneven at parts. Try to check your DeEsser as well and look for vowels in the frequency range of 4.2khz-6.4khz (depending on the pitch of the singer and if it's a male/female vocalist).
Once you find the specific frequency that emphasizes these vowels the most - compress it in the DeEsser to the level where the vowel is audible but not harsh.
You don't need to eliminate the vowels completely - if you compress over 6gb (=100% in volume) you'll get muffled vocals with a limited dynamic range.

the vocals sound pretty solid although it's hard for me to say at the moment due to all the mid-freq energy you have in the mix.

Once you open the stereo image a bit more you'll hear the vocals better and then you'll see the different pitch and tonality he has in the verses vs. the chorus etc.

let me know if you need any help further.