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Adam Buckley: 'Drag Me Down' is my first mix on this forum
#11
@cranky Emu

His mix sounds very good. I've been to nail the mix and the wall of sound is something typical in a song of this genre. The bass carries less weight in comparision with the guitars and drums. Bass in these songs are usually in the far back just to give support to low end and that edge in the fret noise area. Most songs have a very subtle bass "apparently" but it you take the bass out then you notice the difference.
As for the DI guitars, recordings usually provide DI to run them through an amp simulator so you can use your own tones. Clearly this band wanted to use distortion in that part or else they wouldn't have given you tracks with distortion rhythm guitars, but it's definitely your choice to just run the DI's... in my opinion DI's bring no support to the excitement of the mix.
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#12
(05-01-2019, 02:59 AM)Shul Wrote: @cranky Emu

His mix sounds very good.
Agreed, I am not shooting down his mix - although my thoughts/comments seem to be taken that way.

I will upload my mix of the song soon, I would be interested in hearing both your's and Lukes thoughts on it. I am very open to comments and input.

Quote:the wall of sound is something typical in a song of this genre.
Okay, I am not real familiar with this type of music, first to admit that.

Quote:but it's definitely your choice to just run the DI's...
Only when it suits. It is objective, everyone has their own idea of how it should sound. Luke is obviously way more 'at home' with this style of music than I. The preliminary mix I put up for comparison of mixing styles, my final version (which I just finished) sounds a lot different.

Maybe I went about it the wrong way, but I was trying to push Luke a little, as I am sure he can come up with an even better mix, I feel he has the capability to do so.
► C. Emu ◄
The Box of goodies...
♪ DAW: Reaper / Ocenaudio ♫ Audio Interface: Focusrite 2i2
♯ Monitors: Alesis Elevate 6 / Focusrite Scarlett HP-60
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#13
(02-01-2019, 08:11 AM)Shul Wrote: Version 2 is better than the first.
here are my observations

*Reverb on intro guitars is quite strong. There is a build up in mid freq. there that I particularly do not like. I would highpass the reverb a lil more to get rid of some of that build up. or perhaps the tail is too long and is making me hear that not sure.
*Vocals are very muddy in the low end. There is an excess of low end rumble in it. Sounds like a boost on the vocal track because the instrumentation does not suffer from this bulk in the low end.
*The drums are really punchy good job on them. If anything I would brign back that reverb. Not sure if it's in the master bus or in the snare but the stereo reverb in the drums is quite strong. It's a taste thing so you can totally ignore this.
*Is there reverb on the top end of the bass? if so I think it's too much.. if not then my ears are playing tricks on me.
*on the last part of the song that acoustic rhythm guitar has a really STRONG boost on the top end.. the strumming is really poking out way too much in my opinion. I would compress that with a de-esser or with a multicompressor.

Finishing the song sounds more like you added a master reverb on the master buss but you kinda over did it. I could be wrong.

It's a good mix. Just more polished reverb on it and that vocal clean up will get your mix on the money in my opinion. Perhaps less top end on that bass but hey that's a taste thing for me.

Hope this helps and good job.

Thanks for all your inputs Shul! I'm taking notes on all yours and Emu's feedbacks.

I'm gonna take care of the low end on the vocals you pointed out, and also the reverbs and the acoustic strumming.

Yeah, there's a bit of reverb on the bass for the bridge section just to place it in the same ambient as all the other elements there, as this part is more soft and loses a lot of instruments. I feel it's a bit weird to have such an spacious song and the bass be the only dry element. Gotta balance out it better then.

I don't like placing a reverb on the master bus, so your impression must be with because of my reverbs levels. I have a bit of difficulty listening to reverb trails on my headphones and I always end up exaggerating them, specially on the vocals, so thanks for pointing out that I have to be careful with those.

Also, thanks for the compliment on the drums Big Grin
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#14
(02-01-2019, 01:51 PM)Cranky Emu Wrote: I wasn't trying to put you or your gear down, so hope you did not get that impression. Just with the mix, it seemed as is you were over-compensating for what is lacking in your monitoring set-up. I can't comment on the AKG's, never seen nor heard them. Tried to google them but could not find anything.

That's all right dude, never felt you were trying to put my gear down, those headphones are usually used for stage reference... I was just explaining that I'm far from ideal.


(02-01-2019, 01:51 PM)Cranky Emu Wrote: Car stereos/speakers are really notorious for colouration of the sound. Your headphones would probably be far more accurate.

My headphones are by no means high-end either, nor are my main monitors. But we work with what we have.

Yeah, car stereos do color the sound, but I mainly check them to see if the mix is punchy and the low end is consistent and now overbearing when compared to professional mixes. As you said, we work with what we have, so I always compare them to other mixes, knowing the sound they have on my car.

(02-01-2019, 01:51 PM)Cranky Emu Wrote:
Quote:in the original I can barely hear them so, what was the point of recording them?
Just because they are not in your face, doesn't mean they should not be there. A mix is a like a building, you start with a foundation, then build on that.
They don't need to be on your face it that's the style of the mixer, my point is that you don't even notice the guitars because they are so low on the original mix.


(02-01-2019, 01:51 PM)Cranky Emu Wrote:
Quote:I don't know if you realized but, in the mix files there's also DI's for the guitars and in your mix you let the DI's almost as loud as mine, but without the distortion Tongue
Yep that is right, you don't always need distortion or massive amounts of it.

(05-01-2019, 07:00 AM)Cranky Emu Wrote:
(05-01-2019, 02:59 AM)Shul Wrote: but it's definitely your choice to just run the DI's...
Only when it suits. It is objective, everyone has their own idea of how it should sound.

I have to completely disagree with you on your statement Emu. DIs don't suit anything in the mix unless they are processed, that's why they are there.
I am not talking about distortion alone (as is the case of this song), but even if they were supposed to be clean guitars, or with a soft overdrive on them, process or reamp the DIs through an Amp, even a Fender amp as clean as it can be, because if you want to use them, you are demanded to process them.
DIs are lifeless, they have no excitement to them, they are recorded with the single purpose of being able to have an different option of processing.For this song, they are available in case you don't link the tone provided for the rhythm guitars, so you can have your own tone, with as much gain you and color you think would suit best the song.

Sorry if I sounded rude, I'm not trying to put you down, I'm just making an emphasis on my statement that perhaps your understanding on how you should use the DIs are a bit off.

(05-01-2019, 07:00 AM)Cranky Emu Wrote:
(05-01-2019, 02:59 AM)Shul Wrote: @cranky Emu

His mix sounds very good.
Agreed, I am not shooting down his mix - although my thoughts/comments seem to be taken that way.

Not taking your comments the bad way Emu, since some of them seemed to be mostly creative differences, I argued back trying to explain what my vision and goals are. I appreciate all your feedback, other points of view are always a good thing, and I took a lot what you said in consideration.

I really appreciate and thank you both for your time to listen and comment on my mix Big Grin
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#15
I'm looking forward to hearing your next mix Luke.
► C. Emu ◄
The Box of goodies...
♪ DAW: Reaper / Ocenaudio ♫ Audio Interface: Focusrite 2i2
♯ Monitors: Alesis Elevate 6 / Focusrite Scarlett HP-60
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