22-09-2019, 07:40 AM (This post was last modified: 17-10-2019, 06:07 AM by FytaKyte.)
Bad puns and spelling aside, here's my take on this one. I haven't done much mixing lately, so I'm a bit out of practice. Let me know the ugly, the bad (and the good, if there is any). Thanks!
*Edit* I've made a few changes based on some suggestions here. (2 Bare Hands_Rev 1.mp3) Let me know what you think!
The mix is essentially solid, but for me is lacking a touch in the width/depth/atmosphere/excitement department. I think a little bit of extra reverb/delay/width enhancement behind the vocal, snare and lead guitar would lift this track and turn it in to something special. It seems to have lost a bit of the 'live' feel to me, and seems a little flat. Maybe also could try a db or so on the mids on the master bus with a wide q or pultech style eq to make it come alive a bit? The mix is ok, but for me it needs a little bit of spice adding.
Just uploaded a mix/master? Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!
It feels pretty good. I'm not sure if the main guitar is relatively loud or the vocal is relatively quiet. Everything sounds good but all of the additional elements that come in eclipse the vocal a bit more each time. Not sure what you did but I'd consider some boost on the vocal at each section to keep pace with the increasing energy from new parts. The vocal really drives this song so it feels like is should be big throughout.
Thinking about mikej's post I do feel like the vocal is a bit staccato. I wonder if you edited the vocal around leakage, and if so it does sound natural, but the vocal feels short and could use some ambiance either with reverb or delay to give it some extra length and excitement. Spice is a good word. That bit of lingering on the palate after you eat. I'm not so concerned about the live feel but this is a song meant to move and push and the vocal shouldn't feel shy.
I know that's all pretentious.
It's a very good mix.
The mix is essentially solid, but for me is lacking a touch in the width/depth/atmosphere/excitement department. I think a little bit of extra reverb/delay/width enhancement behind the vocal, snare and lead guitar would lift this track and turn it in to something special. It seems to have lost a bit of the 'live' feel to me, and seems a little flat. Maybe also could try a db or so on the mids on the master bus with a wide q or pultech style eq to make it come alive a bit? The mix is ok, but for me it needs a little bit of spice adding.
Hey Mike,
I've gone fairly subtle on the ambiance processing, as this is pretty much a "static" mix at this stage. There is actually quite a bit of stuff happening down low in the mix, but I haven't yet automated it fully as I normally would - that is next on the agenda to do.
Thanks for listening and commenting - much appreciated!
(23-09-2019, 06:05 PM)RoyMatthews Wrote: It feels pretty good. I'm not sure if the main guitar is relatively loud or the vocal is relatively quiet. Everything sounds good but all of the additional elements that come in eclipse the vocal a bit more each time. Not sure what you did but I'd consider some boost on the vocal at each section to keep pace with the increasing energy from new parts. The vocal really drives this song so it feels like is should be big throughout.
Thinking about mikej's post I do feel like the vocal is a bit staccato. I wonder if you edited the vocal around leakage, and if so it does sound natural, but the vocal feels short and could use some ambiance either with reverb or delay to give it some extra length and excitement. Spice is a good word. That bit of lingering on the palate after you eat. I'm not so concerned about the live feel but this is a song meant to move and push and the vocal shouldn't feel shy.
I know that's all pretentious.
It's a very good mix.
Thanks Roy - I always enjoy your critiques - well thought out and explained.
I did deliberately "tuck" the vocal down in the mix, as I felt a lot some of the other mixes I heard were somewhat unnaturally vocal-heavy, which made the band feel small. That doesn't gel with my live experience, where the vocals are usually just keeping up with the band.
The impression of the loud level of the instruments may be somewhat intensified because I side-chained the guitars and synth to duck out of the way of the vocal when the vocal is present, and then turn back up again when it isn't - that's my "lazy automation".
I'll work on improving this one some more using the suggestions here, as there is a mix competition using this song over at www.indierecordingdepot.com
24-09-2019, 02:14 AM (This post was last modified: 24-09-2019, 02:19 AM by takka360.)
Sounds really good,that snare sounds a bit sampled a bit too perfect and the bottom end is a bit too thick for me.The guitar,vox level seem fine to me.
The bass is where our ideas are different where you think i dont have enough and i think you have too much.A monitoring thing maybe
(24-09-2019, 02:14 AM)takka360 Wrote: Sounds really good,that snare sounds a bit sampled a bit too perfect and the bottom end is a bit too thick for me.The guitar,vox level seem fine to me.
The bass is where our ideas are different where you think i dont have enough and i think you have too much.A monitoring thing maybe
Thanks Alan! The snare has an ambiance sample only that is mainly sending to the reverb. I thickened up the bottom end of the snare using a parallel, low passed and distorted version of the recorded snare... just trying different things to see if I like it.
Good to know the vocals are intelligible... I'm always amazed at how someone like Eric Valentine manages to get the guitars so apparently loud on the Slash album, yet the vocal is perfectly intelligible beside them, but never dominates like on a country-pop track... That's usually the vibe I go for with guitars.
As I mentioned in the original post, it's been a while since I've done a serious mix, so I'm a bit rusty when judging low end. Usually I get fairly close at first try, but it took a couple of different versions and car stereo tests before I was close to happy with the low end here.
Referencing a Tchad Blake mix against my mix in the car definitely humbles me... nevertheless, I'm always trying to get a big fat low end that is still clean and does become bloated and muddy on my car speakers... it's tricky stuff!
...I'll keep working on it... Thanks for your input!
24-09-2019, 11:34 AM (This post was last modified: 24-09-2019, 12:48 PM by takka360.)
Tchad Blake is a clever man,been doing it donkeys years tho
He does a lot of very dry mixes so you get that in your face punch .He gets to choose his mixes too that will suit what he does
Snare has a great sound and crack to it, sounds really good. I think some lower mids stuff could be removed, it just sounds the smallest bit muddy to me, but just barely. And the vocals to come up a little and then I think it would be a very solid mix.
(25-09-2019, 12:02 PM)Friggy Wrote: Snare has a great sound and crack to it, sounds really good. I think some lower mids stuff could be removed, it just sounds the smallest bit muddy to me, but just barely. And the vocals to come up a little and then I think it would be a very solid mix.
Thanks Friggy. When you say "muddy", are you referring to subs, or low mids? Any specific frequencies I should look at pulling out?
