Judders Living Lie

[Judders]

I stuck pretty close to the reference mix, and there are still some spots that I prefer on that, but my main goal was to make it sound a bit more urgent and exciting. particularly keeping a bit more dynamics (or perception thereof) in the vocals and getting those choruses to hit a bit harder.

The sound overall is a bit smoother.

Any comments welcome!

[Roy]

I like it. Sounds good. I think the kick is a little out front when it first comes in but feels good at the pre-chorus. I like the drums and bass in general. I like the chorus on the bass. I like the bridge idea. Guitars feel good. It's a personal thing but I wish guitar 2 was louder in the chorus as an answer to the vocals. The only thing that really jumps out at me is occasionally the vocal is a bit 'peaky' at some frequencies. Mostly the top of the chorus but it happens throughout when she pushes. Though I think it may help the excitement of the vocal. I'm on the fence. There's just spots where it just hits my ear hard and puts a limit on how loud I can listen. It could just be me though.

Good job.

[Judders]

I like it. Sounds good. I think the kick is a little out front when it first comes in but feels good at the pre-chorus. I like the drums and bass in general. I like the chorus on the bass. I like the bridge idea. Guitars feel good. It's a personal thing but I wish guitar 2 was louder in the chorus as an answer to the vocals. The only thing that really jumps out at me is occasionally the vocal is a bit 'peaky' at some frequencies. Mostly the top of the chorus but it happens throughout when she pushes. Though I think it may help the excitement of the vocal. I'm on the fence. There's just spots where it just hits my ear hard and puts a limit on how loud I can listen. It could just be me though.

Good job.

Thanks man!

Yeah, I'm with you on that 2nd guitar. I found the modulation effect on it made some bits stick out a lot more than others, I did duplicate that bit and do a bit to make it stick out more, but it was a fine line between it poking out too much and not enough.

I do need to do more vocal automation, too.

So yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with all your points!

[Judders]

I tweaked my mix, based on Roy's comments and a couple of things that were bothering me, too.

Now I'm thinking the cymbals are a bit too harsh... oh well, maybe there'll be another mix posted later.

Edit: and if I do this again, I know I have to automate some of the consonants at the end of phrases in the intro!

[Roy]

I like the 2nd version. As a listener, I like the dynamics. Gtr 2 feels better in the chorus. Some of the background vocals could come up. Especially in the post solo sections. (2:55). Maybe the whispers too. The cymbals don't feel harsh but the OHs are washy. It's just the recording. That said, I never noticed the cymbals but mentioning them since you did.

As an engineer, I still think the intro kick is too much. Not sure you dealt with it but if anything it could be a little smaller during that section. A pulse as opposed to a "Kick Drum!". There are some clicks at the very top. Not a big deal but they stand out. The lead guitar (gtr 6?) might have too much verb. It's a pretty washy part so the verb may accentuate that.

All pretty minor. I think it sounds really good but those are the things that jumped out at me.

[Judders]

I like the 2nd version. As a listener, I like the dynamics. Gtr 2 feels better in the chorus. Some of the background vocals could come up. Especially in the post solo sections. (2:55). Maybe the whispers too. The cymbals don't feel harsh but the OHs are washy. It's just the recording. That said, I never noticed the cymbals but mentioning them since you did.

As an engineer, I still think the intro kick is too much. Not sure you dealt with it but if anything it could be a little smaller during that section. A pulse as opposed to a "Kick Drum!". There are some clicks at the very top. Not a big deal but they stand out. The lead guitar (gtr 6?) might have too much verb. It's a pretty washy part so the verb may accentuate that.

All pretty minor. I think it sounds really good but those are the things that jumped out at me.

Thanks for the detailed reply, I appreciate it!

I'll listen over those things later.

As for the kick drum, it might be a monitoring problem at my end. How does it compare to the library preview mix to you? I'm hearing mine as a lot quieter compared to that, but maybe I've got some sub bass stuff going on that I'm not hearing...

EDIT: Ooh, just noticed those clicks... think it must have been the buffer not cleared before I rendered or something.

[Roy]

I haven't listened to the reference in a while and it might be hard to judge relatively speaking. It's not so much a volume thing as the weight of it, the low end. Kicks are usually rhythmic and anchors. It just needs to be rhythmic here. Maybe because there's no bass guitar there. It just feels like it adds some weight to those few bars that pull the ear away.

[Judders]

Okay, I think I've got it.

Washy guitars were carelessness on my part. I wanted that delay on the first guitar solo but forgot to automate the send level. Clicks were my processor straining, so freezing some tracks sorted that out.

I took Roy's advice on the intro kick, and it sounds much better to me in comparison. Also brought up the BV's in a spot or two, though I chose to keep the whispers quiet because I liked the idea of that being something that just adds to the texture and would take a few listens to actually realise what it is.

A few other tweaks here and there.

[ThomasStevenson]

Hi Judders - thanks for mixing our track ! Just had a listen to 'C' - like it a lot! Most of my comments are fairly minor or subjective so take what you like from it

- nice build to the chorus !
- like the effect on the arpeggiated guitar at the chorus. I am the guitar player too, so take it as a compliment
- chorus guitar balance really works for me. I feel these panned guitars there are missing some 200Hz ish though. A bit of weight - depends if you want to steal from the bass. Guitar player comment again ! One caveat to this - thought they worked really well as is during the lead parts.
- bridge part - bass was too prominent for my taste. In my reference mix, I dropped out the drums to just the room mic and I stole some frequencies from the bass as well - a lower level on the bass in this quieter part would work too. Similar to what you did on the intro build (ie)
- liked your reverb choices - drums sound really good to me
- bass tone has a little bit of honkiness - minor point just noticed it a couple of times
- a little bit of vocal harshness at times - I know I had to multiband out something like 6-8db at 3-5kHz to address.

Really enjoyed my listen to your mix. Thanks again for mixing the song !

Thomas

[Judders]

Thank you for the detailed comments Thomas, and thank you for being kind enough to let us mix your song!

Yes, I did strip the guitars of quite a bit of low mids, but it's not easy fitting everything together without getting muddy or eating up too much headroom. Especially competing with those toms in the pre-chorus!

I can see what you're saying about the bass in the bridge, it is very prominent.

I actually quite like that bit of honk to the bass. It makes those fills poke their head out.

It is a difficult voice to EQ when she gets strident. Each mix I have tamed it a bit more, but it's only with the perspective of a bit of a break that you can hear it with fresh ears again. At the moment I'm still stuck on "it sounds much smoother than the last mix". I'll listen again tomorrow!

Thanks again.