Kat Wright - Contact

[Frej]

I would greatly appreciate any feedback this mix.

Edit: As Roy advised, I made the mix brighter: I swapped out the dull sounding tube saturation on the vocals. I boosted the highs on the master bus, and increased the de-essing on the vocals. I think this really opened up the sound.

Edit 2: As suggested by Lukas and Krabbe, I cleaned up the mids in the vocals, and it really helped open up the sound of the mix. I also made a number of other tweaks to the mix to retain the vibe of the earlier mixes, while balancing out the frequency content and improving the clarity of the mix.

[Roy]

It sounds pretty good. Very natural. Maybe too natural? I think overall it could be a little more exciting. The vocal feels a little 'cloudy'. I don't know if that was intentional or if it's a way of dealing with the leakage. I think it could use more overall 'air' to give the song more urgency. It sounds good but feels a bit shy and safe.
Good job.

[Frej]

Thanks for the feedback!

As a musician and fan of acoustic music, I have a very naturalistic sound ideal. For example, this is one of my reference tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdm8beA6m2o

I really like the way songs mixed by Ryan Freeland (like that one) feels hyper real. A bit of sweetening compression, plate reverb and spring reverb, but nothing over the top.

I was going for more of a classic soul sound, than a modern pop sound. I'm more of a warm and smooth kind of guy, than bright and shiny, but a bit more air or presence might make the sound more engaging. Since it's consistent over all instruments, it would be easily fixed with some mastering EQ.

Again, thanks so much for the feedback Roy. I really appreciate it.

[Dave Med]

Hello, sorry for my English, it's not very good. I'm mexican

I heard your mix and I would like to give you some advice.

1. Check the bass phase

2 Give it a little more kick around 2k

3 Try putting just a little saturation in the snare

Please rate my contact version.

Health

[Frej]

Thanks for the feedback Dave!

1. Check the bass phase
I always check the phase I only used the amp for this mix because I wanted a thinner old-fashioned bass sound and there is very little bass bleed, so a phase flip doesn't make a significant difference.
2 Give it a little more kick around 2k
I don't like clicky kick drums...
3 Try putting just a little saturation in the snare
I actually barely processed the individual mics on the drums and did everything on the bus. I think this mix could benefit from some compression & saturation on the close mics.

Thanks again! It's fun to discuss this stuff and get different perspectives. I took more of a "vintage" approach to this mix since it sounds like classic R&B/funk to me, while you mixed it like a modern pop song.

[LukasL]

Hey Frej,

you really managed to bring out the live character of this performance. I feel like I can place every musician in a room in front of me.
The drums have a beautiful room ambience, with boomy kick (in a good) way. Also nice dynamic build up at 2:15 but the horns could come in a bit louder imo.

However, there is a bit of pumping I am hearing on the drums either from a master bus comp or the drum bus itself.
The instruments could also a bit more present in my opinion, to bring the band a bit closer together in terms of volume.
I would also be interested to hear to the vocals would sound if you were to cut a few low-mid frequencies.

Very musical mix.

Cheers,
Lukas

[Frej]

Thank you Lukas! I really appreciate the feedback. I think you really heard what I was going for in this mix. I was focusing on making the listener feel something, and I didn't care much about clarity or making everything audible at all times. I tried not to get hung up on technicalities and focus on the music. I used a bunch of automation to bring out the dynamics of the performances, like the buildup you noticed, but like you said, I probably should get a bit more bold in my automation moves.

Ambience and stereo image is very important to me. I want to feel immersed in the middle of the band, and I have spent a lot of time dialing in the tonality and reverbs to achieve this in my mixes. I also tend to use a lot of the room mic.

As for the pumping, I have compressors on the drum bus and the mix bus. I have been working on the art of bus compression and making it pump in time with the music to enhance the groove, but I guess I'm not getting it quite right yet. Hearing the subtleties of compression is so hard!

I think the whole mix sounds a bit muffled and has too much low mids. Some mastering could really open up the sound.

Thanks again for the feedback. Nice to see someone who gets what I'm doing.

[Krabbe]

Hi
Nice job there
The first thing that pop into my mind is the vocal; it sounds a bit mid-heavy, almost "telephonic"
The overall mix is, still, a bit to the dark side
There's something "odd" about the kick
Overall it works
*Thumps up*

[Frej]

Thanks for the feedback Krabbe!

My main goal of this mix was to focus on making it work musically; making a mix that feels good and avoiding to get too distracted by technicalities. I'm glad you think I succeeded in this.

I actually adjusted the mix after Lukas feedback, but I never came around to publish it here. It addresses a couple of the issues you mention here: the mid buildup in the vocals and the overall brightness, so I decided to upload it after all.

Again, I really appreciate that you take the time to give me some feedback. Thanks!

[Rob Cummings (Hot Milk Studio)]

Hi Frej,
I get what you like with the "warm" style of mixing, I was in that camp for many years too. But the problem is that the mix sounds a bit like the vocal is "stuck in glue" if you know what I mean. Since Kat Wright is the name of the project, then Kat Wright should be up front in the music too, at least that's my perception. Maybe try of your warm space but with a big ol' candle glowing in the center (that would be Kat). At any rate there is still too much midrange buildup, and the bass drum sustain is a bit too long IMO because it basically hides the bass. That'S my other critique, the bass is not audible--what notes are being played? You should work to bring some more separatation to the bass drum and bass guitar. The electric guitar is also a bit too low for my taste, it's essential for the rhythmic drive.