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Cage In a Cave
#1
I'm new to the forum here and look forward to an exchange of ideas!

I have a fair amount of amateur experience with mixing and am in my first semester of audio engineering school. I'm a late bloomer at 42... Anyway, school directed me to Cambridge and I'm really enjoying working with these files. I particularly enjoyed working with this song, and welcome feedback. I took some pretty extreme liberties with the vocals (immediately noticeable in the first verse) but I feel they serve the song. (It's what I heard in my head almost immediately.)


.mp3    Cage.mp3 --  (Download: 6 MB)


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#2
Is there a forum with more activity? Do more recently released songs get more attention?
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#3
Its a bit of a shame that a lot of people don't give feedback etc they cant be bothered .I dont know why a lot of them are even on here .
As for the mix its sounding pretty good ,i like the amount of room you used it gives it a dark feel.
Not so sure about the panned vox tho.Also the vox sound a bit low in the chorus
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#4
Hi!

Sure, it can be a bit hit and miss regarding getting feedback, etc, for many reasons. One being the huge number of sessions that are available here to mix. Yes, the more recent sessions are more popular and get a bit more traffic for a month or so, but it really does depend on so many factors.

Probably 30+ of my mixes on here have no comments, if that makes you feel any better Smile. Mostly probably for the best in a lot of cases too. Whatever happens, I'm getting lots of practice in and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't, trying new things, reading up and researching stuff, etc. Mostly finding what doesn't work...

My advice would be to stick at it. Work on and post a few mixes, comment on a few mixes, etc, see what happens. Give it a bit of time.

There's a few that post on here that are truly expert at this particular genre who check in from time to time, and their comments and mix tips are invaluable. People that have been generous enough to provide their band's tracks too. It's well worth reading through the comments on some of the other mixes, and checking out the comments and mix tips too.

Not checked them for a while but I think my attempts at mixing a few tracks from this genre are mostly really quite terrible. I learned a huge amount from tackling them (and failing) though. I really must give them another try soon.

This is partly why I feel I cannot really offer any reasonable critique right now. It's also a little late here and my ears are a bit tired. I know that doesn't really help you with your mix, but thought a little insight might help a little here. I'll try and check it out and do my best to post few thoughts on the mix tomorrow if I can, all the same.

Hopefully you might pick up a few comments in the mean time.

Cheers!
Just uploaded a mix/master?  Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!
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#5
Mike and Alan have pretty much said it all already. When it comes to posting here I just honestly get fatigued and it's hard to get the motivation to critique mixes very often. I wish I could post more but it's not that easy to give anything back of any weight. It's not a very active place. A lot of people just kind of come and go and post when they can. Which is fine. Any feedback is valuable.

Anyway, I've been taking a break but I'll give my 2 cents. Overall it sounds good. I like the delay on Intro Guitar but the effect might be relatively loud and blurs the rhythm. The Drums and Bass sound pretty good. Nothing really jumps out at me to complain about. I'm not a fan of the panned vocal in the first verse. It just feels too small. I know it's something you heard in your head but maybe that idea can be reworked and translate a bit better to suit the song. The second verse guitars might be a little loud. Maybe less delay on the vocals in the second chorus. The level is ok but maybe pick and choose where it comes in and out. Same for the bridge. I like delay but it's just a bit, everywhere. Consider using it as an accent. Bridge guitars maybe could come back a bit too.

Hope that helps. Listen to other mixes on here of any song. Ask questions. If something moves you, good or bad, leave a comment. You may be relatively new but if something jumps out at you it's valid. Just don't be a jerk like me.
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#6
Hi!

Yeah, I agree with Roy & takka's comments really.

It generally sounds good. Drums are about right for me, maybe the bass is merging with the kick a touch, but it's generally ok.

For me the vocal needs to be a bit more upfront and center, with a bit of air and detail. I think if you can get a good conventional vocal in the middle, then you can add your ideas as maybe a parallel chain and also as a bit of stereo interest?

The guitars are a little set back in the mix. I think you are missing some midrange detail and can get them a bit more upfront. Maybe think about adding a touch more width to the mix here and there also? If you level match and A/B with the example mix you'll hopefully get what I mean here.

You might get some mileage from checking out mixes from bands like Machine Head and Killswitch Engage. Oh, also check out the recent-ish Judas Priest live videos on youtube (Live At The Seminole Hard Rock Arena) - I think the sound on that is really good.

Is that the kind of thing you are looking for?

Cheers!
Just uploaded a mix/master?  Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!
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