Brennon Causey Mixing - 'A Sailor Once More' FINAL

[401kBC]

So this is my final cut, I did a lot of play back on multiple systems, mostly cheap stuff but very revealing.

 Mastered and done 

To get from v3 to the Final master

All Acoustica Audio plugins
Pink4 preamp on #8 (It evens things out, and it gets brighter the more you push it, so it has a sweet spot)
Ultramarine EQ's a64 and a27 (Really tubey sounds, I boosted the mids 500hz and air 21khz, boosted 50hz, cut 8k, added a hair of 1.2k)

All these adjustments are very slight, but add up. 
I learned that its perfectly legal to automate EQs during mastering... for some reason that just seams scary haha

I lastly added a fairchild670
(And on v2, it's sidechained 60%. Feel the difference? )

[SonicTramp]

I really like the combination of the kick and the bass, very modern sounding. I wish the bass is a bit more steady tho. There are some punchy notes but there are others not so, kinda loose, kinda pumpy, especially the ones with longer sustain. Control that and your bottom end is even more awesome.

The guitar strumming is not as bouncy as I'd like it to be. Sounds like the comp is not releasing fast enough. I also hear a bit of low mid on the guitar, perhaps it is also from hard compression, bringing the dirt up, in this case.

I would like to hear your final mix (hitting around 0 on a VU meter, if possible) without the mastering process.

Over all I think you did a wonderful job. Cheers! Have fun mixing.

*btw, you mentioned boosting @50Hz. I don't think you should bc the song's key is in Bm (~60Hz). It is the tonic/fundamental/most important note the bass guitar produces in this song. Boosting any lower may not help. Perhaps it may even make your bass unsteady. Just a thought.

[401kBC]

I really like the combination of the kick and the bass, very modern sounding. I wish the bass is a bit more steady tho. There are some punchy notes but there are others not so, kinda loose, kinda pumpy, especially the ones with longer sustain. Control that and your bottom end is even more awesome.

The guitar strumming is not as bouncy as I'd like it to be. Sounds like the comp is not releasing fast enough. I also hear a bit of low mid on the guitar, perhaps it is also from hard compression, bringing the dirt up, in this case.

I would like to hear your final mix (hitting around 0 on a VU meter, if possible) without the mastering process.

Over all I think you did a wonderful job. Cheers! Have fun mixing.

*btw, you mentioned boosting @50Hz. I don't think you should bc the song's key is in Bm (~60Hz). It is the tonic/fundamental/most important note the bass guitar produces in this song. Boosting any lower may not help. Perhaps it may even make your bass unsteady. Just a thought.

Thank you for the reply! It's awesome I can hear all these subtleties alot more refined once pointed out. Honestly, it seems the best version I should stay away from the master and leave the dynamics alone.
The Final Mix does sound awesome as I fixed the boxyness of the acoustics, and the thinness of the vocals.
I did however kill the magic in the relation to the balance of everything with compression on the master track. 
I used my emulation of a Fairchild670 plugin by Acoustica and its just ..idk not for the Master imo. It sounds great, very tubey, bassy but changes the feel too much.

I guess once I take that off of the master, It should solve most the bass issues.
I also wonder what the acoustics would sound like with a ducking compressor to the tempo, and another one with a fast release to really get them to bounce like you mention.
Oh yeah btw nice of you to point out the fundamental frequency of the song, cause I really didn't know lol
(I occasionally will look up what frequency a note is I'm hearing, but usually only if there is a problem or for whatever other odd reasons)

That boost at 50hz was with a plugin that only does that, 20hz or 80hz so I just let my ears decide. That boost surely is the reason behind the uneven feeling hitting the compressor. Besides that, the mix is very clean in the bass so even boosting 20hz sounded really good to me, But 50hz was the sweet spot with it of course, makes sense. 

I'll give it another critical listen after getting refreshed. This really is the hardest part for the mixer. That last little bit. Ironically, I think it's the most revealing stage for the listener. I think its got a lot to do with the fact that sense your the person behind mix, you are always focusing everything in it. literally everything, and it overloads the brain. It makes what is actually drawing your attention, disappear because you constantly focus on those other details in the back, that just aren't important anymore. Needed in the song, but it's about the attention at this point.

Maybe that makes sense haha

[SonicTramp]

Sure, bro. Sometimes it is hard to keep perspective when we're focusing intensely, perhaps even obsessively, to the little things. But that's a natural thing to do. With time and practice we will move in and out easily. Not too long ago I have known to hammer out complete craps. But I kept on going, not a lot of choice here , inspired by Churchill who said, "When you're going thru Hell, keep going!" I kept on pressing the compressor/EQ until I hear what it does to my sounds till the sounds become familiar. That's how I practice. And a lot of reading. I still believe in the power of the written words. They have served me well over the years.

The release on the strumming guitar should be around ~58ms or a bit shorter, but not any longer. The pros keep saying that "you should time the release to the beat of the song" or as closely as possible. The strumming sound like they are on the 32nd note. Letting the release off the pedal there should let it bounce back in time. I have 2 compressor on it barely hitting 1.5dBs each, very gentle. both have release ~58ms (32nd note). You can listen back to it and see.