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Jackie Greene – Don't Let The Devil Take Your Mind – Challenging Live Recording
#1
This is the first on stage recording of a full band I have mixed. I found it quite challenging dealing with the unflattering bleed, the boxy sound of the dynamic mics used for live sound and the messy arrangement of this song. In the end I was quite happy with the result. It would be interesting to hear what you think of my approach to this song and how you dealt with these challenges.


.mp3    Jackie Greene – Don\'t Let The Devil Take Your Mind.mp3 --  (Download: 14.16 MB)


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#2
Generally a decent mix. There is a thumpiness to the drums and bass which feels awkward to me and the extreme panning of the guitars feels out of place leaving a pretty big hole in the middle of your mix. I am also missing the organ in places. That's a tricky one as it changes level mid-way through the song. The lead vocal seems to be disjointed from the 'live' feel of the rest of the ensemble and at times even pokes out farther than it already does. I am a bit confused at the lead guitar solo level. It is depressed below the ensemble part of the same guitar. Since you are unfamiliar with mixing live recordings, did you listen to any reference tracks before attempting this mix? I listened to a few of your other mixes on here, and in particular, Amy Helm. In that mix your vocals are highly disjointed from the mix and your background vocals almost non-existent. Sometimes the cohesion of an ensemble is referred to a glue. I think you need a bit more glue in your mix. Your tones are generally good. I think another pass might help you to bring a more cohesive picture of this performance into focus.
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#3
Thanks for taking the time to listen to my mixes!

I think you are exaggerating about the level of the lead guitar. It's not below the ensemble part, but it might need a few more dbs anyway. I have a tendency to undermix distorted sounds like this, because they sound harsh and aggressive even when they are quiet.

I didn't reference any live recordings because I usually don't like the sound of live recording, but I did use a few studio records as references. I don't really care about making this sound like other live recordings, I just want to make it sound good and more importantly feel good.

Placing the instruments in space is very important to me when mixing. In this mix I pushed back the drums, while the bass is a bit more forward and the vocal sits in the front of the mix. The guitars are out to the sides while cross feeding to reverb on the opposite sides. The organ floats around between the left and right, quite far back. To me, this make for a more engaging and immersive listening experience, but maybe I should be more subtle about it. Is this what's making you think my mixes need more glue? Glue is such a broad term. What do you suggest I do to make the sounds more cohesive?

I agree with you that the levels of the vocals, the organ and the lead guitar might need some adjustments and automation. I wasn't trying to create the perfect mix. I do more automation on my real mixes than I do on the multitrack from this webpage. I don't want to spend too much time on these mixes.

Again, thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback.
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