-Drums were pretty straightforward. I couldn't get the shells to sit right in the mix, but with a little magic (read: transient designer) it sounds great.
-Bass was nothing but some saturation.
-Guitars were good as is, so I just hit them with some automation for more punch to the chorus.
-Vocals were a bit of EQ, some limiter, and some reverb and delay to sweeten it a bit.
-A lot of sautartion was used in this mix. The thought process was similar to something like a grungy pop-punk sound.
-Matering was pretty starightforward. Some EQ, a limiter and a stereo spacer.
My mortal enemy! I look forward to judging this after all these years. I promise I won't hold back!
Um, it's fine. This song is pretty forgiving. I will say it's a bit flat. And that's not so much your fault as the song and arrangement. It's very disaffected, musically. But that said it feels a bit safe and doesn't give the song the push it needs. I don't have an obvious fix. Maybe the guitars could come back and help gel everything? I'm not sure. I'm not being any help but this should be a song that scares me a bit and doesn't. I'm like on the bus and I see this mix and I'm like "please don't sit next to me..." and it sits next to me and it's fine. My pearls remain un-clutched and I'll still vote for Thatcher.
To be more grounded, because for some reason people like that stuff, the "shells" work but feel reserved. The guitars are fairly plodding so the drums are the main source of any passion. The OHs/cymbals feel fine. The bass is ok. I want more but I think that's the part and not the mix. I wish the vocals were more 'snotty'. Again I think the song is so straightforward that the vocals need to create some sense of urgency and they need a lot of help in that sense. Feel like the desire for energy manifests in an overall brightness.
As far as mastering I'm not sure it needs any help from a stereo spreader. That might just blur things. And that's not just a subtle sly reference to a band that could be a good reference.
It's not bad. I wouldn't type this much if it were a bad mix. It could be better though. And please don't pick apart my mix. It's probably worse.
Yes, I have been recently dumped that has no impact on my judgement.
Thanks for the feedback! You're not the only one who was brutal with my mixes (case in point, TLA saying to me WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE KICK?!!! and me being immediately embarrased...yikes) so please be as brutal as you want.
What did you mean by the vocals being "snotty"? I'm not sure what you mean by that.
Yeah, I could hear that the song was mixed a bit too cleanly. I think that I should have leaned more towards a dirtier sound and go more heavy handed on the saturation.
(07-03-2021, 12:24 AM)brandon_parker Wrote: Thanks for the feedback! You're not the only one who was brutal with my mixes (case in point, TLA saying to me WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE KICK?!!! and me being immediately embarrased...yikes) so please be as brutal as you want.
What did you mean by the vocals being "snotty"? I'm not sure what you mean by that.
Yeah, I could hear that the song was mixed a bit too cleanly. I think that I should have leaned more towards a dirtier sound and go more heavy handed on the saturation.
Yeah, listening back to that and I should have hit the compressor on the master bus more and give it more saturation. I thought of taking some highs off and adding a tube or tape emulator but I ended up scrapping that as it added way more noise. Ah well. A learning experience.
