Dark Ride: 'Burning Bridges' kapu mix

[kapu]

used awesome greativity in the middle section. ^_^

[Blitzzz]

The snare is really hard-hitting, but has a bit too much of the spotlight in this mix. It rivals the vocals which is never a good idea. Try to bring it down by 1-2 db or so but don't change anything else. Except of the background vocals - I really don't like that you killed the 2nd part of the solo and brought those damn Oooohoohooo-Voices up. I whish I had never recorded them, because 9 out of 10 people think they are more important than the guitar solo! It's a f*ckin metal song, not a gregorian / "chant of the mystic" song ffs =)

To sum it all up: Bring the snare down and PUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE GUITAR SOLO IN THE SPOTLIGHT (if you really wanna please me, make it at least 10db louder than anything else - thank you, the guitar player aka the guy writing this comment). Do this or the gods of metal will crush you!
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After thinking about it for a second, make the solo 20db louder!

[kapu]

The snare is really hard-hitting, but has a bit too much of the spotlight in this mix. It rivals the vocals which is never a good idea. Try to bring it down by 1-2 db or so but don't change anything else. Except of the background vocals - I really don't like that you killed the 2nd part of the solo and brought those damn Oooohoohooo-Voices up. I whish I had never recorded them, because 9 out of 10 people think they are more important than the guitar solo! It's a f*ckin metal song, not a gregorian / "chant of the mystic" song ffs =)

To sum it all up: Bring the snare down and PUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE GUITAR SOLO IN THE SPOTLIGHT (if you really wanna please me, make it at least 10db louder than anything else - thank you, the guitar player aka the guy writing this comment). Do this or the gods of metal will crush you!
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After thinking about it for a second, make the solo 20db louder!

oh mighty songmaster, i've taken heed of your legendary wisdom on this heroic quest, and revealed the solo guitars in their full glory, and put to near silence the dissonant voices of drunken peasants. the allpowerful blacksmith of thunder has kindly agreed to restrain his hammerforce on the anvils of deathstruction and restore balance into the realm. ^_^

EDIT: also added 3rd version, which is basically version 2 with minor tweaks and driven through affordable SSL G-type hardware clone bus compressor with "The Glue" settings.

EDIT2: added 4th version, major revisit.

[Blitzzz]

My thoughts on V4:

This is an excellent mix, if you bring the vocals up just a tiny bit. Don't overdo it, 0,5 to 1db is probably more than enough.

I haven't done a comparison of my favorite Burning Bridges mixes on this forum, but this is definitely in the Top Five, and probably a strong contender for the first place. If you turn up the vocals as suggested the balance is perfect for my ears - the HiFi enthusiasts on this forum will probably find something to criticize, but for me, this is a powerful, clever and punchy mix that - I REALLY HATE TO SAY THIS - is better than the original. I even like that you honed down the edges of the guitar sound to make it sound more modern and up to date which is rare. To be honest, I like the guitar sound in your mix more than my original tone. That REALLY hurts

To sum it all up: V4 is full of tasteful, adequate mixing decisions, really great (but subtle) effects, and a handful of advanced mixing tricks that really bring the song to the next level. The good thing is that I never had the feeling that you wanted to show your full repertoire of tricks, but always acted in the spirit of the song. This is especially rare, not only on this forum, but in general. E.g. I had goosebumps at 3:00 thx to the clever combination of the cymbal swell (?) and the bass slide before crushing into the last chorus. The slight delay between swell and bass slide brilliantly plays with the listener's expectations and is absolutely fantastic.

Is it possible to get a wavs of this mix with and without any mastering on your side? I want to archive it in our cloud just in case we gonna do a remix album at some point.

[kapu]

My thoughts on V4: [...]

thanks for listening and feedback. good to hear i managed to make it better. PMd a link to wav files. ^_^