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Sant Jordi
#1
Well, I've made a few comments on other threads so I guess I should show my work. First time with this genre of music so I could be totally off base. I wasn't absolutely certain about what mattered to the artist so I guessed.  This is such an interesting blend of dance song and folk music.  The song reminds me of a band I heard live called Captain Tractor - they did a pretty interesting remake of "Druken Sailor" so I used that as a bit of inspiration.  https://youtu.be/M0rgblVwi5w if you're interested

First, I was shocked that I hardly used any effects in this song.  Just didn't seem to warrant it.  EQ, compressor, maximizer, verb, volume sliders and pan knobs ... that's about it. 

I tried one new thing (for me). I smashed down the drum kit in parallel (pre-fx off the drum buss) just to make it snap a bit and I'm happy with how that came out (20:1, 20ms attack, .5 ms hold and long release 200ms). If you haven't tried this technique, do. Make the meter jump hard at whatever db level you give it, just don't overrun the input tolerance on your compressor and you won't be sorry. I set threshold at -24db but that worked for my mix because of the signal strength I was sending. Once that's done just try adjusting the ratio of squash v.s. buss faders until it sounds good and give it one more tweak with the other instruments in the monitor. I doubt this is a good strategy for every song but I'm going to try it with other types of tracks down the road and see how it goes. 

Feedback is always appreciated.  Maybe I blew it and it sounds horrible to others. This is the place to learn.

** Now that I listen to it again, I'd twist up the snare a bit. It's not bad, just could be better.


.mp3    SantJordi.mp3 --  (Download: 3.65 MB)


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#2
Hi!

To me the drums sound a bit buried underneath the rest and are not punching through as I expected given that write up.  I suspect the actual issue is that you are perhaps running out of mix headroom, and also have the rest of the band too loud in the mix compared to the drums?

I would perhaps suggest forgetting the parallel chain to start with.  Play just the drums, and turn up the monitors until they are sounding at a good level to you.  You want some decent headroom on the mixbus at this point also. 6db+.  You can always make things loud at the end with a limiter or whatever. 

Bring in the other instruments one by one.  Listen to how the level of each new instrument you bring in masks and changes the perceived impact of the drums.  This should help you with setting levels and also give some eq ideas also, with regards to high passing, etc.  Eg if you want the kick to have impact, listen to how bringing in each element affects that. 

Once done, if you still feel the need for more impact you can bring in the parallel chain at this point.

If you have separate drum, instrument and vocal buses you can use those to adjust the relative balance also.

I feel that I always have the drums too low in my mixes, so I hope the above helps some.  Also worth referencing the library mix of this one too.

Cheers!
Just uploaded a mix/master?  Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!
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#3
Hi...!

Good mix..! Probably you need to balance better the single instruments, guitars and drums are a little bit low and i listen too much rumble on the bass... with a little touch you can do a great mix..! Smile
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#4
I like your sound, but I would go for a more ...snappy....punchy  Bass. It seems it is in the way to hear the other instruments better.  

Greetings   Bob
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