Egda Carolyn: Saudade Do Teu Beijo first mix

[goo]

Hello everyone,
this is my first complete mix, just getting into music mixing, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, enjoy (I hope)

[novalix]

Hello and welcome to this forum!
You 've picked a nice song for your first try at mixing. It is trickier as it seems though.
Here are my suggestions:
Try to control the kick more. It could get some EQ-Love. Do not only think of adding but also of substracting. Play with the fader.
Those programmed drums are sometimes hard to tame.
Explore the stereo field by panning some of the instruments (especially those percussion thingies). Make room in the center for those elements that belong there (kick, bass, vocals).
Reconsider the use of reverb on the vocals. The chorus part is more in a rap or scat style. Think of it not only as a melodic but also a rhythm element. Those long reverb tails make it washy and put the voice in greater distance to the listener.
You could try to solo the center axis of kick, bass and vocal and make them "dance" together. Then build everything else around it.

[goo]

Thanks a lot! It's true, the song's a gem and she has a crazy voice...
Anyway,

> Try to control the kick more. It could get some EQ-Love. Do not only think of adding but also of substracting. Play with the fader.

This is actually the only comment I don't totally understand, since the first step I do is usually EQ the stuff I don't like out. I guess it might just be a taste thing since I actually kinda like how the kick sounds but maybe there's something else I'm not hearing there.

> Explore the stereo field by panning some of the instruments (especially those percussion thingies). Make room in the center for those elements that belong there (kick, bass, vocals).

They are panned, just not much because then it sounded like too much but it might just be because I was paying attention to it. Maybe it's not that noticeable if you don't actually listen closely and probably does sound better, I'll give it a try, thanks.

> Reconsider the use of reverb on the vocals. The chorus part is more in a rap or scat style. Think of it not only as a melodic but also a rhythm element. Those long reverb tails make it washy and put the voice in greater distance to the listener.

Yeah, reverb is always there and I think it's a nice touch but I went a bit crazy with it in the chorus, it's definitely too much.

> You could try to solo the center axis of kick, bass and vocal and make them "dance" together. Then build everything else around it.

That's precisely how I mixed it, so I guess at least I got that right.

I'll play around with it a bit more and reupload. Thanks again for the tips.

[novalix]

Hi!
Regarding the kick sound:
I am totally biased in the sense that i don 't like these programmed drum sounds at all. But, what do i know? Maybe i 'm just a snobish old fart.
On a more objective level one could ask, how much do those "door knocking" frequencies distract from the flow of the voice and other elements.
Maybe just try some dipping of the frequency range around 700 - 800 Hz of the kick while listening to the whole song.

[goo]

Okay, so I made some changes.

Panned a lot more, as you suggested. THANKS, it sounds a lot clearer in the middle actually, that's something I'll definitely keep in mind in the future. This added clarity made me realize there were some frequencies I didn't particularly like in the voice, in the 300-800Hz area, so I tamed them a bit. I raised the bass volume a bit, it might be too much but I can't really tell. I also had another look at the kick, made some changes; it still sounds kick-y but might bother you a lot less. Let me know, thanks again.

[novalix]

I think that 's a real enhancement.