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MekaPhil_AliveYetFree
#1
Hello everyone!

Today I finished the mix of this song. Really enjoyed this punk-rock/anime/metalcore theme.What I found strange (not in a bad way) were the guitar DIs. They are so so clean and they have a lot of high end.Were they going through an EQ while recording them ? If anybody knows leave a comment. Being so bright I think it effects how the sound will come from an amplifier and cab and you got to be careful with how much gain and treble you add. That was a small challenge for me, to find a ballanced amp sim/cab combination.
As always I added some plugins to my master track, to make everything more cohesive and increase the volume/loudness. One of them is ThrillSeeker from Variety of Sound. This thing is amazing. It adds body, air , width and saturation over your whole mix. But it is doing it in a subtle way and you have a lot of control over it and how much you want from each ellement. I highly suggest that you try it

Also I am not 100% satisfied with how the lead vocals sit in the mix. Nonetheless I am happy with the result.

Enjoy and leave a comment! Cool


.mp3    AliveYetFree_MIX_1.mp3 --  (Download: 9.27 MB)


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#2
Hey, I really like the details and tones that you put into the mix!

I'm no veteran in mixing/mastering, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

In my opinion:
-I find that the vocals have a nice clarity to it, though you need to watch out for those clicks in the high end of the screams, these are very noticeable in the mix. In addition, I miss some mid range in the vocals.
-The main rhythm guitars too are really scooped and bright, perhaps they could use some more lows or mids, or maybe even the vocals could cover the mid range if you prefer it!
-The drums are punchy, especially the snare. I also like that you went for the metallic part of the snare, it adds a nice color to it. I find It kind of hard to bring that part out in these types of snare, so good job! In addition, the kick could be a little bit more clicky to help it cut  better through the mix.
-Some toms have a little sustain resonance in the mix (that I forgot to gate it off in my mix too, lol), but your job with the toms still sounds good nonetheless!
-For my ears (and headphones), you did a nice job gain staging.

I have to agree with you that the DIs genuinely sound treble boosted, and threw me off a little in my session, even with a deep high shelf cutting the highs, it was still was too bright.

Sorry for the long read and I hope you have a nice day Big Grin
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#3
Hello! The guitar DIs are a squier stratocaster, single coil, with the tone knobs at 10 and 3/4, so it's likely that the brightness you're hearing was actually a roll off on the low end and all the high tone coming through. However, there was no EQ on the DIs themselves! Smile Hope that helps.

I actually really like your mix, I just feel like there's 3 things that could help out.
-Overall, that 4k gotta go down. Seriously. It's very aggressive. Cut 4khz overall and the song feels a lot cleaner!
-Those guitars could benefit from 400hz-500hz being brought up a little, and definitely cut THEIR 4khz. That's where the majority of the harshness is.
-I actually really love the overall mix here, and the guitar tones. They just needed that 4khz wide-ish cut Smile
-The kick could use a WEE bit of 60hz boost.

Overall, I like it, but since the guitars are SCREAMING in 4khz, everything else gets lost behind them. Cut that area and you'll feel SO much better about how everything comes together.
Trust me, I mixed the original haha.
Thank you for your mix!
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#4
(28-07-2022, 11:31 AM)w4rrior Wrote: Hey, I really like the details and tones that you put into the mix!

I'm no veteran in mixing/mastering, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

In my opinion:
-I find that the vocals have a nice clarity to it, though you need to watch out for those clicks in the high end of the screams, these are very noticeable in the mix. In addition, I miss some mid range in the vocals.
-The main rhythm guitars too are really scooped and bright, perhaps they could use some more lows or mids, or maybe even the vocals could cover the mid range if you prefer it!
-The drums are punchy, especially the snare. I also like that you went for the metallic part of the snare, it adds a nice color to it. I find It kind of hard to bring that part out in these types of snare, so good job! In addition, the kick could be a little bit more clicky to help it cut  better through the mix.
-Some toms have a little sustain resonance in the mix (that I forgot to gate it off in my mix too, lol), but your job with the toms still sounds good nonetheless!
-For my ears (and headphones), you did a nice job gain staging.

I have to agree with you that the DIs genuinely sound treble boosted, and threw me off a little in my session, even with a deep high shelf cutting the highs, it was still was too bright.

Sorry for the long read and I hope you have a nice day Big Grin
Hey, thanks a lot for the comment and your points on the mix!

It is true that guitars need a high end cut as they take off a lot of energy from the mix. I also agree that some mid range boost would make the mix fuller. I recently noticed that in general my mixes lack some of the low-mids so sometimes they sound scooped so I am trying to work that out.

About the snare drum I'm happy you liked it. I used a clipper, a transient enchansment plugin, and some saturation (+compression) to bring attack and punch to the snare. Also I heavily compressed and saturated the drums room track that also added to the snapiness and the attack of the snare drum.

Thanks again! Big Grin
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#5
(28-07-2022, 03:18 PM)aftercutrecords Wrote: Hello! The guitar DIs are a squier stratocaster, single coil, with the tone knobs at 10 and 3/4, so it's likely that the brightness you're hearing was actually a roll off on the low end and all the high tone coming through. However, there was no EQ on the DIs themselves! Smile Hope that helps.

I actually really like your mix, I just feel like there's 3 things that could help out.
-Overall, that 4k gotta go down. Seriously. It's very aggressive. Cut 4khz overall and the song feels a lot cleaner!
-Those guitars could benefit from 400hz-500hz being brought up a little, and definitely cut THEIR 4khz. That's where the majority of the harshness is.
-I actually really love the overall mix here, and the guitar tones. They just needed that 4khz wide-ish cut Smile
-The kick could use a WEE bit of 60hz boost.

Overall, I like it, but since the guitars are SCREAMING in 4khz, everything else gets lost behind them. Cut that area and you'll feel SO much better about how everything comes together.
Trust me, I mixed the original haha.
Thank you for your mix!
Hello!

Thanks a lot for the feedback and the info on the guitar DIs! Now it makes sense why the sound so clean and bright. I totally agree about the guitars and the lack of low-mids in the mix. At some point I will work the mix again and fix those screaming guitars haha.

Thanks again. Big Grin
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