Starnes & Shah - Prodigal Son

[mikej]

Hi!

Nice recording.  Love how the guitar fades into the amp noise/distortion.

Cheers!

Update:

Added mix 2.0. Hopefully an improvement?

[Roy]

I dunno. I've heard better recordings....

My gut reaction is that it feels a bit aggressive and mid-rangy. At first, it feels like the main guitar sets the tonal standard and other elements seem to build off of and fight it. A softer guitar tone could allow the vocals to also be a bit softer. The guitar set the stage by pulling its knife out and now there rest of the band has to open their switch blades and the conversation is just a bit too tense. I think this also hurts the overall dynamics. The song is pretty basic, rhythm wise, and I think the dynamics of the song could be exploited more to balance out the simplicity.

After a second listen I think that maybe the snare actually set the tone. It feels like you went fairly bright like a normal rock snare but the drums were played with bundles which is a softer tone. At least until the outro which is snares. Seamless edit! But I wonder if that aggressive snare sound influenced the guitar which influenced the vocals and now we all need stitches.

Since there's so much midrange/ upper mids I think the bass could, in terms of this mix, occupy the lower mids and fill that section out more and make it feel a little less top heavy. There just isn't much going on in that space.

I think the vocal(s?) could have a little more verb/space. I think the edits around the vocals are a bit choppy so just some extra temporal depth could help and make them feel a little 'lazier' and casual. As pretentious as that may sound.

I wish there were more of the cymbals but I know it's difficult considering the lack of mics. You swapped the perspective to audience pov and for some reason that throws me off.

I think that's it. It feels a bit more aggressive that it might need to be. If that makes sense.

[mikej]

Talking about sticking the knife in, is this really that bad??

Cheers!

[Roy]

I'm sorry, did I over sell it? I didn't mean to come across as harsh. I do think the overall mix is a bit aggressive and midrangy. Maybe I came across as too melodramatic. I apologize.

I find it a bit harsh and aggressive. Mostly in the midrange areas.

I don't think it's bad but I think you went in maybe the wrong direction. If that makes sense. I don't say that as an insult. I know you can produce quality mixes.

The I apologize if I was unnecessarily flowery. This is why I refrain from commenting on mixes. I just get bored and get needlessly inspired to elaborate and hence, obfuscate.

[mikej]

Hi!

Nah it's fine. I was genuinely just checking. It's ok by me to say that yes it is that bad. Can't quite put my finger on what you are trying to say, but I'm getting the distinct impression you feel it's perhaps a bit harsh aggresive and midrangey.

I think the preview mix somehow threw me off course a bit. I shall give it another shot.

Cheers!

[Roy]

Yeah, I mixed the preview version. It sucks, don't go by that. Go by what the song needs.
[Edit: Actually, no I don't think I mixed the preview mix. I hadn't listened to it until now. I just assumed Mike posted the album version. Unless I gave hime a new mix when I give him the tracks which is possible. Anyway it's not the album version. Which sucks.]

And i'm not saying it's bad. I'm not qualifying it as good or bad. It just feels like the wrong direction. In my opinion. I could be wrong. That's happened before. I was 8 years old and I'll never forget it and I'm humble enough to admit it could happen again. I'm bad with words. Let's say it's a bit brassy, obstreperous, and bountiful in the 1-3khz region. But that was what i was feeling last night and I may listen again this morning and have an alternate opinion. I'm not going to because of reasons but it is entirely possible that this stuff is subjective not only from person to person but for the same person at different times of day.

Anyway, maybe a third party will disagree with me and have different perspective.

[mikej]

Hi.

This track does seem to be beating me up a bit.  I've added a mix 2.0 for what it's worth.  Again, I feel I must say that it is ok to say the mix is bad. Sometimes it's easy for one to lose perspective.  Especially in the midrange.

(FWIW I thought the preview mix interesting from a vocal tone/compression and 'upfrontness' perspective.  Quite difficult to match).

Cheers!