Brennon Causey Mixing - 'Hammer DownV3'

[401kBC]

This one already had some very clean tracks! I used more modern rock songs for this reference

UpdateV3 - Further mixed focusing on the vocals and solos more

[Frandicterus]

Great job on the drums man. I'd tone down some of the low mids in the bass in exchange for some extra definition in the guitars and turn the vocals up a bit, but it's nice and solid and punchy. Good work!

[Blitzzz]

It`s a very beefy mix with many great mixing choices, but the balance is off throughout most of the song. Frandicterus made a good point about the low mids and the vocals, but especially for the latter, I don`t think the problem is solved by only making the vocals louder. The mix has more balancing issues that need to be addressed to get a top-class mix. It`s not that much, though, and I think you can easily fix those issues.

Generally, I would carve space out of the super beefy guitars to make more room for the vocals. You probably also need to bring the vocals up by 3db or more and ensure details like the small melodies at 1:25 are not louder than the vocals. The same goes for the solos - they are buried under the rhythm guitars and need much more space in the mix.

Tip 1: You can carve out said space for both vocals and the solo with an M/S EQ, cutting a hole between 1.5 and 4khz only in the center and leaving the sides untouched. Maybe that`s all you need? Or you can directly grab an eq and carve a hole in the rhythm guitars. Either way, vocals and solos must be the star of the song at all times and should be loud and clear, without the rhythm guitars getting in their way.

Tip 2: I remember using Track Spacer to dynamically carve out room for the vocals, reducing the mids by 3-5 db, but only when Carsten was singing. Therefore, you will still hear the full guitar sound whenever there is no voice. The only thing I had to ensure was that the dynamic cut was smooth and that the listener didn`t hear any sudden volume and tone jumps on the guitars, which was easy.

Whatever you do, please be careful and don`t overdo it because you can easily lose the beefiness of your mix, which would be a shame.

[401kBC]

It`s a very beefy mix with many great mixing choices, but the balance is off throughout most of the song. Frandicterus made a good point about the low mids and the vocals, but especially for the latter, I don`t think the problem is solved by only making the vocals louder. The mix has more balancing issues that need to be addressed to get a top-class mix. It`s not that much, though, and I think you can easily fix those issues.

Generally, I would carve space out of the super beefy guitars to make more room for the vocals. You probably also need to bring the vocals up by 3db or more and ensure details like the small melodies at 1:25 are not louder than the vocals. The same goes for the solos - they are buried under the rhythm guitars and need much more space in the mix.

Tip 1: You can carve out said space for both vocals and the solo with an M/S EQ, cutting a hole between 1.5 and 4khz only in the center and leaving the sides untouched. Maybe that`s all you need? Or you can directly grab an eq and carve a hole in the rhythm guitars. Either way, vocals and solos must be the star of the song at all times and should be loud and clear, without the rhythm guitars getting in their way.

Tip 2: I remember using Track Spacer to dynamically carve out room for the vocals, reducing the mids by 3-5 db, but only when Carsten was singing. Therefore, you will still hear the full guitar sound whenever there is no voice. The only thing I had to ensure was that the dynamic cut was smooth and that the listener didn`t hear any sudden volume and tone jumps on the guitars, which was easy.

Whatever you do, please be careful and don`t overdo it because you can easily lose the beefiness of your mix, which would be a shame.

Thank you for the detailed reply! I added a (3rd version*) and tried to make some changes based on what you said. I used to use trackspacer, but I end up using Pro-MB for my sidechaining most of the time, because I like its options! I did some reshaping and kept the decisions minimal to not change it so much