Here is my Mix and Master of the song: Peppermark - 'Interlude'
OK, so I finally had to realize that my ex is an actual narcissist without empathy who will never change, so this song was sup[er cathartic to mix since it represents all the emotions that were going on in my head; disappointment, sadness, anger, tragedy, etc. I think all those emotions made for a really powerful mix though; when I crank it on my monitors the guitars get really 3D layered-souding, which is rare for metal guitars.
Please be so kind as to leave a review about my work, whether good or bad; I do this for fun mainly, so this helps me to continue improving!
Categories to comment on (if the song contains these) could include:
Bass
Drums
Horns (Brass)
Strings
Overall Balance (I find a perfectly balanced mix to be boring, personally, so generally, I'll pick some things to stand out a tad more sometimes)
Highs
Automation
Note: This mix was rendered at -14LUFS with a True Peak of -1dB for streaming standards.
I personally think the kick drum is drowning in the mix. Only hear the low end of it. Guitars could be more panned left and right to bring space in the mix. Sounds like big mono to me. Balances over all are good but if you back off on the reverts you got going on here, you will have a more powerful mix.
21-03-2023, 01:06 AM (This post was last modified: 21-03-2023, 01:07 AM by Lynx_TWO.)
(20-03-2023, 08:46 PM)Shul Wrote: I personally think the kick drum is drowning in the mix. Only hear the low end of it. Guitars could be more panned left and right to bring space in the mix. Sounds like big mono to me. Balances over all are good but if you back off on the reverts you got going on here, you will have a more powerful mix.
Awesome man, thanks! I actually usually shelf-EQ -6db to -9db down and out all but the lower end of the kick drum, so that's why you are only hearing the lower frequencies. I suppose I could back that off though... Guitars are panned very wide in the mix; 24%, 36% and 72% L and R on some of them, so not sure why it's coming across as mono - definitely isn't mono when looking at the analyzer and listening on my car, headphones, and speakers... Maybe there's something I'm missing?
well, i'm kinda honored this song meant something for you. means a lot to me as well, and makes me very happy to hear that comment.
as the mix goes! i see you made another tones, and they sound great!
here's some nitpicks for you:
- try turning down that guitar reverb a bit. it does add space, but sometimes is a bit loud
- some parts have a bit too much gain, try automating that (lower gain when the song gets calmer)
- sometimes the low-end of the guitar solo is a bit overwhelming, try high passing that around 100-300hZ (if it looses body, just use an dynamic EQ on the 200hZ'ish area and you'll be good)
- can't hear the kick drum properly, try turning that up by some 2-3dB
- feels like the drum shells could use some more impact on the mix. to achieve that, compress the hell outta those, + use parallel compression to get the drums a bit more energetic. if it clips on the master limiter, just soft clip them anywhere (on the track, on the drum bus, or even the mix bus, witch i usually do)
(21-03-2023, 01:50 AM)Peppermark Wrote: well, i'm kinda honored this song meant something for you. means a lot to me as well, and makes me very happy to hear that comment.
as the mix goes! i see you made another tones, and they sound great!
here's some nitpicks for you:
- try turning down that guitar reverb a bit. it does add space, but sometimes is a bit loud
- some parts have a bit too much gain, try automating that (lower gain when the song gets calmer)
- sometimes the low-end of the guitar solo is a bit overwhelming, try high passing that around 100-300hZ (if it looses body, just use an dynamic EQ on the 200hZ'ish area and you'll be good)
- can't hear the kick drum properly, try turning that up by some 2-3dB
- feels like the drum shells could use some more impact on the mix. to achieve that, compress the hell outta those, + use parallel compression to get the drums a bit more energetic. if it clips on the master limiter, just soft clip them anywhere (on the track, on the drum bus, or even the mix bus, witch i usually do)
thanks for mixing!!!
Awesome man, thanks! Yea, definitely a great song. I'll try cutting down the reverb to 50%. I also considered automating the volume envelope on the parts where the music stops in order to silence everything completely with no reverb tail.
I actually automated the volume UP on the quieter parts instead of leaving it, but could definitely split the difference on the envelopes.
Agree that the kick could come up. I had the Bass guitar up quite a bit and automated it louder in certain parts to really get the growl going, but might have overdone it. I was certainly in my feels haha
I will try compression on the drums, I have those cranked in some parts of the song and kept them at the same volume for other parts. Just didn't want to use too much compression and bring up the reverb but I'll give it a shot.
