Mix and thank you!

[Lammy]

First of all thank you.
Thank you James for this wonderful song.
And thank you all and Mike for this community that I don't have much time to contribute but I'm constantly monitoring, reading and listening with interest.

The song:
After a couple of months of "hard rock only" at the mix desk, it's ear refreshing to get the hands on a such beautifully executed and recorded piece.
I initially thought this would be easy. From a side it is, since the source material is very good. But after a while I was amazed on how much processing I threw in to get the subtleties in and out.

The mix:
- PT stock compression and eq throughout
- I was particularly focused on the drum resonances with eq, I hope they're out of the game
- UAD SSL channel strips here and there on key elements
- UAD 1176 very light compression on some stems
- I took the liberty to double the midi piano (used minigrand) with a pad, very low vol, to glue the keys and elemens in
- there's some mastering compression with PSP master comp, but very light and not meant to be final

Doubts:
- hihat transients
- bass level - never fully sure it's adequate
- ... (add your own here)

I'd appreciate (as always) comments and hints.
cheers

[Lammy]

Hi,
I threw in some mastering compression and warmer. No mastering EQ yet.
Also some adjustments to snare, and some levelling.
Version 02 in the first post.
cheers

[HbGuitar]

very nice mix....I think the word that springs to mind is smooth... Everything hangs together very nicely.....

The only thing that struck me was that the level of the snare seems unstable..its on the verge of being too quiet or at least not evenly loud enough at times...so you're not getting as much drive as you could..... Its maybe a level thing but I'm hearing it quite wide sometimes, so maybe the OH/close mic mix is a bit off, or maybe OH track is panned a bit wide....or maybe none of these things

Great job

[Lammy]

The only thing that struck me was that the level of the snare seems unstable..its on the verge of being too quiet or at least not evenly loud enough at times...so you're not getting as much drive as you could..... Its maybe a level thing but I'm hearing it quite wide sometimes, so maybe the OH/close mic mix is a bit off, or maybe OH track is panned a bit wide....or maybe none of these things

Good point, looks like the light compression on snare and OH is not enough to even out the snare hits. or did I gate it? I'll need to check...
thanks for the appreciation!
kind regards

[Lammy]

Following HBGuitar's suggestion.
New version posted with levelling of drums /snare and kick/.
Also bass volume re-balanced after some auditioning in different conditions.
Version 03 in the first post.

cheers

[TripleS]

Nice mix, pretty good balanced! A little crowded in the middle so i would suggest some panning but hey, that's just me ;-)

One other thing i noticed is the difference between the reverb on the lead and the backing vocals. Lead vox is farly big while the bvox are right in the face. Not wrong but it caught my attention.

Happy mixing !

Jan

[Lammy]

Nice mix, pretty good balanced! A little crowded in the middle so i would suggest some panning but hey, that's just me ;-)

One other thing i noticed is the difference between the reverb on the lead and the backing vocals. Lead vox is farly big while the bvox are right in the face. Not wrong but it caught my attention.

Thanks Jan, all feedbacks are taken seriously and positively.
On the stereo image I'd need to review and widen. I panned as usual with instinct (and an eye on the Waves PAZ-analyser for balance).

Vox reverbs: it's interesting (and bad that it's so noticeable). The same two reverbs sent (plate and ambience/hall - can't remember the secon) from voxes. Clearly the outcome is different.
Reverb levels sometimes are tricky because I can't always mix with monitors. In the headset revs sound different.

More work to be done
thank you!