Secretariat: - Borderline

[Fickle3]

Mixed on a 32 Channel Soundcraft ghost (only used 14 Channels)

Drawmer MX30 on Drum Buss
RNC on Acoustic Buss
DBX 166 (Modded) Electric Buss
Symetrix 425 (modded) Vocal Buss
Art Pro VLA II on Master Buss

Monitors - KRK rokit6
Headphones - Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro

Thanks for listening

[HbGuitar]

bass, acoustic and drums are balanced nicely and sound great.

sounds like you've compressed all of the headroom out of the vocals...to the point of distortion, especially during choruses.....big change in timbre between vocal in drop chorus and the subsequent full blown chorus, or maybe you've distorted them on purpose...

don't get me wrong...i love a good distorted vocal...I'm thinking strokes/killers type indie rock....and that could work really well in this song. If that's what you're after then there are ways of getting it without compressing out all the headroom....i just cant tell if that's what you're trying to achieve or not 'cos the result is poor.

effects on solo....well we all love a jet plane solo when we're noodling away on our own....but this solo was played immaculately, with beautiful tone..and you've kinda butchered it... a bit like slathering an amazing chef cooked eye fillet steak and all the trimmings with ketchup.....unnecessary

master buss is over compressed...very little dynamic range

all in all, a confusing/confused mix......some lovely clear parts ....distorted vocals.....over compressed master buss

[Chris93]

Is that a guitar amp sim in parallel with the lead vocal?

Chris

[HbGuitar]

The vocals are supposed to be distorted and the problem lies in the mastering not with anything else.

I don't like guitar solos so I experimented. Do I need to ask your permission next time?

Who are you to judge it anyway?

Your 'review' drips of arrogance and cockiness.

People like you take the fun out of this site.

Easy Tiger..settle down....You can do whatever you like with your mixes...

all i said was that your vocals sounded squashed...i said i like distorted vocals...but you hadn't done a good job presenting them IMO....

all is said was i didn't like your treatment of the guitar solo...as you'd made such a bold statement with your choice of effects....i felt it was OK to be bold with my opinion...In hindsight, I can understand if my steak analogy didn't go down well with you

making artistic choices and receiving critique of those choices is part of learning. You've taken my comments personally....and attacked me personally....I don't remember using the phrase "people like you" as a precursor for any of my comments.

I said your "bass, acoustic and drums are balanced nicely and sound great." How is that arrogance and cockiness? I thought that I was being positive....and it was the first thing I said

You don't have to like all my comments....I certainly don't like all the comments I receive....but often times there are grains of truth in every critique, and the comments I dislike the most often help me the most once I've calmed down and thought about what's being said to me.

So maybe develop a thicker skin.....If you know that there are problems with the mastering.....why not fix them and make your mix better (if you want)...rather than shooting the messenger.

We're all here to learn..I'm assuming you are too...and its not always easy. It takes courage to put up mixes and open oneself up to other's opinions...don't take what I or others say to heart ...

[Marc Gosselin]

Hey Fickle

I also did my mix through an analog console with outboard

The Art Pro VLA II on Master Buss is not a good choice.. they are waaaay to grabby on midrange and upper midrange.

those work best on bass.. try it, I kid you not !

[Fickle3]

Is that a guitar amp sim in parallel with the lead vocal?

Chris

Hi Chris

Its a copy of the lead vocal but with distortion & delay using a Gtr stomp plugin

[Fickle3]

Hey Fickle

I also did my mix through an analog console with outboard

The Art Pro VLA II on Master Buss is not a good choice.. they are waaaay to grabby on midrange and upper midrange.

those work best on bass.. try it, I kid you not !

Thanks for the positive comment Marc. Ill try that.

Been trying to figure out which compressor works best with each instrument etc. Might leave the master buss free or make a DIY SSL type for light compression to glue it all together.

[Fickle3]

Here is the same mix again but with less compression when mastering.

Should have mentioned I used waves L316 plugin for the job ....less is more.

The bass is a big loud but overall I like it for a couple of hours messing around.

Thanks for any positive contributions.

[HbGuitar]

Listen mate there is only one thing I cant stand in this life and that's being told what to do. When I said you were being arrogant and cocky it was referring to your comment about me ruining the guitar solo.

Havnt you heard of the expression in music that there are no rules? You wandered onto the page and began a critique of my mix throwing me a compliment in between an insult and now you expect me to take your advice. Take a leaf from the modest types like Marc.

thanks for your response. I'm glad you understand now that I was complimenting your work. It's a pity you still feel insulted by some of my comments.

I'm not sure if I offered you any advice as such, except to maybe not take my comments to heart. Whether you do or not is up to you...I don't mind one way or another.

I certainly don't expect you to do anything and I don't remember telling you what to do....as i said originally, you can do whatever you like...