Ben Carrigan Hey Carrie Anne

[thedon]

First Mix trying out reaper DAW and reaper plugins only !
struggled with this one !

[juanjose1967]

Hi, Don! I used to mix all the time with Reaper when I started and it's a very good DAW! Now I use more Studio One but once in a while I give one a go with Reaper. So good choice!!

There are a few things that need to be improved in my opinion (mainly because I had the same problem when I mixed this song!!) The esses are too present in the vox. Probably you're using one on the lead vocal but the background vocals suffer the same problem. I once read that for the Bvocals you can make them lisp completely and it won't be noticed as long as they play along with the lead vox. So maybe that will solve the problem... or at least it did to me!

When the drums start at the end of the song, the vocals are too low and they get lost in the mix. That's a very easy thing to fix

There's also something in the strings I don't like but I can't figure out what it is. It is some kind of frequency that it's annoying me and I believe it's in the cello. But I'm not sure...

[thedon]

Hi, Don! I used to mix all the time with Reaper when I started and it's a very good DAW! Now I use more Studio One but once in a while I give one a go with Reaper. So good choice!!

There are a few things that need to be improved in my opinion (mainly because I had the same problem when I mixed this song!!) The esses are too present in the vox. Probably you're using one on the lead vocal but the background vocals suffer the same problem. I once read that for the Bvocals you can make them lisp completely and it won't be noticed as long as they play along with the lead vox. So maybe that will solve the problem... or at least it did to me!

When the drums start at the end of the song, the vocals are too low and they get lost in the mix. That's a very easy thing to fix

There's also something in the strings I don't like but I can't figure out what it is. It is some kind of frequency that it's annoying me and I believe it's in the cello. But I'm not sure...

Thanks for having a listen juanjose !
I used too much reverb and compression especially on the vocals, spent 90% on trying to get the vocal to sound right ,also should have use a reference track .

[takka360]

Reaper is the best DAW for work flow I have tried protools ,Cubase ,sonar studio 1, samplitude, mix bus .
Look forward to hearing your next mix when you are a bit more used to it.

[Olli H]

Good overall sound.
I agree with Juan's comments. In the end the the balances are blown away.
About strings: maybe you are using too much some sort of enhancer with strings.

[pauli]

Hey Don, always a pleasure to hear your latest work. I'm a Reaper user myself... having tried several other DAWs I can't recommend it enough, and the built in plug-ins are fantastic.

So I enjoyed several aspects of your mix... sounds like you've got a bright plate reverb or delay on the lead vocal. Good choice there in my opinion. Getting the vocal bright enough without losing the warmth is the real trick here, isn't it? Juan's right, the essing on this is tough. I agree you could de-ess the living hell out of the BG vocal with no sacrifice, and using the same settings on the reverb returns usually works for me. Although in this one the de-essing was so tricky that I faded all the esses in The tonal verb/delay sounds a little disconnected from the main track, maybe turn it down just a little?

You really separated the harmony and lead vocal... they're unbelievably distinct. I'd like to know how you did that....

This is also one of the best piano sounds I've heard so far for this song, possibly owing to your experience as a pianist.

The others are right, something's not right about the strings, and they're burying the vocals pretty severely, but it sounds like you did that on purpose. Allowing the orchestra to overtake the lead vocals as they fade out? Really cool idea Something I'm noticing is that the sound of the bow on the bass strings is very scratchy and prominent... pretty common for software instruments to have weird stuff like that. Something makes me feel like those frequencies should be cut a little bit to push the bass further back. The violin and cello samples have something similar, and I agree with Olli that it sounds like an enhancer. I've only recently started using those and I almost always overdo it until I give it a listen the following day. I've noticed something similar in several other mixes, where the strings tend to sound disconnected from the rest of the mix... maybe we're highpassing them too aggressively?

The big thing that upsets the mix for me is how severely the mix ducks in response to the timpani. It's an awesome effect and I did something similar, but the gain reduction is pretty profound and uncomfortable in my opinion.

Cool creative stuff going on here... the orchestra overtaking the vocals is growing on me, I feel like I've heard that on several of my records, but I'm drawing a blank. Good work Don.

[bmullen]

Nice work, Don. The piano sounds great to me, too. I agree with the others that the vocals at the end could come up a bit.

[thedon]

Good overall sound.
I agree with Juan's comments. In the end the the balances are blown away.
About strings: maybe you are using too much some sort of enhancer with strings.

Thanks Olli !
Yes 100 correct ,I used an enhancer plugin on the strings listening back after a good rest wasn't a good idea !

[thedon]

Nice work, Don. The piano sounds great to me, too. I agree with the others that the vocals at the end could come up a bit.

Thanks Bob

[thedon]

Reaper is the best DAW for work flow I have tried protools ,Cubase ,sonar studio 1, samplitude, mix bus .
Look forward to hearing your next mix when you are a bit more used to it.

So far I have found it pretty user friendly .