Dark Ride - Burning Bridges Mix

[psoares]

Hi!

This is my first post in this forum, and this is my first try to mix something not recorded by me.

Hope to see some feedback.

Thank you!

Paulo

[Eman]

This mix has a killer bass drum! I love it! If you decide to remix this song, keep everything the same, except turn down the bass slightly and bring up the guitars a little. Other than that this mix is golden!

[Blitzzz]

As the artist who wrote and recorded this song I would say: Sorry, this is not us. It's not the drum sound we love, not the guitar sound we love. Like many others you have pushed this song in a totally different direction - you tried to "fix" it. The thing is: there is not a lot to fix here. you will get a much better, more natural mix with just fader moves and filters.

There is a lot to "mix" though. There are three choruses in this song and they need help from the mixer to stick out from the rest. Unfortunately you did nothing to give them more weight. The whole mix has the same velocity from start to end - why didn't you make every chorus a tad louder, or maybe just the end louder? this song can easily have a massive build up in the end if you use your tools right - but you didn't. What about all the details that you could have picked up and make something special out of them? Like the small intro riff to the second chorus at 1:48? What about the bass slide right before the third chorus? why didn't you lower the levels of the hihat and bass significantly in the bridge and then push up the faders in the solo to let this part literally explode? What about the snare/tom build up at 0:54? I cant even hear it. It's a perfect transition into the second verse but without some help from the mixer there is no such transition.

Another example is the solo part. The guitars are not standing out from the rest and there is too much delay on them. The solos should be right upfront, in the face of the listener, screaming! The solos in your mix are standing in the second row, somewhere behind the rhythm guitars. And is the wooohohohohoh-part REALLY that interesting to make it so loud?? I think the second solo has more emotional energy and is much more interesting for the listener. I can barely hear it in your mix.

If you are looking for a more detailed analysis you should ask the metallurgist - he's the right guy for this. The only thing I can give you is an artists feedback and I try to be as brutally honest as I can. The bottom line is: you tried to fix things that don't need to be fixed and failed with the main task: help this song to build up, to grow, stay interesting over the course of 3,5 Minutes and give the hookline/chorus what it needs. I know you have spend several hours on this song and you probably don't want to hear things like "you failed" but I´m just honest here. It doesn't help if my feedback would have been "sounds good, but the solos are not loud enough".

If you want to mix this again I´m here to give you feedback. My advice would be: Start from scratch, pull up all the faders and listen to the song. What does this song really need? A different kick sound? probably not. lots of reverb on the snare? don't think so. Ask yourself: What are the main parts and how can you make those parts stick out from the rest? is there a way to separate the two verses and make the second sound different? how low can you go volumewise in the bridge to give the solo the impact it needs? are there any small details like snare build ups, slides or whatever that can be used as a transition from one part to the other?

after this you start with volume automation only. no eq. no compression, no reverb, no delay, NOTHING but fader rides and hi/low cuts to get rid of unnecessary low end/high end. Start with the last chorus and make it as loud as you can and lower the overall volume of the other parts accordingly. always try to make the chorus louder, wider then the rest. make your way through the song. When you're done, you should have a very good mix, good dynamics and only need small amounts of reverb and delay. now you should ask yourself: What can i do to make this song even more interesting? that's my definition of mixing.

[psoares]

As the artist who wrote and recorded this song I would say: Sorry, this is not us. It's not the drum sound we love, not the guitar sound we love. Like many others you have pushed this song in a totally different direction - you tried to "fix" it. The thing is: there is not a lot to fix here. you will get a much better, more natural mix with just fader moves and filters.

There is a lot to "mix" though. There are three choruses in this song and they need help from the mixer to stick out from the rest. Unfortunately you did nothing to give them more weight. The whole mix has the same velocity from start to end - why didn't you make every chorus a tad louder, or maybe just the end louder? this song can easily have a massive build up in the end if you use your tools right - but you didn't. What about all the details that you could have picked up and make something special out of them? Like the small intro riff to the second chorus at 1:48? What about the bass slide right before the third chorus? why didn't you lower the levels of the hihat and bass significantly in the bridge and then push up the faders in the solo to let this part literally explode? What about the snare/tom build up at 0:54? I cant even hear it. It's a perfect transition into the second verse but without some help from the mixer there is no such transition.

Another example is the solo part. The guitars are not standing out from the rest and there is too much delay on them. The solos should be right upfront, in the face of the listener, screaming! The solos in your mix are standing in the second row, somewhere behind the rhythm guitars. And is the wooohohohohoh-part REALLY that interesting to make it so loud?? I think the second solo has more emotional energy and is much more interesting for the listener. I can barely hear it in your mix.

If you are looking for a more detailed analysis you should ask the metallurgist - he's the right guy for this. The only thing I can give you is an artists feedback and I try to be as brutally honest as I can. The bottom line is: you tried to fix things that don't need to be fixed and failed with the main task: help this song to build up, to grow, stay interesting over the course of 3,5 Minutes and give the hookline/chorus what it needs. I know you have spend several hours on this song and you probably don't want to hear things like "you failed" but I´m just honest here. It doesn't help if my feedback would have been "sounds good, but the solos are not loud enough".

If you want to mix this again I´m here to give you feedback. My advice would be: Start from scratch, pull up all the faders and listen to the song. What does this song really need? A different kick sound? probably not. lots of reverb on the snare? don't think so. Ask yourself: What are the main parts and how can you make those parts stick out from the rest? is there a way to separate the two verses and make the second sound different? how low can you go volumewise in the bridge to give the solo the impact it needs? are there any small details like snare build ups, slides or whatever that can be used as a transition from one part to the other?

after this you start with volume automation only. no eq. no compression, no reverb, no delay, NOTHING but fader rides and hi/low cuts to get rid of unnecessary low end/high end. Start with the last chorus and make it as loud as you can and lower the overall volume of the other parts accordingly. always try to make the chorus louder, wider then the rest. make your way through the song. When you're done, you should have a very good mix, good dynamics and only need small amounts of reverb and delay. now you should ask yourself: What can i do to make this song even more interesting? that's my definition of mixing.

Obsviosly, i tried to mix this to sound the way i liked, and didn't read that info before. Did it just for fun, and it was fun because i've never mixed something before for anyone. I undertstander perfectly, that doing this that way (without knowing what the band wants) its very probably I fail to the band.

Of course, if a band asked me to mix something, i would take care about what the band wants.

Anyway, i apreciate your opinion. Its a good one, and I prefer to read honest opinions like this, instead of just "its good".

Maybe i'll try again to mix this song one of this days.

[psoares]

OK, i did a new mix, and did some things different. used also the original kick.
Better?