Dark Ride - Burning Bridges (Stevo's Mix)

[Stevo music]

Hey Guys,

Check out this mix and mastering. Feel free to add some constructive comments. I'd love to know your opinion.

greatz

[mixingdrummer]

i like everything about this mix apart from the drums, they sound like they are missing some low end. Apart from that great mix

[Amentis]

Really nice mix. Digging the guitars a lot.

I am feeling like the vocal could be a bit louder in the mix...feels a little buried especially at the end crescendo when he goes into the falsetto...I really want to hear him push that energy.

[Blitzzz]

Reverb on the vocals and snare is too loud (why is everyone adding tons of reverb these days?). It's so loud that it distracts me from the rest of the instruments. I played your mix to two other people and they were asking me if the singer was standing in a cave while recording the song. with a reverb so present to the listeners ears the vocals can't make an impact, especially in the chorus. The singer is just too far away to reach me so to say.

You also didn't pay enough attention to small details like the snare/tom build up ath 0:48, the small riff before the second chorus at 1:42. the bridge should be quieter to give the solo part more impact. Solos are okay, I like the subbass at 2:42 (and I´m actually thinking of adding it to the original mix). Second solo is too low. Most people on this forum made the choir very loud and pushed the guitar solo in the background which is probably not how you should treat a guitar solo in a metal song. The choir is just there to give the second solo a little bit more epicness, not to be the main attraction. Making the choir loud and proud and cutting away one of the two guitars in the DUAL solo at the end doesn't look like a smart choice for me. The crash before the third chorus is too loud, I think the bass slide does a better job here. Don't like the weird melody panning at the end.

It also sounds very thin compared with the original mix and the ref mixes from killswitch engage I have mentioned in the faq - especially the guitars. They sound like a wet noodle with no impact, no punch, no warmth. With all the reverb flying around in your mix the guitars can't really push the song forward and make me wanna bang my head.

[Stevo music]

Thanks a lot for your time to give some good feedback.

Yeah the reverb issue.. I know it's a lot of Reverb on vocal and snare. To me, it reminded me of the vocals of Iron Maiden, which i like very well. It gives a space, dimension to the mix. For me, it also functions as a holistic glue. But i centainly agree that, due to the reverb, the vocals has lower impact in the song.

anyway, soon I'm going back to school at SAE Institute to become an audio engineer.

I hope that I quickly can leave the technical stuff of mixing for what it is, and focus more on the creative side of it.

I loved working on your tracks!!

Thx

[thelongestyear]

The instruments surely work together except for the snare and the solo guitars: the kinda stick out of the plane where the rest is placed. I would also reconsider the buss compression (on 2.22 it sounds to me like it's bashing against the ceilng).