Through My Eyes

[Amdavid5150]

Let me know what you guys think of this mix. I think this is one of my better ones. Thanks

[pauli]

Hey Amdavid5150! I always try to reciprocate when someone comments on my mix.... feel free to remind me if it ever slips past me.

So right away I'm noticing two very easily fixable, purely technical blunders... First of all, the volume level of the track overall is really really low. I have to turn my loudspeakers up basically all the way to reach a comfortable listening level. To fix this in the simplest way possible, render your mix as an uncompressed .wav file and normalize the result. Presto, your mix peaks at -.1 dB

And by the file size it looks like you've compressed at a low bit rate... that's going to noticeably curtail your "air" frequencies, and it produces a range of distortions that can make it a little difficult to assess certain elements in the mix. The two main issues you'll get with lower optimal bit rate mp3 conversions are the extreme damping of frequencies above 16 kHz and "time smearing," each of which often create a dozen or so other subtler issues that interfere with quality. As far a the frequency curtailment, low bit-rate mp3s basically save file space by reducing high frequency content... you'd do worse than to think of it as a low-pass filter with a near vertical slope right at 16. On top of the quite unnatural sound that slopes like that produce, you're also likely to incur phase shifting in the high range, which will subtly color (distort) the tone, and in extreme cases you might wind up with aliasing. Time smearing is analogous to the pre-ring or post-ring side effects associated with very harsh, narrow EQ work. Basically, a given tone can sound ever so slightly before or after the actual tone occurs, with some overlap between the two. This can round off transients unacceptably and can blur more legato notes together ever so slightly... so in the best case scenario, you wind up with blurred details and a lot of clarity. Worst case scenario, you might incur comb filtering.

Good news is this: when you're encoding your master to mp3, select 320 kbps as your bit-rate and most of these problems are minimized significantly. They'll still be audible to an extent in critical listening environments, but for the purposes of casual listening and sharing an mp3 on this forum, 320 kbps is just fine.

Did these issues ruin your mix for me? No. But avoiding them is so ridiculously simple that it would have been very irresponsible of me not to inform you. Anyway, on to the actual critique

As far as overall spectral balance is concerned, it sounds to me like you're rather on the right track The overall sonic signature has a decent contrast of highs, mids and lows from moment to moment, and as such, it's a pleasant casual listen. I'm not hearing anything too terribly squished, and your mixing style is clearly putting the vocal in priority, allowing a decent balance of highs and lows.... so you've got good lyrical intelligibility, which is absolutely critical in a syrupy ballad like this. From what I can tell under the current listening constraints, it sounds like you recognized from the beginning the quality of the vocal tracking and mixed around it... so you've gone right where several other mixes I've heard went wrong (in my opinion.) That takes confidence, skill, and a good set of ears

Nice snare, by the way

Now let's go a bit deeper: close your eyes and listen to how the vocal interacts with the guitars spatially. I found the relationship unsatisfying, personally... the guitars are spread widely to the stereo extremes, but the vocal reverb(delay?) doesn't really equate to any appreciable ambiance for me. All I can really hear is what sounds like a mono plate reverb, which is great for its tonal properties but isn't really paying the bills in this situation. You've chosen to make the vocal the absolute sonic priority when it's active (I have no qualms with that, I did the same) and you've also set a VERY wide sound stage with the guitars... but that has in turn created a lot of empty space (from left to right) that the vocal could be using and isn't. For me this creates the ever so subtle impression that the vocalist isn't delivering the lines with passion and power it would take to fill the room.... but the song's intention is to express profound, passionate love. Reverb and stereo imaging aren't the most important elements of mixing, but they are one of the most powerful tools you have to turn a balanced mix into an emotional journey.

So how does one solve this particular issue, assuming he agrees with my assessment? Narrowing the guitars will help, for sure, and even without the empty spots in the stereo image I'd have suggested you do that anyway. 1. Panning rhythmically dissimilar, transient rich tracks to the stereo extremes is really weird in headphones, and can make some people feel nauseous. 2. You're gonna lose 6 dB on anything panned to the extremes when it collapses to mono in the supermarket unless it's a double track: the call and response you're working is pure ear candy in a good stereo listening environment, but check it in mono and see how much clarity you're losing. 3. It makes it really hard for all of the instruments to sound as though they inhabit the same space: Not important for every song in every genre, but in this case I think it's critical. I'd also consider a dedicated widening delay or dedicated widening reverb for the vocal. I'd also make it a point to make sure the piano and vocal are filling a good portion of the stereo image, because any Disney soundtrack will reveal that's the general audience expectation for the genre.

Another thing that's hanging me up a bit is the guitar tone... I think there's too much treble and not enough body. Think of acoustic guitars like you would a vocal: they're primarily midrange instruments, and many of the lower end fundamental frequencies have been eq'd low enough that the body of the instrument isn't coming through. Cuts are necessary in that range for the vocal and piano, obviously, but I think you took it too far, personally

Final point I'll mention: That vinyl stringed lead guitar is fine panned to the sides a little for most of the song, but during it's solo, being off to the side really diminishes the sense of importance and upfrontness for me. In fact, there's a bit of a hole in the center of the stereo image during that section... so you could automate that thing into the center and perhaps apply something similar to the advice I gave you about the vocal, assuming you agree with me.

At any rate, I'm not an expert or professional: I'm an amateur just like you, and these are just my opinions... hopefully some of them are useful to you. Keep up the good work.