My Mix rescue attempt

[Brunobennett77]

Hey guys, New here, but wanted to drop my version of this rescue.. I enjoy rescues, because the present challenges I sometimes create for myself admittedly, and help me avoid making mistakes in the recording process by questioning why things are the way they are.. On this particular track there were a few issues that immediately popped out to me.. 1. drum stem.. I like having control over the individual elements.. so.. I used an eq, and a noise gate to create template tracks for 1 kick layer, and 2 snare layers.. cut the lows in the main stem.. on drum stem 2 I just wanted to give it a funky vibe.. so.. I used pedalboard effects.. auto-wah on one side, and a phaser on the other.. I made alot of mono elements stereo with sample delays... allowing my ideal side for each element to lead.. Also gated a ton of room sound out of the vocals.. I'm open to talk more specifically on anything, and open to ideas on how I could have handled anything that may have improved my mix.. thanks for your time....

[Dags]

Brilliant mix! Really top notch work here.
Yes I was also lamenting the lack of separate drum parts. I used EQ to try to enhance the kick thump and used a send to a gate only to isolate the snare for fx send but multiple gates to isolate the other parts is genius!

You have given me something to experiment with later on.
Wonderful!

[Azusa]

I like your guitar sounds.

[JohnSmith]

Hello Bruno

Yes, it's a nice mix, very well balanced. Nice to listen to and creative.
I would point out some details that could be improved, if i may ...

I perceive your kick as a bit loud compared to the rest, it jumps out of the mix and could be a little more glued with the bass. Why not parallel compressing both, bass and kick to the same comp and feedback that track to the mix till it glues ? Or just lower it a bit in volume, and also around 150-200Hz.

You worked pretty fine on the stereo field using wide panning and the left/right scene is really splendid... which leads me to the point : the lack of depth i feel ! It's so wide i whish i could also listen some material in the back of the mix, away from the speakers, if you know what i mean (take for examples many mixes of Hugh Padgham, where the drums really feel present, but also behind the other instruments).
Like a painting, it's hard i know, but it's how we recognize a great mix ... fake the listener and make him imagine that he could dive in the mix ...

But in general, this is a really good job ! Just trying to push you to other limits ...

Cheers from france

[Dags]

Hiya Xabi
LOL! When working on my mixes I now hear in my head you telling me "air and depth" Thanks for keeping me on the ball!

Maybe for inexperienced mixers you could explain a little by what you mean by these terms.

My interpretation is:
'air' relates to the very high frequencies, 12kHz and above and needs to be made selectively on instruments that really benefit from enhancements in this frequency range (such as *some* cymbals and voices)

'depth' relates to the sense of space that you create through:
a) sending certain elements of the mix to a medium to long reverb - the more you send to the reverb, the further back in the mix they sound and/or
b) by reducing the amount of high frequencies on an instrument (such as using a HF shelf) to put the instrument back in the listener's perception of where it sits in the 'room', even if creating a drier mix with short reverb.

Have I got it right? Hope I haven't totally messed up the meaning!

Dags