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Howlin
#1
New mix.


.mp3    howlin 2.mp3 --  (Download: 10.31 MB)


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#2
First thoughts:

Mix is WAY off to me. There is no balance at all between all the instruments. It sounds like just a snare and lead vocal. There is so much beautiful instrumentation in this song and it's basically gone. Sorry man, I'm not feeling this mix at all.

Check mine out when you get a chance: http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...p?tid=8609
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#3
I think that this version sounds better and that it is better balanced than the first one.


.mp3    howlin mp3.mp3 --  (Download: 10.31 MB)


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#4
Hey Obelix, only listened to the 2nd version.

Here's the big issue I'm hearing with your work: if the basic, rough balance isn't there, no amount of EQ and compression are going to help, and some of your instruments on this mix are so far out of balance that I think turning up half the faders would improve things right off the bat. Before you even start processing, you should be trying to get it sounding as close as possible to mixed with just your faders and pan pots. Most times it will be necessary to place HPFs before this process, and some mixes will need some stereo utility tools, but apart from that, try to get a decent sounding mix with no plug-ins at all.

When you're compressing and EQing, are you adjusting the output gain of your plugins to match the level when the plugin is bypassed? EQ and compression are generally subtractive processes and as such reduce the level, so make sure you're applying compensation gain so you can make sure the processing is actually benefiting the mix at all... an A/B comparison is worthless if the loudness isn't at least very close. Ideally you should basically be able to bypass the entire plugin chain of each channel without a significant difference in level.

To me it almost sounds like you're applying processing to channels WITHOUT compensating for the gain, and as a result you're also turning them down. For instance, cutting the high mids in a drum loop to make room for the lead vocal might not be helping in an EQ sense at all... if you're not compensating for the resulting gain reduction, you might be bringing the vocal out more by virtue of the lower level than the EQ, and that's not what EQ is really all about. If you conduct a whole mix in this manner, you could very well wind up with what you have here... a very clear and present vocal and a bunch of quiet stuff rattling around in the background.

Another tip... it's very commonly recommended to mix the vocal first and build the ensemble around the vocal, but for me that never works. Ever. And in the modern world of floating point 32 bit digital mixing, you honestly have to try really hard to run out of headroom, so the proposed assumption that mixing the vocal first "saves room in the mix" for the vocal is silly, IMO. Now, I'm not recommending mixing it last, either, but when I was starting with the vocals, I almost always wound up with something like this, where the vocal dominates EVERYTHING. Humor me and try putting together a rough mix, but mix the drums and bass before you mix the vocal. In the real world, the lead vocalist/instrumentalist balances his performance against the band and not the other way around, so in my opinion it's more intuitive and realistic to set up the basic structural elements of a song, i.e. the beat and the bassline (and maybe a rhythmic musical element like guitars in some genres) so you have a nail on which to hang the vocal.

Keep up the hard work, but remember that while the vocal and lyrical intelligibility are very important to the modern audience, in the end, the vocal is just another musical element: the melody. People care just as much about the bass, the beat, and the color, or we'd be buying CDs of Celine Dion singing twinkle twinkle little star a capella, yeah? You've got to look at the big picture.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
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#5
I will make third version. Lead vocal and drums will be quieter and all else will be louder.
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#6
Version 3. Louder instruments, softer main vocals.


.mp3    v30.mp3 --  (Download: 10.38 MB)


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