First Pop Mix

[Vinnie]

Respect for tangling with this one, Vinnie, because it's not the easiest multitrack in the world to deal with! You've already done good work in making sense of it so far, and it's cool to hear a wetter interpretation than my Mix Rescue version -- an interesting (and perfectly valid) alternative interpretation.

It feels to me as if your effects settings would benefit from more automation, though. For example, the delay/reverb levels feel pretty good for the choruses, but then the verses feel slightly washed out. Just drawing in some curves on the effect-return channels may be enough, although I'd usually end up adjusting some of the sends (particularly the lead-vocal tracks) separately too.

The kick could probably do with a dose of 80-90Hz boost, I think, because it feels a bit 'metal' rather than 'rock/pop' for me, and although I'm completely at ease with the idea of a more ambient take on this track, I think you could be a bit more selective about the reverb on the kick -- perhaps just by high-pass filtering some reverb returns.

Using those distorted guitar stabs in the second verse is a risk, because it tends to give the following prechorus section less room for expanding the texture, and that section change does feel a bit weakened as a result for me. However, you might still be able to get away with it if you use your automation to ride up some of the guitars at the opening of the prechorus.

The vocal sounds pretty good in general, but isn't that solid in the balance -- it seems to be dancing back/forward rather too much on my Avantone, and I feel I'm not getting the words coming through quite as clearly as I'd like. I also wonder whether you might want to mult the chorus vocals so that you can allow them to have a little less lower midrange, because at the moment they seem to making the backing feel a bit small by comparison. A little more of the electric guitars might also improve the situation in that respect too, I think. Try checking the balance without the bass or drums in there -- that can often help highlight the way the other backing parts relate to the vocals.

Finally, on a technical level, there appears to be quite a lot of background noise at the top and tail of your file here, so I'd try to do some selective muting and fading to bring this a bit down in level.

Thanks Mike for your valid observations, which by the way, are always welcome and much appreciated. I will take another stab at this and work on the weak areas to see if I can take it to the next level. I'm still working on developing that critical listening skills, that you so much have, I know it is a must to become a pro mixer. Time to roll up my sleeves and get back to doing what I love to do. Mix. Thank again Cheers!

Vinnie