Jan 13, 2011 01:03 pm Since you're eager for detailed insight, I'll listen to this at home, on my better speakers, and see what's what.
My PC spks here are little cheapos.
Check my mix please, need some outside ears.
Posted on Jan 13, 2011 12:19 pm
CptTripps
Czar of Turd Polish
Member Since: Jun 20, 2006
Hey all, Am moving right along on recording our album and still have tons to do but; I feel I am at least in the general area I would like to be and am hoping for some mix feedback.
Is the same song I posted awhile back but tracked seperately with a fuller sound. The vocals are sitting low right now a tad, Holly was not happy with her take and asked me to keep it offline, I told her it needed to be so I can get some insight. Turning her down a tad was her only requirement ;)
I tracked all the songs in one project so i could mix the drums once and make slight adjustments as the songs require so I think this is a good indicator of what the others sound like.
I will say no more and now ask for your listens. Spare no feelings, this will be our first CD and I want it to sound as good as can be with the only limitation being me doing the work as we cannot afford an outside source. Be brutal, let me have it.
So is under my profile and is called "Stay".
www.homerecordingconnecti...sic&id=4006
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Jan 13, 2011 01:03 pm Since you're eager for detailed insight, I'll listen to this at home, on my better speakers, and see what's what.
My PC spks here are little cheapos.
Jan 13, 2011 01:14 pm nothing wrong with cheapo speaker critique, almost required ;)
Jan 13, 2011 04:50 pm I'm listening on my good headphones. I know I mentioned it last time you posted it, but I love this song.
Anyways, mix feedback. My initial thought was that the overall mix has too much reverb (like every part except maybe the bass). I'm torn about the verb on the kick, it sounds real good on the intro, but I think it adds to the feeling of too much verb in the song when all the parts are playing together. Also, the heavy guitar on the hook, I would really like it to come to the front more/ be more pronounced.
On 2nd listen, yeah, definitely too much verb on the kick. And the heavy guitar on the hook, but maybe everything else is ok. Also, during the verses, I might experiment with panning the guitars just a little bit wider. And maybe let the rides or whatever cymbal is being played on the hook come to the front a bit also. Lastly, for my taste, I might try boosting the volume on the bass just a teensy tiny bit (but I think this is more of a matter of taste).
I like the little anonymous vocal at the end, thats a nice touch. Overall I don't think you are far off from this sounding really(!) good. But yeah, tell Holly what's up for me. :p
Oh yeah, when the CD is done, let me know. I need this song in my collection.
Jan 13, 2011 07:05 pm Haha, man Coolo, you just hit on "almost" everything I was thinking but things sounded dry to me after 1000 listens.
More Bass, check
Less verb on kick and heavy guitars (which should make them more prominent/up front), check
Widening guitars for verse, I have em panned 80/80, will mess around but not sure I want em sitting with the OH's. Not afraid to try though.
I also think the heavy guitars might need a lil roll off as they almost crowd things during the chorus and I think are pumping my limiter more than I'd like (might be why cymbals are hidden as well). They were played on the neck pickup for beef and may have been a little much.
Super appreciate the listens man, as always your input is great and valued.
Oh and the anonymous vocal is me bursting into the room yelling "supplies"!!! after she got done with her take :)
Jan 13, 2011 08:53 pm 'supplies'... is that a UHF reference?
Also, after I commented earlier, I had this playing in my headphones for about 30 minutes on repeat, and after that time, I tried to listen critically again, and I didn't hear any of the issues I previously heard. It sounded fine. Ha ha.
Anyways, I'm surprised to hear the guitars are at 80. They didn't sound that wide, and I'm almost always calling for less width, not more width. Oh well, can't get them all right.
Jan 14, 2011 09:35 am Quote:
nothing wrong with cheapo speaker critique, almost required ;)
Ha, good point. Since I was over-taxed with fam stuff last night, i'll listen today round lunch.
Jan 14, 2011 03:03 pm Sounds good! I agree that her vocals could use some touch up work. Are you having her do comp tracks and then choosing the best phrasing? I have been experimenting with that in my mixes recently. In fact I've change the way I handle vocal mixing entirely, maybe you'll like this idea:
I set up one track for the vocal recording. In Protools anyway, there's a feature that let's me create a new playlist on the same track. I tell the vocalist to give their best performance 4 times. This way, I have one main track and 3 other tracks loaded below it so I can quickly solo between performances. I typically listen for about 10 seconds at a time and after moving the great takes around to the top position, I eventually end up with one "best of" take. At this point, we still only have the one track. I'll spend a little time figuring out which EQ settings to use on the comp track and apply them as an insert on the comp track. Maybe a little Massey Tapehead plugin here (free and AWESOME). Still only one track in use at this point.
Next I make an auxiliary input and change the comp'd vocal track to output to a bus that feeds the aux input instead of going to the monitors directly. I put a good compressor on the aux input and get it tweaked so that the loudest bits of the performance are gracefully clipped and the vast majority of the performance doesn't get processed at all. With this general setting in place, I'll ride the fader on the comp track (not the aux input) so that I can boost and cut knowing there's a compressor safety net. I'll save the automation on the comp track, which leaves you free to adjust the overall level using the aux input without messing up your automation...which is handy!
Next I create another aux input, stereo this time, this one serves as the vocal master. Each singer will have a comp track and an aux track specifically for them as described above, but this new aux input serves as the master for them all. All the outputs from the individual aux inserts go to the bus feeding this master aux insert and not the main mix. This gives you a way to bring all the vocals up or down in the mix without a lot of fader fumbling and dealing with the hassle of getting the relative mix between vocalists the same. It's also a great way to apply effects to all the vocals, as it gives them a sense of unity. Using a send to the reverb tank is a good example. Any processing that you'd want across all the vocals for the sake of unity can be done here.
Nothing wrong about the mix as far as I can tell. Listening on $10 earbuds. I do think the guitars are panned a little wide, but as long as you're listening on something with summed mono or intact stereo it sounds very spacious and balanced.
Jan 14, 2011 04:00 pm That's alot to swallow, gonna have to read it at home. I get the overall but need to dive into the detail.
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