Mix help!
Home > Home Recording Forum > Mixing Techniques > Mix help!
Posted on Sep 23, 2011 06:58 pm
colonel_sanders
edit0r
Member Since: Aug 17, 2004
Hi guys! Hoping someone could take a listen to a rough I did today. The recording turned into a salvage mission (Live recording, LOTS of editing, ). Now I'm struggling with the mix.
Anything you hear that could be improved. I'm going to bounce a copy for my ipod and come back fresh in the morning...
Also interested in how it translates on other peoples systems. This the first mix on my NS10's. Can't tell what the low ends up to haha.
Slapped an L2 on the master for level. Song is here (For_Dursun_Rough)
: homerecordingconnection.c...ic&id=1661#
Thaaank yooou!
[ Back to Top ]
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 23, 2011 11:37 pm One thing I always heard about the NS10's was that if you could make it sound good on those, it would translate well anywhere. (and getting it good usually meant giving the sound the classic "smile" that we're all familiar with....or something like that anyway)
I'll give it a listen tomorrow on my speakers and my cans. :)
Sep 24, 2011 01:31 am The player isnt working for me. Is anyone else having that problem?
Sep 24, 2011 11:07 am Yeah, player isn't working for me either... dB?
Cheers!
Sep 24, 2011 11:26 am Quote:
and getting it good usually meant giving the sound the classic "smile" that we're all familiar with....or something like that anyway). Going to keep this in mind and try another mix today...
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 24, 2011 11:11 pm Hopefully dB will get around to it. It may just be something simple. In the meantime, have you considered maybe using soundcloud, or is that too much, er, "publicity" ya think? You can set tracks to be non-downloadable and such, and you can always yank it down after you get some feedback, and the player here is working again.
Just a thought.
Sep 24, 2011 11:45 pm i always throw stuff up on soundcloud, and i usually grab it back down when im done with it.
Sep 30, 2011 06:07 pm Hey guys,
Its up here but no ones replied: www.gearslutz.com/board/w...mix-advice.html
I'm running off a new mix at the moment. So much to be said about checking your mixes on different systems. I feel I've learnt so much this week. Biggest points are:
Mix as quiet as you can! (Its hard, but it makes your ears work harder, and improves your critical listening)
Mixing in mono through one speaker seems to make EQ and balancing a lot faster. I can actually hear what I need to do for a change.
Take a break every hour or so, bounce a part of your mix and check it on different systems! My iphone is giving me the best feedback at the moment haha.
EQ, compression, verbs etc make **** all of a difference compared to how the instruments were tracked to begin with! Take time to phase align your drums and push your musicians to play as best they can.
Sep 30, 2011 06:07 pm By the way, that last mix is real average, but still keen for feedback!
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 30, 2011 10:21 pm Listening to it right now man. I gotta say it sounds great on my Tannoys here in my little apartment room. :D
It's got a nice fat warm sound to it, but not in a muddy way. Everything comes through pretty clear to me, and if anything I'd say it has maybe a little bit of a "British" sound to it? That is if I understand the term properly, heh.
But yeah man, I likes it. :D
Sep 30, 2011 10:50 pm Lots of clarity, good dynamics in the drums. Sounds like minimal or no processing on the vocals, which fits this mellow song. Good choices with the mix, sounds like you didn't do anything just because you heard you were supposed to but because it sounded good with the mix. Especially the kick, nice and punchy when the drummer plays more dynamically. Ya, pretty much good job dude. Not much I can really advise you on (personally I would throw a teeeeeeny bit of verb on the vocals just to help them sit better in the mix. Something warm with not so many harsh highs. But thats a choice I would make)
Oct 01, 2011 10:38 am Thanks for the feedback guys. Wait till you hear the next mix :-). I'm starting to understand where to place snares and kicks a bit better.
Quickxkid, know exactly what you mean about some verb on the vocals. Its such a pain to try to give them a bit of depth with verb, whilst maintaining that dryish, present sound. What kind of verbs are you using on vox?
Oct 01, 2011 02:48 pm Hey, wait, what? I have been listening to the player quite a bit lately, or, the radio...what isn't working?
What the @&$^*(&@^$^@
This player really pisses me off sometimes...I gotta get this solid or find a new solution if I wanna execute on the plans I have for it.
Oct 02, 2011 04:00 pm I use a free verb vst called ambiance.
magnus.smartelectronix.com/
It's free to use, theres just a screen that pops up everytime you load it. Not very annoying at all tho, you just have to click it and it goes byebye.
Its a great verb plugin because wel, its free! But also it's totally flexible. You can control the 'size' of the verb with a knob, so you can dial in exactly how 'big' you want your verb to sound. You also have a 'time' knob, which its obviously how long you want the verb to trail. There's a lot of other features that honestly I don't even touch. It comes with a pretty big bank of presets. I usually spring for the 'pady-drums easy' preset. It's a good time and size and eq (oh yeah, it has a built in eq for a brighter verb or a muddier verb) and then all I do is pay with the wet and dry faders until I get a good sounding verb. You can always put it on a send or aux track, put the dry all the way down and keep wet at 0, and send your vocals to it and bring in the wet with your built in mixer if thats what youre more familiar with, but I usually just use the built in fader.
WHEW! Didn't mean to do a freakin clinic on the thing. Ya, enjoy!
Oct 02, 2011 04:09 pm Oh, and another thing I use when reverb is killing that cool dry vocal sound and I still want to give them some space is delay. I ALWAYS use the 'classic delay' from kjaerhus audio. Their website is gone, donno what happened to them, but heres a link to their 'cassic' series of plugins. These are free too!!!
www.acoustica.com/plugins/vst-directx.htm
Theres a Compressor, Delay, EQ, Flanger, Limiter, Phaser, Reverb, and Auto-Filter. All really solid plugins.
Anyway, I'll throw a delay on the vocal and set the 'time' to sync to my host tempo and put it on quarter notes. Then put feedback kinda low (like around the first line). You can mess with the built in eq as you wish, I usually prefer a more 'dead' sound so it wan be distinguished from the main vocals. Then you have a 'mix' knob. Keep it looow, you usually don't need much to give depth. You shouldn't need to mess with the output knob.
If the delay is STILL overpowering the dry vocal, sidechain it. If you don't know what sidechaining is or how to do it in your DAW, google it.
K I shut up now.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Oct 03, 2011 08:57 pm Wow, this song is awesome.
(I'm listening to the mix on gearslutz)
I would say, in general, the highs are over pronounced (hats and sibilance in the vocals are really striking). Additionally, the vocals seem loud for the mix. I know quickxkid suggested adding verb, I would just try lowering the vocal levels a bit first.
On the plus side, all the instruments have their own space and it is not muddy at all. Sounds very clean!
Last suggestion I'm not entirely sure about, but if you feel up for it you can dally around with it... I personally might look into adding a bit more low end oomph on the kicks...but I'm also concerned it might mess up the way the bass is sitting in the mix.
Listening on my studio headphones...
When you're done, is there anyway I could get a download?
Oct 08, 2011 09:12 pm Thanks quickxkid!
Coolo, exactly what I needed! Cheers bud. Glad you like it, I can send you the track for sure. When its finished I'll put the mix up and send you a link.
Originally I put an 808 under the chorus kicks. Its coming in the next mix... Just needs some free time!
Oct 18, 2011 11:21 am Yeah the NS10s are(were) almost completely flat sounding.
CrystalMixing.com
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 06, 2012 08:15 pm Man this sounds clean. I might take the vocals down a touch still. Otherwise it sounds great. And I'm not even positive about the vocals, but it's the first thought that came to my mind. Super fresh.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Jan 07, 2012 12:49 am Yeah, I pretty much thought the same thing. I did give it a listen awhile back, but I couldn't really think of anything to really critique. It all sounds great to me.
And in all honesty, I think my Tannoys really favor that British sound (well, they're a British speaker company if memory serves, so that may be a reason hah.)
At first I thought maybe the top end was a little too detailed/crisp, but then, that's pretty much how my speakers are, so yeah.
All I can say is it sounds pretty damn good to me.
(wait, was I listening to the right thing? I was commenting on the new looking blues-ish track up there....was it a re-upped/new mix of the Dursun track I was supposed to listen to? O.o Because that sounds great too. )
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 07, 2012 01:13 am Oh, yeah, just gave the hate to lose joint a quick listen to also, and this is also really nice!
Jan 07, 2012 12:10 pm Thanks guys!
I feel my mixing chops are improving... Just have to keep at it :-).
Everyone says the vocals are too high, but I love them there! hehe. Still I supposed I should listen to the public this time around ;-).
Any feedback on the Hate to Loose mix?
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 07, 2012 02:49 pm This was my only thought on the hate to lose mix.
Quote:
At first I thought maybe the top end was a little too detailed/crisp
For me it is most noticeable in the section of the song from 1:00 to 1:27. The hats and I think an acoustic guitar are kind of crisp, if that makes sense.
Another cool song though.
