Could use mix feedback (Original Song)

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
Hey guys,
I could use your ears on this mix I finished tonight.
Thanks!
 
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Quite a nice song.
Sounds quite narrow though, not much separation between stuff - every thing sounds quite near the centre. You could probably do with spacing stuff out a bit.

The electric guitar that comes in at 6 - 8s just after hte intro sounds pretty rough - like its just sitting in the background making a little background noise - that might be your intension though. When a similar guitar sound comes in later doing the down-up-down-up thing its alright and kinda works.
 
The snare has a weird sound, like there's a 60Hz modulation being applied. It's not necessarily bad, just not what I usually hear. You voice has a hesitant quality. That actually works really well for the verses but I feel like it should be strong for the choruses. Maybe do that as a separate take with different technique, sing louder and with more confidence.
 
Cool song! I really like that guitar line behind the vocal. It's weird, in a really good way. The whole thing is kind of dense. I agree with JDOD that it needs more separation. I also think the vocal could be louder. This song would work really well with an intimate, up front, dry-ish vocal.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
The snare has a weird sound, like there's a 60Hz modulation being applied. It's not necessarily bad, just not what I usually hear. You voice has a hesitant quality. That actually works really well for the verses but I feel like it should be strong for the choruses. Maybe do that as a separate take with different technique, sing louder and with more confidence.
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Thanks boulder (and everyone else for the feedback so far). Do you still need an mp3? I can upload one if you do.

This was a guide vocal that I decided to keep, but I wasn't totally happy with it, so I'll keep what you said in mind when I redo it.

Do you think the mud region needs cutting? I hardly applied any EQ to the mix. That was my biggest concern. Paulman, when you say it's dense do you mean that?

Jdod, you write it's too narrow...just a question about that. I do have two guitars playing the deeper guitar notes both panned 80 l/r. The lead guitar parts are panned more like 40 l/r depending on the part. The drum, bass, vocal, and acoustic are C. I didn't know how else to pan it given that the arrangement. How would you pan it with just those parts?
 
Nola said:
Thanks boulder (and everyone else for the feedback so far). Do you think the mud region needs cutting? I hardly applied any EQ to the mix. That was my biggest concern. Paulman, when you say it's dense do you mean that?
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Well, I was talking about the panning, but now that I'm listening to it again I think the panning seems ok. I do think it's more of an EQ thing, mainly cleaning up the mids, opening up the sound of the track some.
 
Sounds good. Not muddy. If anything, I'm missing a little low end. If you added bass, I'm not hearing much of it. Other than that, I think the mix is pretty good. The relationship between guitars and vocals is fine. I wouldn't go significantly louder or softer on the vocal. The wide panned guitar parts are imaginative and interesting. I'm going to disagree with some of the commentators and say the blending of guitars is key to the soundscape you are creating here. I don't think you want more separation. But you know me. Low, blended, and wide-panned aptly describes the guitars on just about every song I've posted. All that was done on your vintage Princeton? I didn't mind the hesitant quality of the vocal. It fits the song. It's a quirky vocal and song, but not in a bad way. I hear what bouldersoundguy mentioned about the snare, but it doesn't bother me. Partly, I'm just not as picky about snare sounds as many on the forum are. Drums are kind of secondary in this song. It's a loop although there is some variation. It wouldn't hurt to find a snare sound with a little more beef to it, but just not a big issue for me. The lack of variation in chord (singular) progression makes the song seem longer than it really is. Well done!
 
Thanks for the feedback, Robus.

Yeah, it was all done on the old Princeton, but with two guitars that have really different pickups.
 
i would have thought about a 2-part harmony for the chorus. i agree with boulder that it should be bigger there. adding a harmony could help there too. can't hear the bass much. guitars sounds good to me. some verse vocals were a little too quiet. just some nitpicks. sounds almost there, to me. :thumbs up:
 
Nola said:
Thanks boulder (and everyone else for the feedback so far). Do you still need an mp3? I can upload one if you do.

This was a guide vocal that I decided to keep, but I wasn't totally happy with it, so I'll keep what you said in mind when I redo it.

Do you think the mud region needs cutting? I hardly applied any EQ to the mix. That was my biggest concern. Paulman, when you say it's dense do you mean that?

Jdod, you write it's too narrow...just a question about that. I do have two guitars playing the deeper guitar notes both panned 80 l/r. The lead guitar parts are panned more like 40 l/r depending on the part. The drum, bass, vocal, and acoustic are C. I didn't know how else to pan it given that the arrangement. How would you pan it with just those parts?
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So have you got double tracked, or near double tracked parts panned equal amounts in both directions? They'll sound big and centred.
Is the up and down thing double tracked too?
 
JDOD said:
So have you got double tracked, or near double tracked parts panned equal amounts in both directions? They'll sound big and centred.
Is the up and down thing double tracked too?
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Yeah the left side is palm muted notes, and the right side is the same part without the palm mutes. They're panned 80l and 80r. What do you suggest doing to separate them more? Should I pan them unevenly?

That's the only doubled part -- the up and down thingy isn't doubled.

Thanks!

edit: I forgot to mention, but I used two tunings, too. I'm not sure if that matters...but the l/r parts are both tuned to D B D G B D. Everything else is tuned to standard pitch.
 
Nola said:
Yeah the left side is palm muted notes, and the right side is the same part without the palm mutes. They're panned 80l and 80r. What do you suggest doing to separate them more? Should I pan them unevenly?

That's the only doubled part -- the up and down thingy isn't doubled.

Thanks!

edit: I forgot to mention, but I used two tunings, too. I'm not sure if that matters...but the l/r parts are both tuned to D B D G B D. Everything else is tuned to standard pitch.
Click to expand...

Cool, in that case I'd just go for wider panning and allow yourself more space to spread stuff out. I thought it sounded relatively centred and I was listening on good headphones (which would normally make things sound wider). On my 2nd listen through I was swapping, listening for parts on one earphone at a time to see what the difference was and it wasn't much!
 
I like the fuzzed out guitar; I wouldn't mind hearing it louder, especially during the interludes when the vocals drop out.

Vocals sound a little weird. Kind of like auto-tune artifacts but still a little pitchy?
 
Thanks everyone. Made a list of what I need to do.

Fixing the snare and raising the bass were easy and done.
The rest will take more time. I need to redo the vocal and probably double the chorus vocal. I feel those are priority, as to my ear, the vocal is the weak point. Then, from what I gathered, thin out the density and maybe rethink the lead guitars' automation a bit. I'm still not sure on l/r separation for this track since it's going for the wall of sound thing, but I'm going to keep that in mind as I mix. Hoping I can clean up some density by lowering the acoustic guitar and using EQ rather than the L/R but we'll see.

Thanks!

If anyone has more suggestions please do. I'm gonna take a break from this mix and come back to it in a few days.
 
I like the vocals a LOT in this. Very intimate sounding.

The guitars too, they sound really nice.

I like the bass on this, but I think its sounding too low...I know this is weird to hear, but I miss a little bit of the bass mid range.

This song reminds me of Dinosaur Jr...so much, I love it.

Great job as usual, Nola!
 
Cool vibe to the song. I really like that.

The vocal is pretty pitchy. Some of it is kind of a "nice pitchy" - a la Bob Dylan. Some of it is a bit too much. Vocal is nice and clear tho. Little vocal click at about 1:30. Another one about 2:31.

Kick and snare sound good. But I can't hear much from the cymbals. A little high hat here and there.

A lot of the mix is narrow. It opens up after a while. But in the first minute or so, it's pretty narrow.

The clean guitar on the left could use just a bit more bite. A little boost around 2K (very small) might be nice.

I like the distorted guitar that comes in at about 1:00.
 
The snare sound like it is being double hit. Kinda strange and phasey. IMO a straight deep low pitched snare sound would work here.

I like the rhythm guitar tones. They are nice and mellow and pleasant.

You could maybe make a little more space for the vocals in this mix by doing a cut to the guitars in the 200Hz-600Hz range. The vocals are quite dry, and it fits the tune, but you could probably add a touch of short tail with no pre-delay reverb on an aux for a little sparkle and it could still be dry enough to work. Only put the reverb on the 200Hz-800Hz.
 
Like the guitar tones on this nola, the fuzzy guitar that comes in as an accent maybe less so. The up/down riff really ties the song together I think. Vocals come through very well, well recorded. The tuning artifacts are distracting though, I might try a simpler melody or a spoken delivery in the parts giving you trouble. Not really a mix thing but it seemed pretty repetitive, there didn't seem to be any tension/release.
 
easlern said:
Like the guitar tones on this nola, the fuzzy guitar that comes in as an accent maybe less so. The up/down riff really ties the song together I think. Vocals come through very well, well recorded. The tuning artifacts are distracting though, I might try a simpler melody or a spoken delivery in the parts giving you trouble. Not really a mix thing but it seemed pretty repetitive, there didn't seem to be any tension/release.
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hey thanks for the feedback easlern. yeah i am going to have my girlfriend try singing it this weekend and see how that goes. she's a much better singer.

which fuzzy riff/accent didn't you think worked? can you give me the time it comes in?
 
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