critique this mix ("Travelin' Soldier")

B

banjo71

New member
I'm a noobie at recording and mixing. But I was taught by someone who is really good at what he does. I learned a lot from him. Not going to name him here, but he specifically taught me the whole process from having the recorded tracks into mixing tracks and using plugins to barely touching the surface of mastering.

I'm in a bluegrass band in central IL. We've been messing around with another project. The lady in the band sings lead, and we recorded "Travelin' Soldier" by Bruce Robison. I mix the songs separately and then insert them into what I call a PT Master Session, where each track is a stereo track of the mixes on the CD. Then I can use one master channel to put plugins on. I use multi-compression from Waves (C6), stereo width (Bomb Factory), Izotope Nectar Elements for EQ, Kramer Tape saturation from Waves, and a limiter/ultramaximizer from Waves (L1).

At first I was eliminating the stereo width plugin, and I remembered that's an option. So I just threw it in the chain tonight, and I tried not to overuse it, but this particular brand of plugin for stereo width is kind of a hard plugin to use for me.

So here's the song, the link takes you to my Banjo Hangout storage (you guessed it, I'm a banjo player!?) Don't critique the instrument playing styles too much, you can say nice things about the vocalist if you'd like, but what I really would like is an honest opinion of the compression sound, (I want it to barely be there..), the stereo width, and the EQ. Thanks


Travelin&#39 Soldier mp3 - Banjo Hangout Jukebox
 
Maybe roll off some lows because it's slightly muddy. I might try to make the acoustic guitar sit back further, too.
I don't think you need so many plugins for a style like this, but to answer your main question doesn't feel overly compressed to me.

Good track, buddy. Pleasant listen.
 
Thanks for listening and for the advice, 4tracker. I purposely upped the 350Hz a hair, and that's why it's a little muddy. If you say it's muddy, it must be muddy. I like that "fat" sound, but probably overdid that frequency.

I could eliminate the Kramer tape and maybe the stereo imager. thanks for the advice.
 
banjo71 said:
If you say it's muddy, it must be muddy.
Click to expand...

No this is all subjective. To me it's slightly muddy, but to you that might sound fat. Everyone hears differently so wait for more opinions before making changes, and also stick to what you like since it's your song. The forum is good for gathering opinions and pointing out what might need a closer look, but ultimately this is your creative process. I'm not even sure the muddy sound is a bad thing on this song because it enhanced the old time feel inherent to a lot of bluegrass so that's a creative call.

Plus think of this: if I came across that song on youtube or something I'd just listen to it and enjoy it. But if you post it on a forum asking opinions, suddenly we all become more critical and actively listen for flaws.
 
I agree with 4tracker about the muddiness. Giving it a slight boost at the upper frequencies would be a good call to add some air, but just slightly.

The song is really good, as the melody of the banjo and I dont hear too much of a noticeble compression on it.
 
Well put together. She has a great voice too. Everything seems to have their own space which is good. Only thing I have a slight concern about is the bass. Seems a little indistinct but they may have been your goal. I am listening on a work system with a sub, so take it for what its worth but there also seems to be some strong bass notes, and then some really light ones. Although it does add some intimacy in the song, some of the light ones seem to get lost in the mix. You did a great job though.....
 
I would agree with everything said so far, my only addition would be that the mix seems left sided to me. Maybe that was intentional or a result of the stereo imaging plugin.
 
I thought the guitar sounded good. The banjo sounded good as well - but just a bit on the harsh side for the first few seconds after it came in.

The lead vocal, while well sung, sounds very boxy. It was compressed a bit too hard and is really loud.
 
I thought the same as triple. Voice could use some improved mixing and lowered. I would suggest cut down at the 160-300ish first to see if that clears it up.

Other than that, get some dynamics back into the song and this is a very good song. Performance is good, just a few mixing and slight EQ issues, but nothing major.
 
I thought the vocal was nasal/boxy, too. I'd take a little of the 250-400Hz out of the acoustic - I prefer a brighter guitar sound than you've got, but if you want to fill in that part of the spectrum, it does work.
 
I like the EQ on the instruments, and I don't think it sounds over-compressed. Love the individual performances and the sum. I agree with others who said the vocal was boxy. Not sure how to go about changing that but I'd start by cutting some low end to see if that evens it out. Her voice is great.
 
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