I Do with BroKen_H

The piano is still a little loud during the vocals in the verses - and I can hear the compression kicking in on it. Probably why I prefer using volume automation rather than sidechain. If there's a half-second pause between words/lines in the vocal, I don't bring the volume back up on the instrument I'm lowering, I just leave it lower. I don't know if that's the wrong way to do it, but my ears prefer it.
I don't remember noticing it before, but the bass seems to have got really low.
 
mjbphotos said:
The piano is still a little loud during the vocals in the verses - and I can hear the compression kicking in on it. Probably why I prefer using volume automation rather than sidechain. If there's a half-second pause between words/lines in the vocal, I don't bring the volume back up on the instrument I'm lowering, I just leave it lower. I don't know if that's the wrong way to do it, but my ears prefer it.
I don't remember noticing it before, but the bass seems to have got really low.
Click to expand...

Yep the bass is a lot lower as it was just too boomy and compression couldn't fix it. The recorded track (from years ago) has nothing in the upper register so I put it through a driver plugin to get some upper harmonics and dropped the volume way down. The bass was fighting with the low notes on the keys and so I chose the keys over the bass.

I'll do a version with automation on the keys and see how that sounds.
 
It's your life's work getting this tune right ido :D

I do like this song a lot. All the versions I remember have that 'hot' vocal sound that schwarz mentions, so I don't know if it's a conscious mix choice?

Broken's piano playing sounds real purdy. I thought it was a bit busy at first, but on reflection I think it may just be too loud in the mix. It's at pretty much the same level as the vocal currently.
 
The vocal track is from the original recording - Rode NTK through an Alesis Studio 24 into an ADAT, then transferred a year later to computer via Alesis IO16? interface. This version just added some plate reverb and some minor eq.

I prefer the clarity of my Sputnik nowadays, but a nice U87 wouldn't hurt either :) I haven't used my NTK for a long time and I may sell it eventually. Mike has a nice AKG XLS but I'd like to try the XLII which is supposedly nice for vocals.

I was reading a little further on side chaining and my release may be too fast. I'll play around with that and see if I can get it a little lower on a consistent basis while the singing's going on. I'll also try automating the keys and compare the two methods.
 
Mix 6: you can bring both the piano and vocal down a bit. You're mix-hooped. You've got six mixes up in Post One. Put it on the shelf for a week and pull it out then.
 
Sorry for the late reply, just now getting around to listening to this. Listening to mix #6...

The lead vocal sounds overcooked, like it's crackling or distorting and there's a little odd flanging sound I picked up on a few times on the lead vocal. The vocal performance is very good though, and I like the melody. Piano sounds nice, very tasteful playing by BH (this, coming from a guy that can't even play chopsticks). Background vocals sound nice as well, they're very good in the mix and they blend perfectly with the lead vocal.

I could use more drums overall, except maybe overheads. I can't hear the kick or bass guitar really at all, the mix is all piano and vocal with a little guitar and crash/ride on my system.

This is a nice song with a sweet sentiment, I enjoyed it.
 
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