Looking for feedback on my prog rock track mix

A

azprogrocker

New member
Hey, all! I was referred here by some guys on The Rush Forum who said you could give me some feedback on mixing.

This is the track, "World Beyond" by Red Planet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRDFT_hqx8s

This was intended to be very keyboard heavy, but maybe went a little too far in that direction. I was aiming for the sound of late 70s/early 80s prog rock from bands like Rush, Yes, and Genesis.

The main critique on The Rush Forum was that the mix is too bright. This probably comes from some upper-frequency hearing loss I have. :( I added some highs to the Master Out to brighten it up, but I guess I overcompensated. This was recorded, mixed, and mastered in Cakewalk SONAR.

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions for improvement!
 
It was "some guy" (JARG doesn't visit this site). That guy is/was me. :D

This section of the forum is pretty busy, as you could probably see by the volume of threads and how quickly your post was working its way down page 1. Here's a free bump back to the top (you already got my feedback ;) ).
 
The cymbals are fizzy -maybe that's what the Rush guys were commenting on, look at your samples to maybe find some better ones. The guitar really can't be heard until the lead parts.
 
The mix sounds muffled to me. No element is really stepping forward to command attention and become the lead. The keyboard comes closest. Even the lead guitar solo seems to hover in the background, although it is loud enough. I am hearing more cymbals and overhead than kick and snare, that might be one place to begin. I think you need to aim for more immediacy and impact.
 
The various "pad" instruments (held keys, rhythm guitar) might be a bit much. They take up so much space, that the whole mix ends up a little flat. No section has the dynamic contrast to distinguish itself, and the lead instruments have trouble sticking out of the mix. If you lower their volume (or even cut them entirely in a few spots), you'll have a more engaging arrangement, I think.
 
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