Is this mix fatiguing? Or are my ears toast?

[StudioMicZone]

Very nice performance. I would start by taking a bit of bottom end off of the guitars to move them back into the mix and also give the bass his own space. Take a little bottom end off of the vocal, again to move her back into the mix.

Because it was recorded in a dry small room you need to add some reverb to give it some space. For the vocal I would use two reverbs. I don't know what reverbs you have available so this might take some experimentation. I usually use a "ambience" reverb on the vocalist. This is a very short reverb with no pre-delay. It really doesn't sound like reverb, it just adds space to the vocalist and helps her fit into the mix. Then I would add a little bit of longer reverb to the vocalist and probably a bit more to the guitars.

Oh, stop mixing when your ears get tired and everything starts to sound the same.

 

[j.garner]

two verbs! ok, i'm going to try it. makes sense.
i'll apply the eq changes and repost also.
headed out of town for a week, then i'll get back to work on it.

thanks all! really, really generous.

 

[CherylJosie]

I really liked it, but I agree that something is off and it is not just the dryness.

The vocals and guitars are a little heavy in the low end. The spatial feeling in the reference recording is not all EQ though. Acoustics are central.

The dry mix is entirely a matter of personal style. What are you after? Shoot for that and be happy. No one created a mold for you to follow. Dry acoustic mix is more challenging IMO. FX cover up sins but if there are none to cover up well you can concentrate on tweaking the EQ and fine-tuning the mix so the performance shines.

I thought the vocal was just half or one dB loud but maybe the bass needs to come up instead. A tiny bit of reverb or maybe more appropriately a room simulation if you have one might help but with a sparse mix like that too much effects will stick out like a sore thumb. You already have small room acoustics in the recording and overlaying a large room simulation might help cover that up. The louder acoustics usually prevail though, so you may need to use more than you like to hide that small room sound.

I put 3dB of cut at 450Hz and 8 semitones, and it seemed to take that 'cupped hands' or 'singing into a corner' feel out of it, but it was still not right. Maybe with just enough EQ and a small amount of room simulation?

It almost sounds like proximity. Maybe you were mic'd close to a room boundary, or performing near one. The room acoustics are vital and a piece of foam does nothing for bass. If the foam intercepted the ambient reflection path it could have made things worse by taking the life out of the room without fixing the boundary reinforcement/interference.

I cannot hear the top octave. Won't stop me critiquing the parts I can still hear though.

Trust your instincts. I agree it is off slightly, but not much, and a wonderful performance, congrats.

Also, if you are concerned about your hearing, it is simple enough to run a tone generator on your phone and find your bandwidth through headphones. Try cleaning your ears, but be careful.

ps I really do not know much about this and my ears are shot. Just trying to help. YMMV

 

[andrushkiwt]

Well, just about everyone agrees on the same few points, it seems. No matter what you do for this track, see what you can do about getting the sound more how you want it at the start. Check out ways to make your room/mics capture that all to begin with.

 

[participant]

I like the dry vox--sounds classic. Vocal brightness isn't necessarily the be-all/end-all. The point is I can make out all the words, and the emotion comes through. When it comes to 'value judgments' on a mix (taste/etc) I take the approach of "trust yourself 80% of the way." Objective mix comments always depend on your intention. If this was intended to sound like a pop-radio track for the 2010s, then obviously there would be things to adjust.

Objectively the guitar brightness does sort of sit on top of the vocal, but it doesn't make it unintelligible. It's just "what it is."

(my 2 cents)

 

[Nola]

I loved this, man. The swing feel...ah...love.

Just a bit dry as mentioned. You can get away with more reverb and still keep it mostly dry, just add a sense of space. Some weird noise at 1:15 mark and again at 1:50.

Love the django reinhardt-esque solo. Is this an original tune? If so, it's genius and so well-crafted. If not, it's a really good cover. Great mix other than the lack of space/reverb (just a little...too much would swamp it out fast, not good for the genre). No fatigue issues.