Nobody Says- First Real Mix

L

LAsound

New member
Hey everyone posting my first real finished mix to get some feedback. 3 piece band with an indie sound but everything was tracked independently and mixed using mostly UAD plug ins.

My concerns are how the bottom end sounds (muddy? to little bass?) and the vocal levels (should they be higher?)

Other than that just looking for general critique as harsh as possible to get better! Thanks

Nobody Says by LAsound | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
On headphones the balance seems pretty good, not hearing any muddiness. The vocal is getting buried at times. Maybe the reverb you're using is pushing it back too much. Be interesting to hear this with a dry vocal, just by way of contrast
 
I'm on phones too. Sounds real good. The bass is down there in that area - a little foggy in spots ;) - but not muddy. Mix volume is good in my phones.

I usually give my first impression of what these songs remind me of, and this one (strangely..?) made me think right off of Mahogany Rush. Go figure.. :cool:
 
Thanks for the feedback guys appreciate it, think the only thing Ill tweak is increasing the vocal levels a small amount and thats about it
 
Like the others said, it's not muddy.

The vocal reverb gets a little soupy and it drowns out any clarity. I'm hearing some mouth clicks in a couple of spots and some sibalance. The reverb may be contributing to that. I would dry up the vocal considerably. Put the vocal in front of everything.

Clean guitars sound pretty good.

I'm not hearing much kick. Snare level is OK. Cymbals get a little swishy in the spots where the crash is getting ridden.
 
I agree there's a little too much reverb on the vocal. I'd start with lowering the decay time, and checking the pre-delay. This type of song does need some verb on the vocal, I just think there's too much. The section that starts around 2:38, the vocal is really buried, hard to hear what she's even singing.

Some of those far panned guitars doing random melodies are getting in the vocal's way at times, not through the whole song, but definitely at times. Listen closely just focusing on that, and you should find the spots I'm referring to. For example, there's one spot towards the end where a guitar line on the left is crowding her, it needs to come down a few db's and probably have some mids cut down a bit, probably in the 2k range, they're definitely competing there.

Kick is a little quiet.

All in all, not bad.

Listening on BeyerDynamic DT-770s. (phones)
 
Now everything sounds pretty good in my phones except the left guitar - it sounds out of place. I hear it competing with the vocal. It's distracting. I'd drop the volume on the left guitar and add some Hall or Large Room reverb to it.
 
Yep vocal is a lot clearer now. Getting rid of the long delay helped a lot. In the busy (chorus?) section it's still getting covered slightly. You could try compressing the vocal to bring up the average level so it cuts thru and would also help it sit in the mix
 
Yes much better.

I'm hearing a lot of high end in the vocal. If you have a boost in the upper end, I'd turn that down a little. Might need a deesser. Might need a retrack with different mic technique. It's not all that bad, but you might be able to improve it a bit.

And on second listen, I do hear what you're talking about with "mud." I wouldn't describe it as muddy, but the bass has a low end that is a bit too strong on a song like this. I'd focus on frequencies below about 140hz or so. Something in that range on the bass track is a bit strong.
 
This sounds great. It has a great dream quality to it. I can't always her the lyrics but the melody is really nice and the song conveys itself emotionally well just the same.

-Chris
 
The singer has such a lovely voice, as a producer I'd be telling the band to really just play the bare minimum. I feel like the guitar player is doing too much...I feel like the this kind of song needs the singer totally in the spotlight and everyone else staying out of the way, except for when there's a vocal break and it's time for a guitar solo or something. In summary...guitar too busy.
 
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