Try it Again #2

I listened to it twice, an hour apart. What really snaps is the snare. But I didn't notice until the second listening that images of rodeos were surfacing. Which means you have make the vocal(s) more present. How would I do it? I'd turn up the bv first, fwiw. When the vocals snap as much as the snare, you'll be closer.

Who's drumming?
 
Poetcintensity (Jason Jones) - a member here - did our drum track. Do you think the drums are too loud or the vocals too low?
 
I agree with dobro, I've only listened once, but I immediately noticed that the vocals are a little too quiet or "behind" the mix. I think the drums sound great and if you can just bring the vocals forward it will sound really good (IMO).
 
I like the level of vocals in the link of the 1st post.
There are a couple of spots wher a word or syllable is dropped but that can be sorted with automated faders.
The rythm guitar doesn't sound as panned as the lead licks - could be me though.
 
I think the levels are pretty good. I think you could nudge the vocals up a hair if you wanted to, but this works for me as-is. What it really needs to me is some dynamics. Not mix dynamics so much as just song dynamics. This song just plods through at one feel and never changes. Even at only 3 minutes, it felt long to me. It needs some stuff. Some guitar stuff. Some vocal stuff. Maybe even some kind of piano or something for choruses.
 
Thanks guys. we auditioned this on three different sets of speakers and a set of AKG Headphones when mixing so we were hoping it would translate.

On my truck the snare seems to be a bit hot so maybe I'll get Mike to look at that. The vocals seem to be okay for me though if we take down the drums, I'm pretty sure we'll hear more vocals as they are in the same space.

The vocals are automated a lot and compressed pretty hard (CA2A) I think we got a pretty even balance across the song. We also have a BT Analog Trackbox plugin we're trying out. Mike's new C414 XLS is pretty accurate so volume levels were slightly impacted by moving while singing and we had to work on that. We spent a few hours automating the vocal track yesterday to compensate.

Ray - your ears are accurate. The rhythm 20% Left and lead 30% right are panned slightly different. I just found that on the project now. I'll balance those out. I spent a while trying to get the rhythm to sit properly as the panning made it stick out a lot so I just kept dropping the volume until it blended better.

One thing we did this time was use separate buses for the reverbs and panned the buses the same amount as the dry signal before sending it to the Master. I guess we could probably have just added the plugin to the track but the bus allows for a little more volume and eq ability on the reverb.

We are using the Lexicon Native Plugins now and when a/b'ing with the Pantheon you could really hear a difference - the Pantheon had a sort of boost in the highs and was nowhere near as smooth. The reverbs are sitting at about 75% wet and are still fairly transparent. With the Pantheon I was using around 20% so you can really push the new one without it sounding all 80's IMO.

The dynamics are something we'll think about Greg. Arrangements can make it interesting if you use a little differences here and there.
 
Very cool song. Here are my two random comments:
I feel like the song would be better served if you sang the vocal louder. (Not turn up the volume, re-sing and kind of wail on it.) It sounds to me like you're holding back and singing too softly, which contradicts the meaning of the lyrics (makes them sound less sincere) and I also wonder if the tone of your voice would be more clear and cutting if you were singing louder.
At 1:23 the drums need to be tightened up. A little unevenness that stuck out to me.
Great song, and fun to listen to!
 
Are the drums a stereo track? I'd hit the 2.5k range on the kick and bring up beater snap. I'd probably add some ring and top end to the snare tone also. It sounds a little like it's coming through a muffle of sorts.

Nice laid back feel to the material. I think getting the drums dialed in on this one is your mix challenge, bud. They need to have more character, less muffle.
 
I things sounded pretty good.

I thought the vocal could come up just a bit. I'm hearing some pitchy spots. Mostly on the notes that are held for several seconds. Harmony vocal could come up even more than the lead. Double tracked vocals would sound nice here.

Bass might be a bit loud. Snare might be a bit loud too.
 
Thanks again - Mike's remixing this focusing on all the feedback we 've had so far and should have a new version shortly.
 
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