The drums are way too 'roomy' for me, like they were at the back of a large room when everything else is up close to the mics. The cymbals are very splashy, too (could be the room/reverb). When the guitar splits to the separate left/right I think they have too much high frequency, not enough mid. The solo (nylon?) guitar that is centered is ok, though.
I like the sound of it overall, reminds of some old Floyd, probably the combination of acoustic plus the synth-y sounds. Could probably be cut down in length by a minute or more.
Some good observations there mjb. Thanks.
Yeah, the drums...I guess I'm kind of going for an extreme flaming lips, tame impala, bulls hit kind of drum sound here (which I realize I did not achieve), where the room mics and/or OHs are heavily limited and/or compressed. I like that sound, but perhaps I went too far here. Everything else but the bass has a ton of reverb on it, but by comparison may sound somewhat dry. I don't necessarily want or need everything to sound like it's in the same space aesthetically, as I'm not going for a band playing in a room sound, but I don't want it to sound jarring or wrong...just cool and different. lol I like that contrast myself, but again, here I may have overdone it.
That is a classical guitar that is centered, and at times it gets subbed with two hard panned tracks of a 1940's archtop. That guitar has a really honky, wooden sound, so I tend to make a lot of low and low mid cuts to it. Again, perhaps I went too far here. You gave me stuff to think about for sure - so thanks!
Interesting song heatmiser. I like it. Performances sound very good. The first thing that strikes me is the contrast between the close acoustic guitar and the more distant, roomy drums--snare especially. Sounds a bit odd to me, though maybe that's the sound you were going for. The acoustic guitar sounds unnaturally loud and in-your-face, while the drums seem to get crowded into the background as the song builds. There is some harshness in the midrange, on the vocals and lead guitar especially. That usually points to too much compression, limiting and boosting on the master bus--just a guess. The whole mix is sounding claustrophobic and dense, like the various parts are fighting for attention rather than playing together--acoustic guitar, vocal, and various droning and chorused lead guitars. This would really benefit from more feeling of air and openness in the mix, allowing the different parts to settle into a space and compliment one another. I do like that chorused lead--if chorus is what it is--though again there is some harshness there. And it is way loud. It could be significantly quieter and still stand out in the right mix. Somebody is going to tell me I've missed the aesthetic of the song, and that may be.
But this being my opinion, it's promising but could really benefit from a remix. Keep in mind that Soundcloud does strange things to audio. Your original MP3 may have sounded different.
You and Nola have a lot in common, musically.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts robus. You seem very objective and focused which I appreciate.
See above for roomy drums contrasting with other sounds...mostly intentional, but perhaps overdone, or just executed poorly. I have plenty of snare and kick mic in there which I'd hoped gave it enough punch alongside the roominess. That's a balance right there I've yet to find it seems.
I'm disappointed that it sounds claustrophobic. That certainly wasn't an aesthetic choice! lol Dense, yes, but claustrophobic, no. I suck at mastering! I think you would prefer my -12db mixes frankly, but I just like the glue and the hype that limiting and boosting and all of that crap adds for some reason.
No chorus used! lol I hate that particular effect mainly as it's so evocative of the 1980's. That lead bit has a flanger (I know, similar to a chorus, but way cooler imo), tremolo, spring reverb and another reverb on it. I like the sound and intended for it to be super loud, but I probably pushed it too far. I feel like if the bass guitar was just louder it might offset that. The bass is the only thing that consistently changes throughout the song really. I do feel like this mix is a bit harsh and a bit on the lite side overall maybe.
I never have noticed soundcloud mangling anything personally, although I know that's a common complaint. Some of my mixes frankly sound better once they're done with 'em!
Sorry for the super lengthy replies...guess I'm kind of bored tonight. I could just write, "thank you". lol Thanks again.