Critical Feedback needed for mix..

[Slowjett]

Hi guys,
This is about my second time mixing a full song that has more than acoustic guitar in it. I could really use some advice. I recorded these all here at my house with my band. Here is what I have so far;

http://www.zshare.net/audio/53044986ba73ec46/

The issues I am having is I seem to think the vocals have a bit of trouble sitting in the mix. Not in all the parts, but now and then I feel they are not sitting well. I put little verb on them with my lexicon reflex (snare too).

I may end up re-doing some parts of this (performance wise). Your suggestions on what needs to be changed, and what sounds pretty good would be great.

Thank you!
Josh

[second skin]

Originally Posted by Slowjett

Hi guys,
This is about my second time mixing a full song that has more than acoustic guitar in it. I could really use some advice. I recorded these all here at my house with my band. Here is what I have so far;

http://www.zshare.net/audio/53044986ba73ec46/

The issues I am having is I seem to think the vocals have a bit of trouble sitting in the mix. Not in all the parts, but now and then I feel they are not sitting well. I put little verb on them with my lexicon reflex (snare too).

I may end up re-doing some parts of this (performance wise). Your suggestions on what needs to be changed, and what sounds pretty good would be great.

Thank you!
Josh

yeah i would adjust the vocal some. maybe automate it a bit and check your compressor too.

instruments sound nice to me. it really just seems like the mix is fighting for the midrange. i bet that bass sound is awesome by itself but i would try shaving some of the mids off of it a bit. just a little to make it slightly less percussive. there is a lot of that going on already

[joeym]

Song's damn good, man.....
You're right about the voice, it seems to be sitting above everything else instead of blending with the mix. I would try some reverb on it, maybe a roomy one, nothing too wet, just a bit of ambience. Everything else sounds fine to me.

Joe

[Slowjett]

Hey guys, Did some more mixing. Thanks for the advice guys. I eq'd some space in for the vocals to sit, eq'd the vox and did a few other things. Changed compression settings for vox as well. Here is the new mix. I think there are some guitar and vocal parts I may re-do.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/53136798005791ef/

What do you think? Does it sound lo-fi to anyone else?

-Josh

[dreamer7]

Hey Slowjett,
Very cool song indeed. The recording sounds fine to me and that's a great voice you've got there, but in my opinion it needs to come up in the mix much more, so that people can really feel the expression that you're obviously putting into it. To my ears some extra reverb, or even echo, on the vocal would help too.

Nice one,
Dreamer

[Slowjett]

Thanks dreamer. It looks like I've mixed it too loud, as there is some clipping and when limiting on the master buss there is some hard gain reduction that kills at certain parts. I will definitely try out your suggestions as well.

Thanks again!
Josh

[NL5]

I think the bass is kinda overrunning the mix. You're pretty bottom heavy on the bass. I'd shave some of that off and drop a db or two, and I think that will correct the balance problem.

[TeyshaBlue]

I think the vox sit ok, but like NL5, the bass is absolutely dominating the mix and eating alot headroom....this is what's driving your clipping problems most likely. Tame your mix 150hz and below and you'll have a much more coherent mix.

[Slowjett]

You guys are so right. I listened to it today on a few different sources and noticed the bottom end is too much!

[Slowjett]

Got a new mix here. Im definitely gogin to re-do some vox. Hows this mix sounding? A lot of EQing (most if just re-qing more simplistically), compression changes ect.. I may have squashed the mix a little, or just the drums. You guys get that sense?


New Mix dec 28th



What do you think?
Josh

[lga5824]

Hi - I'm a newbie with recording, so I don't have much feedback on the mix itself, but had to say that I love the song! Very cool style, feel and interpretation. Awesome!

[Slowjett]

Thanks a lot girl! I have some high ambitions for this album. We will see if they come to fruition.

[lga5824]

I'm a girl.

Not your fault, I should have signed my name!

Jen

[ido1957]

I should read the whole thread before clicking on a link - you kept adding new ones.... But at least I got the gist of the mix issues reading through the comments. The Dec 28th mix is pretty good. You've tamed the bass which was dominating. I think the vocals sit right - except in the intro where they stick out a bit. Not sure what to recommend there - automation maybe.
Excellent song, great recording and mix is 99% done!

[Slowjett]

Thanks for the feedback guys. So your telling me the song/drums dont sound to squished?

[joeym]

Voice is sitting nicely in the mix now, Josh.
Rest soumds pretty good to me, too. Great song!

Joe

[Slowjett]

Thanks Joe!!!