Hip Hop Reggae Song (Mix UPDATE). Tell me what you think!!!

E

Emphasis

New member
Hey guys. So here's an update on my over all mix:


Hip Hop / Reggae Song "Untitled" (MIX UPDATE!!!) by Emcee Emphasis on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free



Feels like the track is getting closer to the mastering phase (atleast to the best of my abilities).


SOME OF MY AREAS OF CONCERNS:

-Feels like vox might be sitting too loud over the instrumental..not completely sure though


-It sounds like there's some subtle, but nasty, artifacts in the sub kick.
Not sure if this is due to the fact that i changed the key up by half a step, or if its just my monitors and headphones not being able to handle the frequency.
I mostly mixed the low end in an untreated room with a pair of hs80ms, but no sub.


-The cowbell sits really nicely in my studio monitors and headphones. However seems really cut through the mix on certain car and smaller portable speakers. While getting recessed by others...


-There seems to be a ring out on my snare rolls, around 1khz. (Closer to 104,000)
Not sure if i should leave it as is. Eqing it down burries the snare rolls in the mix. Raising it makes the ringing a little bit more noticeable but also brings out the snare rolls to the forefront.
 
Also, here's the old version of the mix, so you can compare on contrast:

Hip Hop / Reggae Song. "Untitled" by Emcee Emphasis on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


Some of the basics that i did were:

-Clean up the vox: as far as artifcat removal and slight EQ changes. (I haven't used a de-esser yet though. Should I?)

-Used complimentary Equing on my bass tracks and bussed both of them to a single master channel strip to eliminate what i thought sounded like phasing.

-Played around with my pan pot and delay effects

-But most notably, (and as much as i hate to admit it) I tuned an 808 to add more "thump" in the lower range.
Can't really hear these anywhere but on my monitors -___-
 
Its very good....loved the backing and the rap was tight...I like the main vocals dryness, I think it could maybe even come up in volume a little but it sits well in the mix as is

I was thinking at 2.50 on with the scratching effect that a skanking guitar playing the tune out would be a win...

really enjoyed it
 
Cool. Your delivery was really good.

I agree that the vocals could come up some, particularly during the first half.

Myself, I thought the main vocal was a little too dry to sit in the mix properly, but then again, I'm kind of a reverb/delay junkie. Well done.
 
Hey guys. Thanks for the positive feedback! I'm stoked. Especially since I've been second-guessing myself on the mix and song. It means a lot!!
 
kcearl said:
I was thinking at 2.50 on with the scratching effect that a skanking guitar playing the tune out would be a win...
Click to expand...

Yes! I was thinking the exact same thing when I arranged the scratching parts. Unfortunately, i couldn't get the guitar chords and scratches to sit well together in the mix. It just got really hard to pay attention to one or the other.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board :guitar: :)
 
heatmiser said:
Cool. Your delivery was really good...
Click to expand...

Thanks :)


heatmiser said:
...I thought the main vocal was a little too dry to sit in the mix properly, but then again, I'm kind of a reverb/delay junkie. Well done.
Click to expand...

I'm also kind of a delay junkie! i went hella crazy, and added delays on most the tracks/instruments. Some are subtle, but they're there.


I particularly like blending 16th or 16th note triplet delays to give the illusion of room ambience/ echo.


When it comes down to the vocals though, i'm still kind of a reverb noob -___-.
I decided to keep my reverb a bit subtle, rather than make it obvious that i was lost trying to figure out what type of room space to emulate.. lol

With your advise in mind, though, i'm most likely thinking about adding some more reverb on the first verse now.
Thanks!
 
Good rapping. The only thing is the vox sound a little buried in the mix. Bringing them up might fix the problem of hearing the vox better, but it may bury other things in the mix. Try cutting mid-range to high frequencies from other instruments like snare, guitars, etc. Atleast that's what works for me. And maybe some slight reverb on the vox wouldn't hurt. Nice song though!
 
Chipperface said:
Good rapping. The only thing is the vox sound a little buried in the mix. Bringing them up might fix the problem of hearing the vox better, but it may bury other things in the mix. Try cutting mid-range to high frequencies from other instruments like snare, guitars, etc. Atleast that's what works for me. And maybe some slight reverb on the vox wouldn't hurt!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise. I'ma see if or where i can do some midrange cuts.
I think the biggest factor is the guitar fighting for space with the vox

My problem is I still feel like my vox sit on top of the instrumental,
rather than on or in the mix...
 
Vocals should come up. Just a bit. I'm listening in headphones and the bass is very prominent but I think it makes the vocals hard to understand in the beginning. That or just the mix as a whole slightly buries the vocals. I'm not sure.
 
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