My latest tune - I've lost all objectivity

Im not an expert on recording...Im somewhat new to recording...overall the mix isnt to bad...the vocals sound pretty good although the vocals seemed a bit to loud in some spots.

The drums sound pretty good however they may have a bit to much bottom end/bass.

The bass sounds good.

The guitar parts are ok...they were played pretty good however the guitar could probably be more up front...Im not to crazy about the distortion sound...its to fuzzy for my taste however it might be what others like or perhaps thats the type of sound you like in which case you could keep it however I think this song would sound better with more of a less fuzzy distortion and perhaps a cleaner overdrive sound would sound better.

I like the song though...the vocals are nice.

"When she laughs" part is the part where the vocals may be a bit to loud however you might of done that on purpose to make them sound different.

Nice Job
 
Thanks for the feedback D_Vincent.

To your point about the Drums and the low end being a bit too much, I think you are right. I tend to be a bit heavy handed around 80hz.

The vocals are louder in the chorus part. Mainly as I bring in 5 tracks of backing vocals to fill it out. I'll try backing that down with some automation.

The guitar sound, is the only thing you mentioned that, outside of some high pass eq, that I didn't tweak with at all. As I listen back to distorted track, I think you are on to something. Great items to think about. Looks like another lost weekend of mixing ahead.

Thanks again for listening and for your feedback. I'd give you some rep points, but I can figure out how.
 
very good song and well executed. i agree with the overdrive comment. i think a smooth overdrive maybe doubled would sound great. or panned with overdrive on one side and a slightly fuzzier tone on the other. i can't comment a whole lot on freqs or anything cause i'm using headphones to listen but good song man.
 
No nits here, Mike. Good song and the mix doesn't fight with my ears. If there is any room for improvement, it might be a high harmony part during the "when she laughs" chorus. It might give more dynamics to the song. Love the doubled vocals, they seem pretty darned tight. Seemed like a clone and some 40 ms delay to my ears, but I'm sure you sang them all. Great bass sound, simple and meaty, but doesn't dominate. Good song. I'll bet your daughter loves it.
 
Thanks guys!

GodMoney - As luck would have it, the guitar track is recorded clean, and then run through Guitar Rig for processing. I am going to mess with the sounds over the next few days. I think I am likely to bump the GTR up in the mix a bit too.

Morning Lights - Its funny that you mention the snare, I have been pulling it back and pushing it up in every other mix. I was going to for a very in your face drum sound. That said, I agree that it does stand out a bit too much. I listened to the tunes on your my space page. Great stuff! I disagree that your snare is too loud in most of the cases. It sat nice in "Freon", maybe a bit too much in "The first Day". Cool songs regardless of the snare volume.

Xeries - Thanks man! I cheated a bit with the vocals, but not by cloning. Those are individual tracks, but I did have to comp a few takes on each track them to get them close timing wise. Regarding the harmonies in the chorus, thats a good idea, I didn't want to over do the harmonies by using them every where, but I will give that some thought. Thanks again.

I have a related question: When I check my mix outside of the studio, I usually submitted it to the "Truck Test". I have a 2 hour commute to review material. I was figuring if I can get it to sound good in the truck, I would have a good mix. I am now rethinking this method. The truck has a great system with a nice sub woofer under the back seat. This song in particular sounds pretty good in the truck when I reference it against other songs. How ever I listened to the song on my tiny laptop speakers and some cheep o ear buds today, and in comparison to similar material, it sounds like crap. It comes across overly bright and lacking in lower mid range tones. So I guess my question is, should I try to mix for the lowest common denominator (the cheep low end junk) and then things will fall in place on the better systems?
 
There's not much I can add that others haven't already said. I really like the vocals during the chorus. Nice touch.

As for the Truck Test. I think it's a good reference, I know about those two hour commutes and you can acclimate to the listening environment. Be sure to listen to commercially released material that closely matches what you are trying to achieve. Listen carefully to each element and then compare it to your song. take notes without having an accident. lol

As for laptop speakers and earbuds. I don't think any music will sound good on those things. But a good mastering job will allow your songs to translate across any playback system and that's the holy grail.

Good luck and have fun!!!
 
Ok, I took another run at this mix this morning. 4 cups of coffee later, here is the end result.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6291775&q=hi

I tried to take all of the feedback into consideration. Heres the run down as to what I did (I actually took mixing notes.... there's a first time for everything I guess)

On the Drums:
On Both kick drum channels (no I'm not just doubling the kick - there is an inside position as well as an outside position) I reduced the 80k boost by 2 db

On Both Top & Bottom Snare channels I reduced the level by 1 db.

I also brought the crash cymbals down by about a db each.

I reduced the over all drum bus level by 1 db.

On the Vocals:
I pulled each of the chorus backing tracks down by 1 db each.

On the Guitars:
For the Rhythm Guitar I switched to vintage simulation with a tube compressor. This also seemed to my ears to bring out the mids a bit more, so it sits higher in the mix, so I didn't adjust the volume as I had planed to.

On the lead Guitar, again I switched to a vintage simulation and toned down the distortion. It was a bit too forward after that, so I added just a touch of delay to pull it back a bit.

I would greatly appricate any feedback on the new mix. Thanks guys!

Chili - Thanks for listening. I dig your new tune. I think I am going to supplement the truck test with the cheesy laptop speakers at work test.
 
It sounds way better now...the guitar sounds more up front and not as fuzzy which sounds much better to me...the vocals seem to blend a bit better however they may still be a bit to loud..."when she laughs" part still seems a bit to loud...the quality of the recording sounds great though.

The drums sound better as well.

Nice Job...sounds good
 
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