Feedback on first mix?

A

annabelluketic

New member
Hi, I’m a beginner learning to mix- just got this song off a multitrack site and thought I’d give it a go using Protools First.

I understand that I’ve got a long way to go from here so I’m asking for some constructive feedback on my first mix: Where do I go from here? What can I start learning today that will help make my next mix more professional? What’s my next step?

Also, this was a live recording and I think the vocalist was moving around quite a bit but I wasn’t sure how to fix it- what can I do about this? Thank you in advance!
 

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First thing that sticks out is the clicky kick drum. Almost sounds like a metronome.
You probably need to EQ it pretty aggressively; maybe apply drum replacement entirely.

Did you compress the vocal? That can help gloss over her technique being inconsistent.
 
I agree with Steve on the kick drum being too bright. It clearly needs some bass boost. The mix somewhat reminds me of the late 70s disco era mixes but without the driving kick and bass lines. Some bottom would make it more reminiscent of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. That same "metronome" type bass is found all over the disco hits. Go back and listen to Stayin' Alive. Same beat, same kick.

Given the performance, that's probably the direction the song needs.

I didn't find the vocal inconsistency to be too obvious. Sometimes it give things a bit of realism, some "humanity". I don't think i would try to compress it a lot.
 
Thanks for letting me know. Yeah, when I got the multitrack, the kick sounded even more clicky. As a beginner, I was a bit scared of EQing aggressively but I just went in to my DAW and tried taking away some frequencies around 2k and 4-8k which seems to have helped a lot. I'm not sure how to apply a drum replacement. Do you have any resources that I can use to try that technique out for next time? And I did compress the vocal. What do you think of applying a more aggressive compression with hard knee to only the small parts where her vocals are belted really loud?
 
That's really interesting! I don't really have that much knowledge on disco music so I didn't even notice. I think the main thing that annoys me with the vocal is not as much the inconsistency in volume as it is the inconsistency in panning. Like, I think that the vocalist would have been moving towards the left or right of the mix during the performance because at some parts I can hear the main vocals coming out of either speaker a lot more than the other. Not sure how to fix this though- any ideas?
 
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