Feedback on newest mix? - Climb The Wall

andrushkiwt said:
Tips on cleaning up the chorus?
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His review put to words a lot of the thoughts I had on the choruses.

You can do a few things to bring the vocs forward:

--Parallel compression to emphasize some of the vocal brightness (take a copy of the vocal comp, put an extreme high-pass filter on it, compress it heavily >20:1, and put it low in the mix

--Put a delay on the vocal on each side, one delay 1/4 note, the other at 1/8 notes. Put them low in the mix, too.

--Using volume automation, boost only the lead transients on each word of the vocal during the busy parts. There's a psycho-acoustic effect that causes our brains to latch on to a sound when you simply hear the first consonant of a word. (Use a pencil tool to just do a quick 2 db rise in volume on just the lead transients)

Just a couple ideas.

For the drums, maybe you could do similar parallel compression technique on a copy of the snare track, but use a transient designer plugin to emphasize the attack and de-emphasize the sustain. Mix to taste.


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The mix may also benefit in the thickest chorus sections by de-emphasizing certain instruments (taking them back a db or two).

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Really, IMO, this is just about tweaks. You have a really good mix and tune going on.
 
participant said:
Using volume automation, boost only the lead transients on each word of the vocal during the busy parts. There's a psycho-acoustic effect that causes our brains to latch on to a sound when you simply hear the first consonant of a word. (Use a pencil tool to just do a quick 2 db rise in volume on just the lead transients)
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You are saying to boost the very beginning of each word in the chorus? hmm. i wouldn't need a pencil tool in my DAW, I can simply create an "event" by chopping that section and then I have access to its volume. I've never heard of this, and it sounds pretty cool. Is this used often or rarely and only when things aren't sitting right?
 
andrushkiwt said:
You are saying to boost the very beginning of each word in the chorus? hmm. i wouldn't need a pencil tool in my DAW, I can simply create an "event" by chopping that section and then I have access to its volume. I've never heard of this, and it sounds pretty cool. Is this used often or rarely and only when things aren't sitting right?
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also, my car stereo was telling me the vocals were too harsh when I had the volumes of them up louder in the chorus. Only my car system does that. When the volume is low in my car, the bass is loudest, when the volume is loud, the treble is loudest (and this is when the loudest vocals start to sound a bit harsh). in my mixing headphones (yes, i mix w/ headphones) and two other pair i use to reference things, it sounded great with the vocals up like everyone suggested. but i went with what my car was telling me, since it's a new Fusion SEL with, like, an 8 speaker system or something. i figured that would be the best bet. I really need to get monitors, huh? this version of the tune was the most balanced between systems, but I agree (after taking a 2 day break form listening to it) that the vox step back too much in the chorus and that there is an overkill of distorted guitars in the chorus, especially around 400hz-ish
 
This is a really good song. I've not got much to say really other than the drums in the bridge seem a little bit much to me. But I really like the song.
 
Great composition! Cool song, reminds me of Motion City Soundtrack. Great vocals, the performance overall sounds great to me.

It got boomy for me in the chorus too. Kick is kind of overwhelming during those big runs in the outro and after the bridge. The cymbals toward the end seem like they got a little messed in the render?
 
I didn't read all the responses, but this was great. The performances are all awesome. The mix sounds a bit narrow to me, and the double-bass was a little over the top IMHO, but overall, it's really impressive.

Your stuff is some of the closest to radio-ready I've heard on this forum. In particular, your vocals are stunning, and the writing is great too.

Excellent work!
 
easlern said:
Great composition! Cool song, reminds me of Motion City Soundtrack. Great vocals, the performance overall sounds great to me.

It got boomy for me in the chorus too. Kick is kind of overwhelming during those big runs in the outro and after the bridge. The cymbals toward the end seem like they got a little messed in the render?
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I have not heard of them, but I'm definitely going to check them out on the way home from work. I just read that they are alternative/emo rock? that's probably what I was going for here, especially with the hanging screams.

I really do need to either take more time before I finish these, or just get monitors. i agree with the boomy guitar/bass/kick in the choruses. the cymbals are being a little squished by the MBC i am using on the high band (4khz and up). i should have back it off a little bit and let it breathe more there.
 
famous beagle said:
I didn't read all the responses, but this was great. The performances are all awesome. The mix sounds a bit narrow to me, and the double-bass was a little over the top IMHO, but overall, it's really impressive.

Your stuff is some of the closest to radio-ready I've heard on this forum. In particular, your vocals are stunning, and the writing is great too.

Excellent work!
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hey, thanks a lot man! i don't know about radio-ready, i'll leave that distinction to Steen, but i appreciate the comment. I'm surprised it's coming off narrow - I widened in the master session to 112%. maybe it's the rhythm guitars that have that fake "stereo" trick. i was lazy and copied/pasted and just used different amp settings, EQ changes, and slight delay pedal. On my next track, I'll try just doing another take and seeing if that sounds better. I don't like the double bass as much now as I did in the beginning. I think I should have taken some of the hits out and left it semi-constant, rather than a full barrage on each eight note, or whatever it is.

thanks for mentioning the writing. That means a lot.
 
andrushkiwt said:
You are saying to boost the very beginning of each word in the chorus? hmm. i wouldn't need a pencil tool in my DAW, I can simply create an "event" by chopping that section and then I have access to its volume. I've never heard of this, and it sounds pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Yes. Just the very beginning of words that start with consonants. It doesn't work as well with words starting with vowels.

Is this used often or rarely and only when things aren't sitting right?
Click to expand...

Not sure how often it is used. I picked this up some time ago (probably from Sound on Sound), and it seems to work.
 
I'm on ear buds on a laptop ... so I'm not going to attempt to comment on the sonics. I'd have to get behind my studio console with my monitors to pick that aspect up.

I will say though, from a songwriting aspect and performance aspect, this is terrific. I enjoyed it very much.
 
if interested, i have re-worked the low end a little. some EQ taming on the bass and kick, upped the limiter input to +6 from +2 to decrease the huge jump from verse to chorus. Loosened up the MBC to let it breathe a little more on the highs and lows. most bands are 1.1:1 now with slow attacks and releases. various other changes in group compressor settings.

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt/climb-the-wall2/s-5MXIF

if you have time, i'd be glad to hear if this is an improvement. the original link is still active, so it's possible to compare. thank you!
 
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