Nice job....well done.....I like it. A few observations. In the intro one of the toms seems sort of out of place in a way. Too up front and on top. Seems to stop happening after the intro. Also......the vocals........seem a little veiled and slightly dark. They don't come thru the mix as well as they could and could use some presence / air to get some clarity and pop a bit better. The dynamics of the song are hurt a bit because of the veiled feel. They're there but held back.
And remember........I'm just giving my opinion..........and the song stands very well just as it is. And thanks for the listen !!
I basically agree with the above except I think it's the extremely "zingy" acoustic guitar (or is that an autoharp?) that's stepping on the top end of the vocal.
There's a lot of rumble in the bass. I would lighten it up a fair bit.
I'm not hearing much kick. It needs eq to bring out some click.
The snare sounds kind of small and midrange dominant. Boost something lower to give it authority, and maybe boost a high shelf to bring out the wires.
That's all pretty small stuff. It's a solid recording and mix for the most part.
Great ears, Mick. I wondered about the dark vocals myself. I'll look into it. Is the tom you're referring to coming out of the left side or the right side? Once I know that, I'll know which tom it is you mean.
Thanks for the ears and the thoughts!
It seems like there's one directly in the middle of the "sound stage" that stands out too much. The drum run goes from left to right and the tom in the middle of the run is too much on top of the mix. It's not a big deal but if you listen on cans.......it stands out.
That is sounding really good. The one thing that stands out is that the bass still has a lot of rumble.
It's really common for small mix spaces to cause trouble in the bass region, either by creating a buildup or a hole in the lows. I think you've got a missing chunk of LF at your mix position and you're compensating by mixing those frequencies too hot. To be honest I've had this exact trouble myself in many of the mix rooms I've used. The only solution for us is to take the mix around to as many playback systems as possible. Fortunately my living room is a surprisingly good sounding space and I can check my mixes here. If you post mp3 files using the site's upload feature (use the Go Advanced button) I can throw them into a DAW and an editor and give you more specific suggestions regarding eq.
I played around with the eq on this track and came up with this for the bass. Brace yourself:
View attachment 98794
I would do that to the bass, then do the same to the kick but with a couple dB less cut. When I put that eq on the whole mix some other elements thinned out too much, and the kick seemed to become more apparent. You may want to back off the kick's click boost or lower it in the mix just slightly.
One byproduct of cleaning up the lows is that you'll be able to get more volume in mastering before the mix falls apart.
[Edit] Almost forgot to mention, if you're compressing the bass or kick cleaning up the lows will mess with your settings. You may have to readjust them.
I've had at least three pairs of Minimus 7s, going back to my original silver pair from the 80s. Their LF response drops off steeply at a fairly high frequency, probably just like that cut I suggested. Depending on listening levels it's entirely possible to have the LF too high, not hear it on the Minimus 7s and not distort them.
Do you ever listen to reference tracks on the same system you use to mix? That can really help tune you in to general tonal balance. I check my work on my home system where I can compare it to any other source, like TV, radio, CDs, DVDs etc. That keeps me in touch with the wider world of audio production and calibrates my ear to general tonal balance. With some bass trapping and some referencing I think you could get better mixes faster.
Re: last mix. I'm cool with most instruments here, the bass is thick, but harkens back to a cool 70's vibe. The organ jumps out just a tad too preset for me (if it were a real B3 with Leslie, though, np). The vocals could use a high shelf around 6K and up crispness. Good song and vibe.