Bright Shiny Guy

  • Thread starter Thread starter TripleM
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TripleM

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Please let me know what you think of the mix. A song about being in lust with the "leader of the cheerleader squad" type, but you can't compete with her boyfriend. Been there, done that.

Mix #1


Mix #2:
Took low mids out of both rhythm guitars and lead vocal
Added a little low end to the bass and raised it a db or so
Boosted presence range on background vocals

Mix #2


Mix #3
Took out still more low midrange from the guitars and vocal. That made things a little brittle, so I took out just a bit of stuff from the high midrange. I may still revisit the BGVs.
 
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Sounds excellent on my JBL playbacks. Everything is distinct. If anything... maybe the bass is a little lacking in the low end. Just a hair.

Dig the song!
 
Good romp. BVs are a bit dark maybe. The way they are now, they contrast with the brighter main vocal, but if they were just as bright as the main vocal, would the lack of contrast be a bad thing? Thinking out loud.
 
PorterhouseMusic said:
Sounds excellent on my JBL playbacks. Everything is distinct. If anything... maybe the bass is a little lacking in the low end. Just a hair.

Dig the song!
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Thanks. I had a hard time taming the low end of the bass on this one. Maybe I over-did it. I'll check.
 
dobro said:
Good romp. BVs are a bit dark maybe. The way they are now, they contrast with the brighter main vocal, but if they were just as bright as the main vocal, would the lack of contrast be a bad thing? Thinking out loud.
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Thanks dobro. I'll take another listen to the BGV's and see if I like the way they blend.
 
On my speakers the vox is real close to the rest of the mix in the first part. I think they could come up a tad, not a lot, just a bit more. Seem to be at the right level later on. If you are going to tweak, take a look.

I agree bass could use a little more ump.

Really fun sounding sound. Really good performance mix.
 
As already noted, lacking in low end. Otherwise has a mid-60's vibe. Nice harmonies. Catchy, growing on me.
 
@JAPOV @DM60 and @dachay2tnr - thanks to all of you.

I took quite a bit of low end out of the bass - trying to match the bass/umph level in Green Day 'Basket Case'. I'll likely put some back.

And I'll take a listen to the vocal level early on in the song. I didn't do any envelope/level processing, so I'll see what's going on.

Thanks again.
 
TripleM said:
I took quite a bit of low end out of the bass - trying to match the bass/umph level in Green Day 'Basket Case'. I'll likely put some back.
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This explains what you were going for but your mix is too muddy and lacks clarity to achieve the Green Day sound. You've got to have a look at your tracks and get everything below 1k under control.
 
HumanPlanet said:
This explains what you were going for but your mix is too muddy and lacks clarity to achieve the Green Day sound. You've got to have a look at your tracks and get everything below 1k under control.
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Thanks @HumanPlanet. I was using Green Day just to match the bass. But your post brings up a good point. There is a lot of low midrange in the guitars and vocal. It makes things a little cloudy.

I tried to take care of the low mid issues, the bass, and the BGV's. New mix in the original post. Differences aren't dramatic, but they're there nevertheless.
 
TripleM said:
I tried to take care of the low mid issues, the bass, and the BGV's. New mix in the original post. Differences aren't dramatic, but they're there nevertheless.
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I would have gone further but each to their own :-).
 
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Hi Trip, it's me, Tjarko :giggle:

Cool tune, as always catchy, and instantly recognizable as you. I agree with HumanPlanet that the differences in the last mix are not dramatic enough. I tried to explain in words what I was thinking, but instead I grabbed an eq and did some (sometimes dynamic) eqing of resonances and other (mid/side) stuff. No compression or limiter (except for the dynamic eq).

There's only so much you can do with a mp3 as base material, but I think taming 2-3kHz with a wide Q did a lot in regard to making it sound less honky. Also killed a few resonances around 400 and 500, and added an upwards dynamic eq on the low end to bring the bass out more and a high shelf (with a downwards dynamic eq at 10kHz to control the cymbals a bit while still boosting the highs). It just sounds a bit more relaxed and open in this quasi master.

When you A/B it, it's maybe easier to pinpoint what needs to be cut on instrument and vocal levels. Doing this on a mastering level cuts too much from everywhere (so I wasn't able to get it as perfect as I would like). As a reference it may help you in hearing or approaching things differently. It always comes down on a matter of taste, but a different perspective sometimes helps.
 

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Trojka said:
Hi Trip, it's me, Tjarko :giggle:

Cool tune, as always catchy, and instantly recognizable as you. I agree with HumanPlanet that the differences in the last mix are not dramatic enough. I tried to explain in words what I was thinking, but instead I grabbed an eq and did some (sometimes dynamic) eqing of resonances and other (mid/side) stuff. No compression or limiter (except for the dynamic eq).

There's only so much you can do with a mp3 as base material, but I think taming 2-3kHz with a wide Q did a lot in regard to making it sound less honky. Also killed a few resonances around 400 and 500, and added an upwards dynamic eq on the low end to bring the bass out more and a high shelf (with a downwards dynamic eq at 10kHz to control the cymbals a bit while still boosting the highs). It just sounds a bit more relaxed and open in this quasi master.

When you A/B it, it's maybe easier to pinpoint what needs to be cut on instrument and vocal levels. Doing this on a mastering level cuts too much from everywhere (so I wasn't able to get it as perfect as I would like). As a reference it may help you in hearing or approaching things differently. It always comes down on a matter of taste, but a different perspective sometimes helps.
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Yep, trust in Tjarko.
 
Well if a little is good, more is better. I could definitely go a bit further. Gimme a few days. Stuff going on now.

Tjarko!! It's been a long time. It's really good to hear from you.
 
sounds great!!. Background vocals still a bit muddy to me but it sounds really good.
 
Third mix at the top.

Reduced the low midrange on the guitars and vocal still further.
 
The guitar on the right is messing with your vocals on the system I am listening on. I think it is sticking out a bit. Right place, just a tad too loud and messing with the vocals.

I would still like the vocals up a bit more, but maybe taking care of the guitar on the right might fix that.
 
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