Can't figure out where I'm going wrong...

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sausy1981

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Hi all, I've been getting really frustrated this last week, I've been working on a mix of a song I've recorded. I spent a long time recording it and made sure I got the best recording possible. Now I've done a few mixes and they all seem very cold, i.e. lacking warmth. I've done a lot of reading and research and I am using the info I have read. I can't seem to get the warmth thats in my reference track.
My seperation is good and my levels seem ok, I've plenty of low end on my bass guitar, but is there other instruments other than the kick and the bass that should have some low end.
I'm wondering if the reverb I'm using is sucking the warmth out of the song.
Can somebody please tell some common mistakes that I may be making.
I do realise that this is a very general question and it's hard to give advice without hearing the song, but I was just wondering if theres something simple I maybe overlooking.

Thanks guys.
 
post a link...

two of the big things that come to mind are 1) performance...if the performance is cold and uninspired, the mix will be too. It may be technically played well but it won't sound good in a whole mix. 2) recording for the best individual track sound. by that i mean not thinking about the mix as a whole. the guitars and bass etc may sound good on their own but in the mix it will sound terrible that way.

but without hearing what you're doing, it's really hard to say for sure.
 
Well. . .

Let's see. . .

What mics did you use?
How does the room sound?
What's your recording signal chain?
Do you use any analog gear?
Do you define lacking warmth as needing more bass?
What reverb are you using?
What instruments are in the music?
Does the song have an arrangement of strings or horns or fillers or synths or vocals?
What is your reference track?
Is this your first mix, or just a troublesome one?
Does your mix have space, but no "air"?
Did you double-track anything while recording?
What kind of monitors are you using?

Etc?

There's really no way to help without hearing it, and having more details. . .
 
Sorry guys for the crappy question, way too general but was in a rush when posting so didnt want to go into detail, but prblem solved, reverb was far too short. Thanks for the replys anyway.
 
sausy1981 said:
Sorry guys for the crappy question, way too general but was in a rush when posting so didnt want to go into detail, but prblem solved, reverb was far too short. Thanks for the replys anyway.
Click to expand...

You should still post before and after tracks so that we can hear what you changed that made you happier with the mix. Inevitably, about six months from now, some newb will find this thread and come away believing that the ultimate solution to a mix that lacks warmth is to add a longer reverb.
 
sausy1981 said:
Hi all, I've been getting really frustrated this last week, I've been working on a mix of a song I've recorded. I spent a long time recording it and made sure I got the best recording possible. Now I've done a few mixes and they all seem very cold, i.e. lacking warmth. I've done a lot of reading and research and I am using the info I have read. I can't seem to get the warmth"....



A trick that many pro engineers use is to "re amp" the tracks. This is why when you see pictures of big name engineers/mixers, they're surrounded with vintage gear of all sorts.
They play the tracks out of the DAW and record them back in while passing the signal through some real pieces of hardware. If you're looking for 'warmth' this is the way to get it. You can also experiment with saturation plug-ins which introduce subtle amounts of harmonic distortion to the signal in the same way hardware does. It's time consuming, but worth it. Then you'll need to pull the tracks forward to make up for the latency you'll introduce.

Just Google tape emulation vst plug-ins, saturation plug-ins, tube emulation plug-ins.
They range from free, to stupidly expensive, some are cool, some are crap, you just need to use your ears.

Zap
Click to expand...
 
To take exactly the opposite view from Zap Gun....

...for me, the biggest problem with a lot of mixes (other than poor original material of course) is TOO MUCH processing. Each plug in, emulator or trick like re-amping that you use sucks the life out of your mix. Never use an effect "because you can". Only add anything when there's something specific that you want.

If you want more warmth, start with a warmer sounding microphone in an acoustic space that adds to the warmth--then do as little as you can get away with to your tracks in the mix.
 
brother rat said:
You should still post before and after tracks so that we can hear what you changed that made you happier with the mix. Inevitably, about six months from now, some newb will find this thread and come away believing that the ultimate solution to a mix that lacks warmth is to add a longer reverb.
Click to expand...

I can't now as I've deleted the cold sounding mix as I have a few different mixes of this song saved, I only like to keep 3 or 4 mixes of each song saved on my computer. It would be bad advice to just add a longer reverb to add warmth, that was only the solution in this particular mix.
 
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