Debut mix! Opinions wanted

P

paw1

New member
This is my debut in the mixing clinic!

My earlier recordings have really just been about learning how to record. With this one, I wanted to take a step further and learn more about mixing.
I must admit I've worked hard on this one, although it may not sound like it.

There are a few things I'm not particularly happy with, but I'll keep it to myself so it'll not influence your listening-experience.

The lyrics are about me and three friends of mine, and are really just silly. In each verse, one of us is described. The day before the vocals were recorded, I sent the vocalist a Guitar Pro sound file of the song, and told him to make a text for the next day. He did, under the influence of red wine, and we recorded his vocals in about an hour the next day as he was in a hurry. The text has a few grammar mistakes and a few inside jokes, so don't get too hung up on it.

Everything but the vocals and bass guitar was done by me. The drum samples are from Addictive Drums.

Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated!

Oh, and I haven't applied any mastering-style processing, so be prepared to turn up your speakers!

Mix.mp3 by user818467095 on SoundCloud - Hear the world


Best regards

paw
 
Heya. The toms seem unnaturally loud and the vocals are pretty dry and kind of inconsistent- like the singer's not maintaining a constant distance from the mic and singing some parts louder than others. Also the riff kinda sounds like some bro-rock Pepsi commercial and the lyrics kinda paint y'all as some goofy frat boys...if that's what you're after then mission accomplished. Good luck!
 
fat_fleet said:
Heya. The toms seem unnaturally loud and the vocals are pretty dry and kind of inconsistent- like the singer's not maintaining a constant distance from the mic and singing some parts louder than others. Also the riff kinda sounds like some bro-rock Pepsi commercial and the lyrics kinda paint y'all as some goofy frat boys...if that's what you're after then mission accomplished. Good luck!
Click to expand...

The singer's not too experienced with recording, so you may be right about him moving around while singing and singing stuff at uneven levels. I've tried to compensate for it with automation, but I guess it's hard to correct a bad take.

You are right, this song is kind of goofy. We don't take it too seriously. This is mostly for me to learn how to mix better.

Your comment about the toms is interesting. I'm not sure if I agree with you. It'll be interesting to see if other people react to their loudness as well.

Thank you for your reply!
 
Yeah I'm also curious if anyone else will mention the toms. In general it's not bad for a first try at mixing and honestly I have far from the best ears in the joint.
 
I could bathe in the cymbals: they are that washy.
The mix leans to one side a bit.
The guitar is pretty fizzy.
More bottom end needed.
 
rayc said:
I could bathe in the cymbals: they are that washy.
The mix leans to one side a bit.
The guitar is pretty fizzy.
More bottom end needed.
Click to expand...

With "washy" you mean something like "all over the place"? Well, I can't really argue with that. I'll try to make them more focused.

Do you know which frequenzies I can cut to "unfizz" the guitars?

Totally agree with the bottom end. I'm having a frequenzy problem here, because when I turn up the bass it actually starts to mask the guitars and vocals.

Is it a big problem if the mix leans a bit to one of the sides? Did you find it to detract from the listening experience?

Thank you for taking a listen and commenting on the mix!
 
On my end the mix is mostly left sided. I set bal to 75% right and it really evened out. The one main cymbal is sitting way way forward and louder then the rest and to me Toms seem up front almost even with vocals.

I myself do mind when one speaker is pushing the majority of the music and it makes it hard for me to listen to.

The song itself I liked. I like the lyrics and is a good bit for just prior or post band introduction and a kinda fun through in.

Thanks for letting me listen.
 
AaronCissell said:
On my end the mix is mostly left sided. I set bal to 75% right and it really evened out. The one main cymbal is sitting way way forward and louder then the rest and to me Toms seem up front almost even with vocals.

I myself do mind when one speaker is pushing the majority of the music and it makes it hard for me to listen to.

The song itself I liked. I like the lyrics and is a good bit for just prior or post band introduction and a kinda fun through in.

Thanks for letting me listen.
Click to expand...

Well, thanks for listening and commenting!:)

Yeah, the reason why the mix is left heavy is because rhythm guitar is panned 70% left.
The reverb is placed 70% right, and the voice 15% right. I had hoped that would even it out as the reverb is pretty heavy.

That's two strikes to the right/left balance and two strikes to the toms. Something's got to be done then!

I intended the hi-hat to be up front because I think it helps pushing the song forward. In my mind, the cymbal is more of a problem.

Your criticism is highly appreciated, and so cool that you liked the song. Thanks!:)
 
Mix #2.

-Worked on the drums. Tom's been taken down a lot and I've tried to make the cymbal sound better.
-Notched up the bass a bit.
-Tried to make the left/right balance better with a slightly less extreme panning of the guitar.

www.soundcloud.com/user818467095/mix2-mp3

I guess the mix could still use a bit more bottom end. And I haven't redone any EQ-ing to the guitars yet. Off to bed now!
 
paw1 said:
Mix #2.

-Worked on the drums. Tom's been taken down a lot and I've tried to make the cymbal sound better.
-Notched up the bass a bit.
-Tried to make the left/right balance better with a slightly less extreme panning of the guitar.

Mix2.mp3 by user818467095 on SoundCloud - Hear the world

I guess the mix could still use a bit more bottom end. And I haven't redone any EQ-ing to the guitars yet. Off to bed now!
Click to expand...

Mix #3.

In addition to all above:
-Fine adjustments of the relative drum levels.
-Boosted the bass quite a bit.
-Adjusted the relative levels between the rhythm guitar mics, hopefully resulting in less fizzy guitars.

Mix3.mp3 by user818467095 on SoundCloud - Hear the world

I'm really interested in getting your opinions on the changes I've made. Is the mix still too left heavy?

All the best

-paw
 
I listened to mix #3.

I thought the rhythm guitar sounded good. I think you could bring up the bass a bunch. Not enough low end to the mix.

Drums sound too far back in the mix to me. Snare need to hit you in the face, but it doesn't.

Instrument tracks are fairly wet but the vocal is very dry. Things don't match.
 
hi paw1,

As TripleM says, bass should come up more.
will tell you if its too much :)
Same about vocal,
First thing, I would try to put reverb on vocal track.
A lot of options there to choose from, so give it a try.

I think you are very close to the good sounding.
 
Sounds relatively professional to me, but what do I know, I'm new here too.
By the way, I loved your intro/disclaimers to this song, very funny...
Here are my critiques...
The combination of the drum/guitar/vocals sounds old-fashioned to me, the tone of the instruments and voice or something.
Also the vocals sound a bit sloppy.
I would say that you definitely have song writing/arranging/mixing talent though.
Good work and forge on!

"You think he's a Nazi but in fact he's not..." um...original????
 
Pretty good mix. The challenge on this one is the panning, right? What to do with that single guitar? Most is bunched up in the center, but you got that crash panned right. I find the right crash distracting. What would I do with it? I dunno. It's tough. Maybe narrow the stereo spread on the kit. Something I've tried sometimes is to pan the guitar and vocal opposite each other, and then run a delay of each panned opposite. I tried flipping your mix into mono, and I think it actually sounds better. I'm not suggesting you do that to the mix. But if you separate the vocal and the guitar and narrow the drumkit spread, it might work. Just a thought.
 
Hey without reading the thread yet I'll just share my observations. Everything sounds clear and not too distorted I suppose it'd be good to maybe turn the guitar down a bit so that the bass and drums get a bit more weight. Song isn't terribly exciting but it's still played well enough.
 
TripleM said:
I listened to mix #3.

I thought the rhythm guitar sounded good. I think you could bring up the bass a bunch. Not enough low end to the mix.

Drums sound too far back in the mix to me. Snare need to hit you in the face, but it doesn't.

Instrument tracks are fairly wet but the vocal is very dry. Things don't match.
Click to expand...

More bass and drums basically. Something's gotta go further back in the mix then, and I guess the only option is the rhythm guitar.
The vocal has a fairly prominent stereo delay on it, but it's not that audible in the mix. I tried to use reverb (two different ones), but found it to be obscuring to the vocals. Guess I could try it again.

TMS said:
hi paw1,

As TripleM says, bass should come up more.
will tell you if its too much :)
Same about vocal,
First thing, I would try to put reverb on vocal track.
A lot of options there to choose from, so give it a try.

I think you are very close to the good sounding.
Click to expand...

The problem with boosting the bass is that the performance is kind of inconsistent and it will be more obvious as it goes up. I'll give it a go though.
I will definitely try a reverb on the vocals.


Hot_Mess said:
Sounds relatively professional to me, but what do I know, I'm new here too.
By the way, I loved your intro/disclaimers to this song, very funny...
Here are my critiques...
The combination of the drum/guitar/vocals sounds old-fashioned to me, the tone of the instruments and voice or something.
Also the vocals sound a bit sloppy.
I would say that you definitely have song writing/arranging/mixing talent though.
Good work and forge on!

"You think he's a Nazi but in fact he's not..." um...original????
Click to expand...

The rhythm guitar sounds very 80-ish. Maybe that's where you get the old-fashioned feel from.
The vocals are definitively sloppy!
Yeah, the text is kind of random. I think he made that line because the guy he's describing shaved his head.

Thanks:)

dobro said:
Pretty good mix. The challenge on this one is the panning, right? What to do with that single guitar? Most is bunched up in the center, but you got that crash panned right. I find the right crash distracting. What would I do with it? I dunno. It's tough. Maybe narrow the stereo spread on the kit. Something I've tried sometimes is to pan the guitar and vocal opposite each other, and then run a delay of each panned opposite. I tried flipping your mix into mono, and I think it actually sounds better. I'm not suggesting you do that to the mix. But if you separate the vocal and the guitar and narrow the drumkit spread, it might work. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Actually I double tracked the rhythm guitars. The problem for me when I panned them left/right, was that it didn't leave any room for any reverbation to get that big guitar sound. Only one of the guitars are audible in the mix now.

The cymbal (or crash as you call it) has been a problem for me. I think it definitely sits better in the mix now, but I don't have a great deal of control over it since it has no close mic parameter. I definitely don't want it to be distracting though. I'll look into it.

I'll separate the vocal and the guitar and narrow the drumkit spread, and see where it gets me!


hurtchow said:
Hey without reading the thread yet I'll just share my observations. Everything sounds clear and not too distorted I suppose it'd be good to maybe turn the guitar down a bit so that the bass and drums get a bit more weight. Song isn't terribly exciting but it's still played well enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Guess the guitars will go a bit down then.

I appreciate the feedback guys! Good observations from all of you and very helpful:thumbs up:
 
Mix #4.

-Boosted the bass a couple of dBs.
-Put reverb on vocals for better blend. A touch of delay in the chorus as well.
-Made the snare a bit more present in the mix.

Mix4.mp3 by user818467095 on SoundCloud - Hear the world

The guitars don't stand out as much now. Maybe that's all right.
I tried to improve the cymbal but it ended up sounding pretty much the same in the end.

Hope this is an improvement over the last one though. Tried to follow you advice.

-paw
 
Hey, Paw

Played it back.
Have to say, Mix3 was not too bad after all.
Mix 4 has more flat feel to it then Mix 3.
What other guys think?
 
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