Eye In The Sky

[DogmaticVox]

Backstory: My band Strike the Design was asked to come down to the music department at UCSD (University of California, San Diego) and let some of their students record us for a mid-term project. We decided to do a cover of Alan Parson's - Eye in the Sky. (I met Alan Parson's at NAMM only two days after recording the song... strange!).

We recorded the track together in a giant live room with partitions around the drums, amps, etc. Then recorded the vocals after.

The students finally sent me a copy of the track... wow. I'm not happy with it at all, but I do realize they are students.

Eye In The Sky UCSD Mix

I'm curious what your critiques on this mix is and what you would change as I just got a hold of the original tracks and plan on mixing it myself.

**UPDATE**

I've started mixing and here's my first draft. Any advice/direction would be much appreciated.
Eye in the Sky - Mix 1

-Garry

 

[dewhitt]

Hi,

This is one of my all time favorite songs, and I think it's a great one to cover in this style. You are right though, the mix is a mess. The first thing that jumps out at me is the kick drum (or rather, it didn't jump out at me at all, which is the problem) - it's boomy, and undefined. The drums overall are weak, and need to be more focused. The second major thing that jumped out - there is virtually no panning...everything is dead center and all junked up. It's kind of the same thing with the frequency spectrum too...everything is stacked up in a certain range of the spectrum, so it sounds very one-dimensional. If it were me mixing, I'd get everything separated out, and try to make it sound big and wide first. Then work on getting the drums and bass to pop once they are uncovered.

One arrangement suggestion - the guitar in the first verse is too busy. It's a cool part, but it's not really serving the song. The way you handled the second verse is much nicer and provides better contrast between the verse and chorus. Just a thought...

I love the song, and the way you covered it...very cool.

Good luck with the remix, I can't wait to hear it!

Best Regards,

Dave DeWhitt
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads

 

[TripleM]

I think the mix is a little better than the two of you. I agree on the panning - the overheads are wide but everything else is in the center or close to it. There is also a lot of high-mid buildup in the mix. The guitars and cymbals are pretty splashy.

But the vocal seems well recorded and well sung. Not sure if the splashiness can be dealt with. But if it can, the mix can become a decent one I think.

 

[DogmaticVox]

So I've started the mixing process. I've included my first draft above. Any helpful advice would be much appreciated.