Haven't recorded in years, couldn't mix then, can I now?

[DanTown]

Hello folks,

I haven't made any "serious" recordings/mixes in a while, and I think amateur would be my benchmark anyways...

But! ...I feel pretty good about most things in this mix.. except for the vocals ...However they are my own... I would really value someones opinion who has a bit more distance from the music regarding the treatment/levels/etc.. I tried to make them upfront yet blended with the rest of the mix but would love opinions from different ears/speakers/etc...

All other comments and criticisms greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks!

 

[4tracker]

The music sounds good to me but a little thin. Any way to get a bit more low end?

 

[jm67]

That's a cool song. It reminds me a little of the Decemberists, although they drive some people crazy so maybe that's not the comment you were looking for . The instrumentation sounds good - the banjo/guitar combination is well played. There's something weird about the section from 1:57-2:20 - the song sort of dies there, there's some string (?) noise, and the high harmony sounds a bit off.

I like the lead vocal. It is pitchy in certain places, but it has character, and works with the song. But I'd drop the level on some of the high harmonies, and maybe add some reverb to them so that they recede into the background more.

What was the instrumentation on the song?

 

[CMolena]

I also think it lacks a little bit of low end. But the song is good, a very beautiful one and I loved the way the drums sounds in this one.

 

[Tadpui]

Nice song man. The lead vocal gets little pitchy in spots, it might be worth going back over it with a little punch-in every here and there to overlay the off-pitch spots. I like your voice, you remind me of the dude from Great Lake Swimmers.

Nice instrumentation. I could use more low end in the mix in general. I can just barely hear the bass, and same goes for the kick. Not that this song needs a booming low end, but it could be filled out.

 

[participant]

The low mid buildup in the banjo/guitar tracks is noticeable in that first verse (300-350 Hz). Find I'm wanting the track to be brighter overall (a little more sheen on the vox, a little more brightness in the strings). Bass could use a small bump in level; doing a high-pass filter at about 100Hz on the guitars, vox, and banjo would help the bass IMO.

Digging that outro!

 

[DanTown]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I have a history of a very boomy low end so I probably overcompensated, I'll take another look at that for sure and keep working on the vocals.

jm67 the instrumentation is banjo, acoustic guitar, upright bass, electric guitar and drums. There are a few acoustic guitar overdubs throughout and that swelling feedbacky sound is the banjo played with an ebow.

Much appreciated!

 

[DM60]

Agree with others, some mid build up, and a little more low end would really make this song better. I think the vocals are fine, probably wouldn't hurt to try a couple of more takes to get you more comfortable with the song and that would most likely take care of your pitchy issues.

Hope to hear an update.