I was under the impression I had a decent mix, can I have your opinion?

[rbuist]

Continued from: https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...ones-but-has-digital-distortion-car-354016/2/

I like the mix of these songs (except the ending of 'My Ambush Blues'). It's pretty minimal, a few effects over the lead guitars, some reverb over some instruments, compression on vocals and bass, levels set, and that's mostly it. What would you do differently?

For your reference, I recorded everything in my home and it was my first serious attempt at recording. I used an SM57 into a Lexicon Alpha interface into a Mac Book Pro onto Adobe Audition. Mixed by a friend and I in Adobe audition as well.

tracklist:
Torn
Bury
Ambush

(there's another that's too large for upload)

 

[brassplyer]

Wherever you have these stored, the download rate is abysmal, gave up on the one I tried to d/l.

 

[rbuist]

Wherever you have these stored, the download rate is abysmal, gave up on the one I tried to d/l.

Really? I just used the basic upload format this forum uses. How can I make it quicker to download?

 

[Chili]

Loaded up just fine for me. Listened to Torn. Not my kind of music, but I can hear most all elements in the song. It started piling on at the end and everything got buried. I actually stopped listening at that point.

I think I understand what you're doing with the song and I think you are close to achieving your goals. Probably small tweaks at this point.

cool,

 

[Mr Clean]

These sound much better without the mastering attempt on them. The mixes actually sound pretty good. Have you tried listening to them like this on your car stereo?

Anyway....for what it's worth

Bury Your Dog - I would probably tweak the rhythm guitar down a touch. All the guitars seems to be at a similar level leaving little space for each to breathe. Maybe a bit more panning experimenting? Maybe notch the vocals up a touch. Sometimes they seem to dip under the guitars. But this un-mastered version is a HUGE improvement on the first version I heard.

My Ambush Blues - This is my favourite of the three. It's actually a really nice tune and mix. With the track basically being split into two, you could treat it as two tracks. raise the volume of the first half and lower the second to better level out. The second half pretty much doubles in volume. Mix wise it sounds far removed from the mastered version. Some of the guitar on that was ear piercing. This is much much pleasing. I would probably tame some of the really high frequency on the lead near the very end. Just a little bit. And again experiment with a bit more wider panning. Again, there's a lot of guitar, all fighting for the same space.

Torn In Different Directions - Again, try some more panning. I would definitely reduce the volume of the acoustic. All the guitars are again at a pretty similar level and are fighting for space, leaving the vocals to get buried.

Like Chilli said above, some small tweaks here and there and you'll find the sounds open up a whole lot more.

I don't know what you're using monitor/speaker wise but try listening to songs you like and sound like what you want and referencing them against you mixes, how the guitars sit in the mix, the vocals position according to the backing, etc. Forget about volume and loudness. If you need volume, turn the monitors up. Self mastering can be very deprecating to an overwise good mix.

For a first serious attempt at recording you've done a good job, better than I ever did. You'll probably look back at these recordings in 10 years and laugh to yourself! Most folk do

 

[TripleM]

I listened to Bury Your Dog... You sound just like Joe Strummer to me. Good singing. Pitchy here and there. But still good. IMO

To me the song needs a better rhythm section. The tambourine by itself isn't enough for this song.

The overdriven guitars are a bit too fizzy for my tastes.

Some tempo/cadence/timing (whatever you want to call them) issues with the guitar part. Not always smoothly played.

 

[rbuist]

I listened to Bury Your Dog... You sound just like Joe Strummer to me. Good singing. Pitchy here and there. But still good. IMO

To me the song needs a better rhythm section. The tambourine by itself isn't enough for this song.

The overdriven guitars are a bit too fizzy for my tastes.

Some tempo/cadence/timing (whatever you want to call them) issues with the guitar part. Not always smoothly played.

Thanks man... As far as more rhythm goes, this project is me being tired of not having a band- I haven't learned to be a proper drummer so tambourine was the best I had.

I know it's a bit sloppy, but I appreciate your comments.

 

[rbuist]

These sound much better without the mastering attempt on them. The mixes actually sound pretty good. Have you tried listening to them like this on your car stereo?

Anyway....for what it's worth

Bury Your Dog - I would probably tweak the rhythm guitar down a touch. All the guitars seems to be at a similar level leaving little space for each to breathe. Maybe a bit more panning experimenting? Maybe notch the vocals up a touch. Sometimes they seem to dip under the guitars. But this un-mastered version is a HUGE improvement on the first version I heard.

My Ambush Blues - This is my favourite of the three. It's actually a really nice tune and mix. With the track basically being split into two, you could treat it as two tracks. raise the volume of the first half and lower the second to better level out. The second half pretty much doubles in volume. Mix wise it sounds far removed from the mastered version. Some of the guitar on that was ear piercing. This is much much pleasing. I would probably tame some of the really high frequency on the lead near the very end. Just a little bit. And again experiment with a bit more wider panning. Again, there's a lot of guitar, all fighting for the same space.

Torn In Different Directions - Again, try some more panning. I would definitely reduce the volume of the acoustic. All the guitars are again at a pretty similar level and are fighting for space, leaving the vocals to get buried.

Like Chilli said above, some small tweaks here and there and you'll find the sounds open up a whole lot more.

I don't know what you're using monitor/speaker wise but try listening to songs you like and sound like what you want and referencing them against you mixes, how the guitars sit in the mix, the vocals position according to the backing, etc. Forget about volume and loudness. If you need volume, turn the monitors up. Self mastering can be very deprecating to an overwise good mix.

For a first serious attempt at recording you've done a good job, better than I ever did. You'll probably look back at these recordings in 10 years and laugh to yourself! Most folk do

I sent you a PM a little while ago- so look out for that.

As for vocals, I originally intended this to be an instrumental record, but the vocals/lyrics were a kind of a last minute thing. I look at it as if the vox are occasionally buried it's okay because I don't want them to be the main focus, I'd rather the listener take the songs for the overall aesthetic qualities; if they want to really understand the poetry underneath, then they can head for the lyric sheet.

We did quite a bit of panning while mixing- do you really think more of it will make certain instruments stand out more? I'm not being skeptical, I've just heard these songs sooo many times it's like I'm disconnected from them and have a difficult time noticing changes like that haha.

Do you think the EQ overall sounds good? I'm worried that increasing the volume for mastered versions will make certain frequencies too heavy- in particular the low end. I put a lot of time into micing up the bass cab so it would be 'felt' in the mix (on other records I've played on I feel my bass gets turned too low). Now I feel like the tone is almost too in-your-face.