Indie Rock Just a Man - Mix Critique

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packrobottom

Active member
New song I'm working on mostly finished just need to add some vocals/guitar part in outro. Mix comments greatly appreciated.

 
I'm glad I saw this before it dropped off page one. I have no idea why this got no comments at all. People really missed something, I think.

I love it. I think this is such a good song. I find it Beatlish in a way, too. I like some of your production decisions a lot, even panning the drums in the verses. But your use of effects sparsely and just on certain lines, etc....is really really good. I can see you put a lot of thought into every part of this.

There's something in the mix that's making it sound a little boxy overall. Just a little cut around 400-500hz on the mix would probably help, but it's something I would go back address at the track level if you can.

Another thing is...to my ears you seem to slightly hold back when you go high, rather than back up and belt it out. I'm sure you can sing better that what you recorded. That's what it seems to me anyway.

But man, this is a great song from the writing to performance to the production. Just address some of that muddiness and it will shine more.
 
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Rami I really appreciate that kind comment. I gotta be honest i was a little disappointed that not one person commented as i was looking for some things to fix I might have missed. it's easy to over look stuff you when you do everything because it becomes so insular. I will look at your suggestions tommorrow and go over them. What vocal part did you think needed to belt out more?
 
Yeah, don't take it personally when you don't get responses. It has nothing to do with the song. Sometimes a song can sink to the bottom of the page before anyone's even had a chance to ignore it. :D

At about 1::00 "When you go...." sounds like you held back a bit...and at 2:05 "in the end...". Same thing. But, to be honest, listening again this morning, I don't hear it as restrained as I thought it was yesterday. Maybe take an objective listen yourself and see if you hear it the way I did last night.

Love the tune again this morning. :)
 
Packro, I like the song. Melody is very engaging. Singing is very good. I don't care for where the vocals are sitting, in the background with too much ambiance for my taste. The mix sounds overly loud and compressed. Whatever you are doing on your mix bus is bringing out the harsh frequenices in what should be a smooth sounding song. Turn your monitors up loud and listen for the sounds that are harsh, grating, that make you want to reach for that volume knob and turn down. You'll hear a lot of them. I'd bet the mix would instantly improve if you disabled everything on the mix bus.

I can tell you why you got few comments. You've posted a number of songs over the months and received feedback. I've commented on your songs before. But you don't reciprocate by listening and commenting on others' songs. After a while, people notice that pattern and start to ignore your songs. Think about it. If everyone did as you do, then all songs would receive the same lack of response that yours has. The Clinic would cease to function.
 
Hey packro, I listened to the second mix, sounds pretty good to me. The vocal sounds a little like it might be high-passed a little too high. Really great vocals man. After "glory" there's a little guitar(?) accent that seems loud. All the other levels sound really good to me.
 
I really liked this one – it’s a really really good performance. Especially the vocals, and backing, really reached out.

If I were to suggest anything at all here, it would be to go for a larger, deeper, less distorted bass guitar – in particular during the verses. You might have to mult the performance so it doesn’t ruin the chorus, but it would really fill out the song and I think maybe improve the groove.
 
invoid said:
it would be to go for a larger, deeper, less distorted bass guitar – in particular during the verses. Y
Click to expand...

This is what I thought. The distorted bass is the only thing I didn't care for. Otherwise, awesome tune and sound. I listened to the original mix - I thought the vocals were sitting perfectly there. You have a lot of other things to listen to in the sides, so I don't think the vocals need extra attention there - the busy stuff is more outward, and the center is pretty clear for the vocal to begin with.

Is everything played/recorded live?
 
thx guys I'm looking into make bass sound bigger. What did you mean just more bottom?
added ride at 1:30 and played hi hat for entire song. instead of samples
 
removed Distortion on bass was a good call thx guys
One of the cons of doing everything yourself is losing perspective sometimes

 
Vocals are excellent, reverb choice is great. Love the bass in this last version. Volume on the right headphone is a little louder than what's on the left. Personal taste - the panned drum isn't my favorite, again just throws everything off to the side a bit. Doesn't sound compressed to me - just turned down the volume on my player to 44 and it is perfect lol....
 
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