jazz-pop mix advice?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nate_dennis
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nate_dennis

nate_dennis

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Hey guys. Here is my first attempt at a mix for a friend of mine. I'd really love to get better. Can you listen and let me know what can be improved? (I'm already thinking there's too much verb on the vox)

The song is called "Too Busy Settling" and it's by my friend Laura Jean Mills. Thanks.

Thanks.
 

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The singer has a very nice voice. I refered to Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne on another post, she often had a lot of reverb and I liked that. I think it suits this girls voice. The drums sound very distant and there are some timing issues (I'm learning drums so I know how hard it is). I like the mellow keys and guitar. very relaxing. I would like to hear a mix with out drums (no offence meant to the drummer, I just think it's a laid back song and the drums sound quite heavy.
 
Performances are quite good, Nate, and the material is also very good. Mix has a long way to go before it can rest. There's almost too much to talk about in this format. I'd start with fixing everything from the boxy sounding vocal to the muffled drums while remembering that compression can be a friend.
 
Hi, Nate
As yet, I don't feel qualified to comment on the mix.
However, may I suggest you lend an ear to the arrangement of -NORAH JONES - "don't know why" - Live (Global Video Beat.com). [especially the percussion].

Cheers,
Kj
 
Think you need to get back to a basic mix before you start adding effects, strip everything back and try to balance the vocals with the guitar and bass / keys then add the drums into the background.
There are some timing issues with the drums wich might be hard to resolve even with quantising
The vocalist has a lovely voice
 
nate_dennis said:
What can I do to do that?

And thank you for the replies.
Click to expand...
Bruiser1964 hit partly on it when he said start from scratch ... nothing but dry tracks ... and then build the mix element by element ... I'd start w/ drums and bass on this and hit the drums with compression to bring them up. I'd also probably work w/ a transient shaper to make them pop better. While working, listen critically to determine whether they start to sound natural to you ... what you'd expect to hear live. That's what you're going for, particularly in a jazz-esque setting. In particular, avoid doing things that would color unnaturally. For instance, you wouldn't add multiple repeating echoes to the vocal because that wouldn't sound right. In this piece, I'd leave her voice relatively dry up front w/ an ever so slight tail.

It's mostly there to work with ... as everything sounded cleanly tracked and well performed. Good luck!
 
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