Looking for any and all advice on this mix

  • Thread starter Thread starter feetontheground
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Hey - listening on Senn HD280 phones as I type.

It's a pretty good tune. I think I like the vocals quite a lot, but they're kind of buried. I'd like to hear them up a bit.

The mix for me sounded pretty muddy...I feel like the primary culprit is the bass guitar which came across as quite rumbly and indistinct. I think the level on the bass should come down too, but maybe if it was EQ'd differently the level wouldn't be an issue? I think you might have lo mid build up in other areas too, but I'd start with the bass, and raise the vocals.

I liked the effect on the guitars. The solo was a bit chaotic given the feel of the rest of the song. It was a fun listen though. Thanks for posting.
 
awesome, thanks miser!

So you say there's low-mid buildup in the bass - any takes on how to isolate it and bring it back to normal?

The vocals are low half because i'm very pitchy and half because aesthetic.

Thanks!
 
the vocals are definitely buried, it's quite muddy overall, needs some drastic EQ to help seperate the instruments, I think it's an arrangement thing as well, there's too many things going on at once.
 
I hit play and then got distracted on my computer, and forgot I was supposed to be listening critically...I was really enjoying this song. Great rhythm overall.

Now let me go back to the beginning of the song and be critical.

The guitar chords at the beginning sound a little mushy (technical lingo is not my forte).

I think the vocals are too deliberate. Take more liberty with your phrasing and timing. It sounds like you're trying too hard. So what if there are technical problems...you've got something to SAY!

There is something lacking in the drums...I feel like they need to be more aggressive or something. Sorry I don't have any more specific advice there.

Anyways, it's a really good song and I had fun listening to it.
 
thanks Btyre - what kind of techniques would you suggest I use to attack the EQ issues? Or are there any articles online you remember off the top of your head?

thanks Jessica. I'm glad you like it! Obviously that's a lot more important to me than the technical mixing stuff, although the better it's mixed the better it resonates with folks I think. Yeah, vocals are a toughie. I think i'm kinda stuck with them as is, at least for this track. It's so hard to get 'em without being so obviously out of tune that I kind of have to put my entire brain force into pitch (with mixed results) But I'll definitely take that into consideration as I move on with the other songs I'm recording in this "project." The drums are definitely digital and are lacking that organic sound, but I'm not really in a position to mic real drums.

I feel like my window for dedicating a lot of hours into a music project is closing the way my life is getting busy-er, so I'm willing to settle for "Decent" as opposed to "great" on the mix front.
 
Yay I get to make my pitch for auto-tune. Then you could sing them the way you feel them and fix the pitch later. I use the flex pitch program that comes with Logic.
 
feetontheground said:
awesome, thanks miser!

So you say there's low-mid buildup in the bass - any takes on how to isolate it and bring it back to normal?

The vocals are low half because i'm very pitchy and half because aesthetic.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You're welcome. I'm with you on low vocals in general from an aesthetic standpoint, but in this case, I really think you have some room to play with before you violate that principle.

As for the bass and low end in general. There are people here who can listen to another's mix and instantly be like, "you need to cut 3-4 dbs from between 617-852hz" or whatever, but I can't really offer that. I don't really pay attention to numbers or settings so much on my own stuff and really just play it by ear each time.

I can suggest (and I apologize if this is too rudimentary) for EQ issues in general, trying to sweep through the potential problem areas. Meaning, play the whole mix, but fiddle with the EQ on just the bass track while listening. Set the EQ to a pretty narrow Q and boost it way up, then drag the frequency back and forth...if and when you get to a frequency where the boominess just explodes and things sound particularly shitty, stop, and make an EQ cut there to taste and see if it opens things up a bit.

Hope this helps.
 
heat -

indeed that sounds reasonable. I've done that in the past looking for screetchy guitar sim frequencies. I guess I'm looking for when the bass starts to sound like a mess and cut it.
 
Jessica,

Yeah, I've thought about the auto-tune. I just can't tell if it works with the aesthetic i'm going for. Well... i sort of know it doesn't. Like, I'd use it on a ton of things, but just not this particular project. Sort of like how Kanye dabbles in it.
 
vocals seem in a completely diff place than the music, level is too low and buried as well. I think the guitars a bit too loud - they are pushing everything back. The spacial image i hear when I listen to this is: I'm listening to the track through a closed door, and behind that closed door is a narrow hallway in the middle where the singer is far down at the end. I think those are the biggest concerns. The wash-y-ness of everything and the pushed back vocal
 
It's promising song. I agree with heatmiser that the vocals are buried and the mix sounds muddy. If you're not doing it, I'd suggest high-passing your guitars at about 100Hz and see if you like that sound. Is that tremolo or delay on the guitar synced to the song tempo? The timing feels not quite solid.

Sorry for the lack of response to the previous. The more you listen and comment on others' tunes, the more likely you'll get comments back.
 
The new mix sounds less muddy from what I recall of the other. I'm still hearing some mud in the intro and quieter parts. When all the guitars come in, it sounds fine. Bass could come up.

Biggest problem for me: Vocal still buried. Give that fader another nudge, until you think the vocal is on the verge of being too loud. Then give it one more nudge.
 
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