Lost Boys (cowboy/western/rock song)

A

ajsajs

Member
Been spending a long time on this western epic, would really appreciate some feedback. What sticks out?
 

Attachments

  • Lost_Boys_demo8.mp3
    6.8 MB
Mix is crowded - and the instruments are too mid forward. The keys are distorted but not in way that sounds on purpose. When the vocals double they get buried - the bass is mushy - Neat song - isn't really a country song - kind of like a pop song.
 
I like the drive of the tune. Good performance. I like the orchestration.

The vocals have a lot of sibilance.

The initial section and the section where it goes back to vocals and the initial rhythm sounds - I think you are going for a big contrast but maybe it's too big? I don't know. I can't really hear the rhythm parts there.

The overall sound stage is unconvincing. That is to say the harmonica is so up front. Some of the vocals are so far to the back. The drums before the punch are so far back, and after they're pretty far back. The bass is up front but sounds like you low pass filtered a bunch out.

Are you mixing with everything all together or did you mix a bunch with individual instruments solo'd?

Keep playing with it.
 
Thanks for the feedback. There's a lot of instruments in the song that I want to keep, but it's proving challenging to give a pan/frequency space to everything...

The vocals in particular I am fighting hardest with to make them crisp and clear. As @Papanate has said the vocal doubling also seems to bury them, maybe frequencies from them are canceling out or something, and maybe the doubled vocal should be mixed significantly differently so as to not compete for sonic space?

Not sure if anyone has any recommendations how to approach cleaning this up...

I wonder if my mixing headphones, which are 10 years old, are losing their quality too...
 
ajsajs said:
Thanks for the feedback. There's a lot of instruments in the song that I want to keep, but it's proving challenging to give a pan/frequency space to everything...

The vocals in particular I am fighting hardest with to make them crisp and clear. As @Papanate has said the vocal doubling also seems to bury them, maybe frequencies from them are canceling out or something, and maybe the doubled vocal should be mixed significantly differently so as to not compete for sonic space?

Not sure if anyone has any recommendations how to approach cleaning this up...

I wonder if my mixing headphones, which are 10 years old, are losing their quality too...
Click to expand...


Well first thing is rebuild your mix - take the drums and bass and get them to sit right - take the vocals and give them space and clarity - then add the guitar parts - the all the keyboard parts. Doing it in this way will give you the perspective you need I think. And no your mixing headphones are not the issue.
 
I like the keyboard and harp in the intro a lot....agree some panning may help give this a bit of "width" to the sound, it does seem all really centered in the same place, cool song , I like the vibe and vocal delivery , especially around the 3:00 min mark were it sounds like multiple voices/chorus. Very cool song worthy of further mixes to bring out the best of it, you have a great beginning to work with here!
 
Took another stab mixing from scratch last night using some of the tips people had suggested. Before, my fiance couldnt hear my vocal words but now she can, which is a good sign that it's at least better. Definitely still some tweaking to be done (bass sounds a bit loud through airpods but sounded better through my mixing headphones, guitar still needs a bit more punch, at least in the intro), but I think I am in a better direction now...

Would appreciate another listen if you have the time.
 

Attachments

  • Lost_Boys_demo9.mp3
    6.8 MB
ajsajs said:
Took another stab mixing from scratch last night using some of the tips people had suggested. Before, my fiance couldnt hear my vocal words but now she can, which is a good sign that it's at least better. Definitely still some tweaking to be done (bass sounds a bit loud through airpods but sounded better through my mixing headphones, guitar still needs a bit more punch, at least in the intro), but I think I am in a better direction now...

Would appreciate another listen if you have the time.
Click to expand...
A lot better IMO - although the bass is too prominent in the break parts (again IMO). You could bring the Vocals a little louder - it buried just a tiny bit. The is a really good song.
 
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