Mean Street Mix Check please

ido1957

ido1957

9K Gold Member
Work is brutal right now so I'm trying to catch up on a few listens and some mixing practice this morning (up at 4:30 am as my body clock is set for those ridiculous conference calls with India at 6 am everyday. Enough complaining...

Started from scratch and remixed this with all the comments on mind from the last time.

Specifically:
Took the lead guitar out of center completely and did a stereo delay across the spectrum. Lots of tweaking there. This now leaves the vocals uncluttered by the lead lines.

Panned all the rhythm guitars all the way L/R - again to fill the sides but away from center.

Kept the eq cut in the vocals - it's around 3.3K and just takes the edge off the vocals.

Tweaked the bass down a hair as once the center was opened up it came right out. I can still hear that growl that I like at this point.

Drums are same as last mix, which was ok as far as that went, I have a focus on snare being always apparent even in the busy parts.

The lead vocal came down a db or so as again once it had room to be heard, it needed it. Right now I find the vocals are consistent in level throughout with no covering by anything.

Accent on the chorus as before with that stereo crunch guitar part but dropped it so it doesn't jump out anymore, just punches up the chorus a bit.

The volume increase after the mix was skipped (in Sound Forge) but I did trim the ends as usual. The volume can be maxed on my WMP and it hits a nice level at max output.

So....I'm hoping this is done now, let me know what you think.

Edit - a few tweaks to the mix after listening on a few other systems:
Adjusted the delay/reverb on the lead guitar
Cut more in the 4k region on vocals
Took a db off the rhythm volume
 

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I like the wider guitars. It opens up the mix and lets everything else be heard more clearly. The cymbals and some of the snare fills seem oddly quiet, but it isn't everywhere in the song. Great song. You guys are doing good work.
 
Thanks Robus, I'm glad you like the changes. I'm off to Mike's for a bit of songwriting work after lunch; new song in a couple weeks I hope.
 
Great room! Fit the song perfectly! For some reason it sort of reminded me of the first Dire Straits album, although this is more firmly in country land.

There were times when I wished the strummed guitar – sounds like pretty direct clean signal – would be a bit lower in the mix. It sometimes overshadows the licks on the left side because it’s so prominent in the highs. The lick-guitar was well placed in the mix, but consider turning up the volume on the licks that happen when the vocals aren’t doing anything. At least give the solo a slight boost to put it in the spotlight.
 
Sounds good man. Tight playing. Good composition. Good arrangement.

I think the drums sound a touch smaller than the guitars. I am wondering if there are minor tweaks that can bring the drums forward just a touch. Toms are good volume. Just a little more presence on the cymbals and snare maybe. I dunno, I'm picking man. This thing sounds good.
 
Thanks invoid, IBB....appreciate the listens and comments. I'll probably makes a few changes to this after auditioning on a few systems. Just tweaks as you suggest, might take a while to get back because of work but I'll get at it. Last night off so watching the latest Stars Wars movie with family (my second time) :D:D:D:D
 
Ido,
The changes are well judged.
I like it as is sits.
IF at 2.24 seems to jump forward a bit.
The theme still speaks to me of the crunchy rhythms you used on Addiction etc but I'm also very happy with the clean tones.
 
Nice smooth sound. I think the drums and cymbals (but not kick) need to come up a bit in volume still. Lead guitar solo another 0.5 dB and in the between-singing licks, too.
 
Thanks Mike and Ray....
Mike - the drums are a stereo mix by Jason so adjusting will take some work. I'm still working on mixing a decent drum mix from his tracks and it's a ways away :) I'll trace that "If" word and adjust Ray
:D:D:D:D
 
this sounded familiar right away...

nice fat guitar tones (phat?), drums sound complete and tight. great vox. great melody. bass lines are fantastic, great work there! hmmm, i'm looking for something neg about it, but i can't really pick anything out here.

ah, ok, i'd like a bigger ending. an extended drum fill that slowly leads up to the final hit...no, not that slow. just extended a bar or two earlier than expected. it's pretty sudden, where I think the tempo/energy of the song calls for something a little more slow/dying down. just my opinion.

good work
 
Thanks Andrushkiwt!
Yeah, Gerry's guitars sure sound sweet, and Jason's drums. The bass lines were fun to play and the tone mixed in fairly well I think. The ending happened as a live take at one point and we decided to keep it; we'll try for something different next time...
 
I'm not a big fan of the distortion on the vocals, it's a little fatiguing. Vocal performances are real nice. Like the bass tone. All the levels sound well balanced on my headphones. ::thumbs up::
 
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