Mix This - "Already Here"

Michael Ward

Michael Ward

Member
Hi.. I'm Back.

I've been writing and recording a lot lately. Here's the first song that's ready for mixing. It's called Already Here.

NOTES:
There are 2 difrerent Cello parts. One is the cello's own part, and one is doubling the double bass. Each was close miked with Marshall condenser mic and distant miked at about 3 meters with a small condenser.

Mike - Chor1.wav and Mike - Chor2.wav are 2 distinct comps for doubling
Mike - Chor1.wav will need a bit of subtle autotuning on the final word of the 2 choruses: "Here". I will try to re-record, but I might not.

If possible, along with posting the MP3 here, can you save me the WAV file? I will PM you a link where you can upload it.

The rest should be self explanatory. Please can you state in your post whether you have already mastered the song or whether it still needs mastering.

Here are the stems:

Already Here - Stems – Google Drive

drive.google.com drive.google.com

EDIT: Updated rough mix to 21 Feb 2023 version
 

Attachments

  • Already Here - Rough Mix - 22 Feb 2024.mp3
    12.5 MB
  • Already Here - Rough Mix - 6 Mar 2024.mp3
    12.5 MB
Last edited:
How fun - I will take a listen - and see what I can do - are your stems effected or do I need to add them?
 
They're all completely dry except for a little reverb on Double Bass (but not staccato), synth choir and French horn and a little chorus on violas.

Would you like me to upload completely dry tracks for those?
 
Well I spent some time with the tracks - cleaned up your breath between vocals and other stuff - the tracks were stupid quiet - so I fixed them - and
then you got some parts that are distorted but I think I Fixed them too - see what you think of this.
 

Attachments

  • Already Here_1.mp3
    7.4 MB
I had a bit of time this morning, so I took a crack at it. I was upstairs on the laptop, so I just did this on headphones. There were quite a few spots that needed tuning on vocals. I ended up just putting ReaTune on all the vocal tracks which seemed to smooth things out. At the 2 minute mark, Mike's vocal has a fairly big bass boost for a short time. I didn't have time to trying to balance it with EQ. I might revisit it later if I get time.

I did the mix in Reaper. If you want the RPP file, I can send that to you. The only external part I used was a Samplicity reverb.
 
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Apprently when I downloaded the files, I didn't get the cello and bass files. I reworked and reposted with the strings in there.
 

Attachments

  • Already Here TR Mix 1 full.mp3
    10.1 MB
Last edited:
Papanate said:
Well I spent some time with the tracks - cleaned up your breath between vocals and other stuff - the tracks were stupid quiet - so I fixed them - and
then you got some parts that are distorted but I think I Fixed them too - see what you think of this.
Click to expand...
OK... I guess I overshot on keeping levels low to allow headroom. Were all the stems too low or only certain ones? Which were distorted?

What would be a good RMS level to export them at, or should I just normalize them on export?

It's not problem for me to fix some of this stuff and re-upload the stems. (Except the cello, which was a favour from a busy cellist so I just went (overly?) conservative on the recording volume levels). In fact I'd rather do it so I can get things right for future songs/mixes anyway.
 
Michael Ward said:
OK... I guess I overshot on keeping levels low to allow headroom. Were all the stems too low or only certain ones? Which were distorted?

What would be a good RMS level to export them at, or should I just normalize them on export?

It's not problem for me to fix some of this stuff and re-upload the stems. (Except the cello, which was a favour from a busy cellist so I just went (overly?) conservative on the recording volume levels). In fact I'd rather do it so I can get things right for future songs/mixes anyway.
Click to expand...
What did you think of my Mix/Master Job?
 
Mike, there wasn't a problem with low levels. It's a couple of clicks to normalize the file to about a -2dBFS. The two spots with the build up were significantly higher than the main portion, but a bit of volume adjustment or compressing of the highest level takes care of it.

Like Papanate, I was wondering what you thought of the mixes.
 
Considering the fact that you both spent your own time on the song, I feel like it's not really enough to just say "good" (though they are). So I will listen to them out loud on speakers and give proper feedback tomorrow.
 
I took these to the full range system and did a minor tweak on the bottom end. I felt things were getting a bit muddy in spots. Hopefully this sounds a bit better. I just labeled it as 1A since it is a small change.

Hope it works for you.
 

Attachments

  • Already Here TR Mix 1a full.mp3
    10.1 MB
So here is my feedback on the 2 most recent mixes. I have written some thoughts below, but bear in mind that these are both already far better than I could ever produce.

Also, I have re-uploaded my rough mix as it almost entirely excluded the cello solo bits before.

So..

@TalismanRich Mix 1a
Piano too muted/dark at beginning. Can you brighten the bottom end of piano on intro, and raise volume just until the vocals start
The crescendos at the end of the choruses: Too full/muddy. (on “The kingdom's already here”). Feel free to cut or cut back some of the lower strings, but not cello.
Please raise the volume or at least the string ‘bite’ on both double bass and cello on the whole chorus including the instrumental part


@Papanate
Piano too muted/dark at beginning. Can you brighten the bottom end of piano on intro, and raise volume just until the vocals start
More string bite esp. on selah
Don’t need much french horn. The focused solo instrument should be the cello.
Good job on the crescendos at the end of the chorus.

Both
I went back through my vocal takes and discovered a few that were a good deal better than the ones I uploaded. If you do another mix, could you re-download and import all the tracks whose name start with ‘Mike’?

Here’s a good example of the type of sound I’m going for: Max Richter - Dream 13 (minus even) - from 1:19 -


Is this the kind of feedback you were looking for?

Mastering: I have to be honest that I don’t really know what it entails. Are theses mixes also pseudo-mastered, or does something else need to be done? Of course I’m not looking for absolute perfection. I would just like it so that If this song came on a friend’s stereo right after a similar commercially produced song, that it would flow right in so they wouldn’t have to adjust the bass/treble at all, and the volume only a little.
 
Michael Ward said:
@Papanate
Piano too muted/dark at beginning. Can you brighten the bottom end of piano on intro, and raise volume just until the vocals start
Click to expand...
The Piano is what it is - I can artificially Accent the Bottom end and raise the volume - I can do it in a couple of days.

Michael Ward said:
More string bite esp. on selah
Don’t need much french horn. The focused solo instrument should be the cello.
Good job on the crescendos at the end of the chorus.
Click to expand...
Ok - I take your new mixes and work on them.
 
I'll pull down your new files when I get a chance later. Might not get time to fool with anything until tomorrow.

In the first go round, I didn't really EQ anything, as I had no clue as to the sound you were targeting. It's easy enough to change, although your comment to "brighten the bottom end" seems counterintuitive. Do you want more bottom, or a brighter sounding piano? Those seem to be opposite directions.
 
Here's a complete remix. As suggested, the Piano is boosted in the beginning (and the bit between the verses). I brightened things up considerably to try to relieve the mud, especially in the crescendos. Your vocal tracks have been changed to the new ones. I've tried to keep the vocals balanced, and a bit forward, so that the words can be heard and understood. They are, after all, the essence of the song, right?

Hopefully this one is more to your liking.
 

Attachments

  • Already Here TR Mix 3a.mp3
    8.9 MB
Kinda new to mixing. would love any feedback. Thanks
 

Attachments

  • AlreadyHere_Mixdown_20240224_dantinok.mp3
    12.5 MB
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