Sorry...me again :0)
Just had another listen to see if I can help in any other way. One other issue which might help is that of panning. If you think of the Pan Pot on a mixer as a clock - panning say from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock - there is quite a bit of space which hasn't been used yet which would also help. To my ears (and everyone is different) the whole mix seems to concentrate around the 9/10 to 2/3 o'clock if that makes sense? The vocals are wider but are 'exceeding' the rest of the track as a result. There is quite a bit of sonic space for you to play with yet which will also give the drums more space to breath and the other instruments can also occupy their own space. If you do this I believe you will end up EQ'ing a lot less too.
It might help you to pan the guitar further away from the drums, they are clashing a bit together in the stereo spread.
I don't know what other processing you have done on the drums (or whole mix with some mastering) but if you listen carefully, the centre image of the bass drum is moving around and sometimes I hear the kick in both headphones. I don't know if you have been experimenting with a stereo spreading plug in but if you have it is distorting the drums image.
I like what you have done with the vocals and the reverb is fine for that section. Do remember that you can (and often should) also pan and EQ reverb too. Reverb adds additional harmonics which might not suit the subject matter so try to experiment with that too. Nothing wrong with putting a mono reverb on a stereo source either if that is what is required to avoid a 'mushy' sound and pan away from the source.
Basically, my ears tell me that the space between 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock and between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock hasn't been used yet. Try it, honestly it will open up the track enormously! The space has been occupied to a degree by reverb, and whilst that's ok in small doses, it doesn't have any substance. There is no law that says you can't or shouldn't use the entire 180 degree stereo sonic spectrum you have at your disposal to pan your tracks into their own space - that's why the pan pot goes from 7-5 o'clock. Don't forget, there are some quality mix engineers out there who mix solely using LCR (left, centre, right) techniques and these guys have Grammy's! So don't believe the hype :0)
(oh, and try a gentle tape emulator on the guitar or valve emulator, it is a little harsh and is borderline fighting with the cymbals)
I can't wait to hear the finished track though, I think it is great and I love the genre!
I'll shut up now as my comments can be misconstrued as 'lecturing' you which isn't my intention at all! Happy to help in any way I can though and would love to have a go at mixing the drums for you if you felt that would be of any help.
Thanks
Thanks so much for all your great feedback! It means a lot! Doesn't sound like lecturing at all.
I never really thought about the unused space. I guess I'm too used to working with rock and having the rhythm guitars hard panned, but there's nothing like that in this genre to fill that space. I'll definitely move the vocals out there and make the guitar a bit wider, but I don't know what else I should move out there.
As far as drums go, I've tried to follow your advice. I removed compression from bass and snare, and wow! It wasn't even that much to begin with, but it was totally squashing the sound. It sounds completely different and I didn't need to touch any eq. However, I am at a loss for what to do with it now, unless it's fine as is. Even though the snare sounds better now, it sounds dry in my opinion, although that could be because I'm used to hearing it with excessive reverb. I also turned on the gate for the snare, I had it off originally because there were a lot of quiet snare hits that were too soft to have the threshold at a reasonable level, but I figure it's best to keep the cymbals out of the snare track. I'm going to experiment with the stereo compression when I have more time.
I know what you mean with the kick moving around, I just assumed it was getting drowned out and I was hearing the resulting stereo reverb. It's definitely not a good thing, but I don't know how to fix it.
I'm surprised you were able to pick out the electric guitars. I'll give that a try.
Hi,
nice song, i prefer the revised version as it seems more "full".
It seems it lacks a bit of bass so it can give more punch and fill the middle of panning space.
Also in my opinion the voice could have more "in the face" impact and more present in the middle of the panning image. Maybe one duplicated voice track in the middle with a discret room reverb and open more the back vocals to the panning sides.
I think the snare sometimes sounds a bit overcompressed.
Thanks, I moved the vocals out more, although they don't sound quite as blended. I'll definitely consider tweaking the lead vocals.
I listened to the revised version. I thought it sounded pretty good.
I thought there were spots where the snare was having trouble coming through.
I thought the kick was a little on the "sterile" side. Too much of the low-midrange removed. It had that "bouncing basketball" sound.
The vocals were a bit far back in the mix. I noticed some bobbled notes. I didn't mind the heavy reverb on this too much, but I thought there was a little too much used on the lead vocal.
Thanks, I made some changes to the kick.
New revised version:
[MP3]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54393172/BGC%20test6.mp3[/MP3]