NEWB In Mixing Show me how you mix this!

  • Thread starter Thread starter troylow
  • Start date Start date
T

troylow

New member
Hi guys i've been studying in a music audio technology course for a year now but my lecturers dont really teach much and are pretty much slackers so i need your help for this. Ive been mixing about 4 songs currently but i have not gotten any feedback do u guys mind giving feedback and showing me an example of how you would mix the song? Oh and also i dont really know how to use compressors properly i think im using them wrongly and maybe im not even using any of the plug-ins properly omg.

For the sold out mix, I find the snare to be really weird and the vocals at some parts are a little distorted (but i guess its the problem with the track)

Sold out mix wave file
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdjm92jdxcim2o4/Sold Out Mix Wave.wav?dl=0&s=sl

Sold out mix ZIP file with individual tracks plus logic file
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t1ppbt1kehseg1d/Sold Out.zip?dl=0&s=sl

Mystery mix wave file
https://www.dropbox.com/s/37zl773k4ofo1aq/MysteryMix1Wav.wav?dl=0&s=sl

Mystery mix ZIP file
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6c64dr6mvucc123/Mystery.zip?dl=0&s=sl
 
Hi There..Here is my try..Let me know what you think about it?
 
troylow said:
wow this is good! u did this in a few minutes?!?
Click to expand...

I think I spent thirty or forty minutes on that mix. It could use some automation but I just hit it with compression due to time limitations.

What's with the effects mixed into the vocal track?
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I think I spent thirty or forty minutes on that mix. It could use some automation but I just hit it with compression due to time limitations.

What's with the effects mixed into the vocal track?
Click to expand...

im not sure i was asked to mixed this by my lecturer, i did not record this. What is lacking in my mix? I heard the mids are too much and the drums are muffled what do you think?
 
troylow said:
im not sure i was asked to mixed this by my lecturer, i did not record this. What is lacking in my mix? I heard the mids are too much and the drums are muffled what do you think?
Click to expand...

Basically this is a pop tune regardless of subject matter. The backbone of pop is kick, snare and vocal. Those three have to work together and never get lost. Everything else fits around them, supports them, decorates them but you never lose those three.

In your mix the vocal and snare are on top of the mix and the rest of the drums are set back. That snare top mic is lifeless and generally not helping the song much, nor is that reverb you've got on it. The drums in general sound sort of random rather than like one instrument.

The acoustic is buried. It's a key rhythm instrument in the song. It also seems a bit dark. Similar thing with the electric. It has an important part to play rhythmically but it gets lost.

I found myself doing a number of low and mid cuts, 210 for the kick, 220 on the acoustic and 500 on the electric. I also did some high shelf boosts here and there. The snare sound in my mix is 80% overheads, 15% snare bottom and 5% snare top. That's usually where I start a mix like this, getting the snare sound beginning with the overheads and adding close mics as needed. Then I sort out the kick, then I get the vocals working with those. Once kick/snare/vocal are solid I add the bass. The bass and kick need to work together. I like it when a kick hit blends into a bass note like they're one sound. In this case the difference between quieter and louder sections was too much so I compressed the bass fairly heavily.

When that's all balanced out I'll bring in the other instruments, fill in the available space with the acoustic, electric and organ fiddling with eq as I go. You want to fill the space, decorate, support the rhythm etc. but never let that kick/snare/vocal backbone get buried.

It's important to listen not just to simple volume of each instrument but to the volume vs. frequency. For example, I'll divide the acoustic into body tone, a middle range and string zing. Once I get a basic level I'll start to mix those ranges separately using eq, in this case cutting some body and boosting the zing a little.
 
mixsit said:
That's very nice! Specially for a quickie? Yeah!
Click to expand...

Thanks. The basic tones are good and the arrangement is well sorted. That made it easier to mix. There's some bleed on the vocal and overheads. It sounds like a fairly big room reverb, but I think it's the actual room rather than an artificial reverb. It provided enough reverb that I didn't feel the need to add any to the mix.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Thanks. The basic tones are good and the arrangement is well sorted. That made it easier to mix. There's some bleed on the vocal and overheads. It sounds like a fairly big room reverb, but I think it's the actual room rather than an artificial reverb. It provided enough reverb that I didn't feel the need to add any to the mix.
Click to expand...
That does make for an easier time of it! As for the verb, if you hadn't said I would'of simply thought 'good fit'. :)
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Basically this is a pop tune regardless of subject matter. The backbone of pop is kick, snare and vocal. Those three have to work together and never get lost. Everything else fits around them, supports them, decorates them but you never lose those three.

In your mix the vocal and snare are on top of the mix and the rest of the drums are set back. That snare top mic is lifeless and generally not helping the song much, nor is that reverb you've got on it. The drums in general sound sort of random rather than like one instrument.

The acoustic is buried. It's a key rhythm instrument in the song. It also seems a bit dark. Similar thing with the electric. It has an important part to play rhythmically but it gets lost.

I found myself doing a number of low and mid cuts, 210 for the kick, 220 on the acoustic and 500 on the electric. I also did some high shelf boosts here and there. The snare sound in my mix is 80% overheads, 15% snare bottom and 5% snare top. That's usually where I start a mix like this, getting the snare sound beginning with the overheads and adding close mics as needed. Then I sort out the kick, then I get the vocals working with those. Once kick/snare/vocal are solid I add the bass. The bass and kick need to work together. I like it when a kick hit blends into a bass note like they're one sound. In this case the difference between quieter and louder sections was too much so I compressed the bass fairly heavily.

When that's all balanced out I'll bring in the other instruments, fill in the available space with the acoustic, electric and organ fiddling with eq as I go. You want to fill the space, decorate, support the rhythm etc. but never let that kick/snare/vocal backbone get buried.

It's important to listen not just to simple volume of each instrument but to the volume vs. frequency. For example, I'll divide the acoustic into body tone, a middle range and string zing. Once I get a basic level I'll start to mix those ranges separately using eq, in this case cutting some body and boosting the zing a little.
Click to expand...

that was some really awesome advice!!!! thanks man i'll try to do the mix again! I have more songs i need to mix so if youre interested in doing more mixes do let me know i would also appreciate more advice but i dont want to trouble you! :D
 
I'm glad it was useful to you. Hopefully it will get you going well enough to mix for yourself. I don't do a lot of these Mix This things, but I will probably chime in with suggestions on something in the future.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I'm glad it was useful to you. Hopefully it will get you going well enough to mix for yourself. I don't do a lot of these Mix This things, but I will probably chime in with suggestions on something in the future.
Click to expand...

Hey guys i just started mixing a year ago and i learnt everything about mixing mostly by alone as theres no one to help me with. So if you guys are free do you mind helping me to hear my mix and give comments? I dont mind giving out the raw tracks for you guys to mix and also my logic file if you need to see the plugins i use just dont give it out to anyone else. Thanks and i really appreciate your help!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uximpmvwzhbda86/SoldOutSeptemberMixNewest4.wav?dl=0
did a final mix recently :D do hear it if youre free thanks!
 
Last edited:
That sounds much better. The drum/vocal core of the song is really strong. I would probably have raised the bass a little and filled in more of the space with the guitars, but if my memory of the first mix is right this is a big jump in the right direction.

I wonder how your monitoring is set up. Are your speakers far apart compared to your distance from them? Or are you mixing on headphones? Either of those can make mixing more difficult.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
That sounds much better. The drum/vocal core of the song is really strong. I would probably have raised the bass a little and filled in more of the space with the guitars, but if my memory of the first mix is right this is a big jump in the right direction.

I wonder how your monitoring is set up. Are your speakers far apart compared to your distance from them? Or are you mixing on headphones? Either of those can make mixing more difficult.
Click to expand...

I am mixing with hs5 moniters, they are close to me but i do not have a subwoofer (HS8) which makes it a little difficult for me to tell if i have little/too much bass) theres no room treatment currently but i might do a little treatment in the future. I mix on headphones as well (DT770). For the first mix it was solely headphones though. 20150906_143811.webp

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4pg60u1c4p0rtz/SoldOutSeptemberMixNewest7MultiP copy.wav?dl=0
 
First thing I'd do is raise them so the mid point between the woofer and the tweeter was right at ear level. Then I'd make an equilateral triangle between them and my listening position.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top