NGODH - Part 2

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ido1957

ido1957

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Hey - redid the mix on this starting all over mixing without anything on the mains and used a bit more eq on some channels (something I've been working on lately). Only after I had what I think is a fairly good mix, did I put it through a comp/limiter for at the end for some tone and to get the volume up.
Let me know if the mix is ok as is or what you would do differently.
View attachment NGODH Mix 20150206 test 4 58 95 320.mp3
 
A very centred mix Ido.
I record the riffing guitar & sustained chord one could be spread either side of the soundscape a little.
All the elements are good though the drums sound a little naked and light when the start things - maybe they need to be pumped up for that bar or 2.
Good tune, good to hear your voice lilting through one of your signature styles so effortlessly.
 
Almost everything is doubled and panned - maybe a little more spread then....
Lead Guitar - 10% R
Rhythms - 35% L/R
Chorus Backups - 50% L/R
The ooh's 60% L/R
Drums were mixed by Jason
The Lead Vocals and Bass are centered
 
I'm listening on a pretty low-fi setup today so I can't say much about details but as an overall mix it sounded well balanced. The vocal could come down 1db.
 
The vocal is just a touch too loud. Don't like the tone on the lead guitar, just kind of dead sounding, could be the muting way its played. But that's just me :)
 
Really good mix. Probably one of the best I've heard from you.

I felt the riffing guitar could use some automation to be quieter during the verses then back up in between. if you're doing that already, then I say, make the quieter parts a little more quiet.

I thought the vocal level was fine.

I would like to hear the rhythm guitars separated out a little more, both in panning and musically.

This is all nitpicking.
 
Thanks guys - all your comments so far have been things I have thought about myself.

Vocal level - I found it poked out a bit in the first verse but like a lot of mixes I've heard, it seemed to lessen as the song progressed. I'm not sure of it's a brain thing or if the increasing dynamics of the song seem to balance it a bit. What I will do is reduce the first verse level and see if the vocals are more in the mix from the get go. Then see how it impacts overall and see if this needs to be carried over to the other verse. I've read some mixers will up the level during the chorus for some punch so we'll see if that comes out with a vocal level change.

Lead guitar - I'll do some automating during the verse. The tone is as you say a preference thing and I'm ok with it.

Rhythm guitars - I can push these out into the 40+% range but I want to keep the mix components in their separate stereo spectrum. The wide pan wasn't that popular on the initial mix so I'm trying to keep it a little more centered but still separated. Not sure what your "musically" reference means - can you describe?

Drum (forgot to address this Ray) - One of the problems on the first mix was the compressor on the mains was too hard. When the music started, the drums lost a bunch of volume. I tried a bunch of things and found the best way to keep the drums sounding "level" during the intro was to automate them down a few db's just in the intro. Reducing the main compression helped too. The compressor is only gain reducing maybe 3db as compared to 7 db previously. I find the drums have a lot of room sound in the intro and none during the song. No idea what that effect is called but it is something I've tried to address without success. It's "printed" so I can't reduce it.
 
This sounds good, Ido. The only thing is, hitting my "mono" button almost doesn't change anything, which leads me to believe that the mix might be a little too centred to the point that it's not far from being a mono mix. Whether that's good or bad is up to you, because I still hear everything clearly, so that's good.

When you say everything's doubled, what do you mean? Did you play the lead and everything twice? That's really the only way to double things properly. Hopefully you didn't just copy, paste and pan because I think you already know that accomplishes nothing other than make a track louder, but it doesn't double it it any useful way.
 
Thanks for listening Ram - I checked it just now in Sonar and the mono button is noticeable so the stereo spread seems ok (albeit needing some adjustment). The doubling is two different takes for everything so no copy/paste/delay was done on anything.
 
ido1957 said:
Thanks for listening Ram - I checked it just now in Sonar and the mono button is noticeable so the stereo spread seems ok (albeit needing some adjustment). The doubling is two different takes for everything so no copy/paste/delay was done on anything.
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Awesome. I didn't think you'd copy/paste, etc.....But since you said everything's doubled, I just wanted to make sure. Sounds good, man. :cool:
 
ido1957 said:
Not sure what your "musically" reference means - can you describe?
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I thought the rhythm guitar parts were very close to each other in tone and performance. A little more variation would add some separation and individuality to each part. As it is now, they're so close to each other in performance and tone that they almost sound mono. I think that's part of what Rami was suggesting.
 
RAMI said:
Awesome. I didn't think you'd copy/paste, etc.....But since you said everything's doubled, I just wanted to make sure. Sounds good, man. :cool:
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I've tried it in the past with nudging etc but it ends up sounding like a a hard panned echo if that makes any sense. It's not even on both sides and there's no differentiation like you get when you double it.

Chili said:
I thought the rhythm guitar parts were very close to each other in tone and performance. A little more variation would add some separation and individuality to each part. As it is now, they're so close to each other in performance and tone that they almost sound mono. I think that's part of what Rami was /echosuggesting.
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Yes - same guitar with same settings - giving it an ability to surround the vocals on either side. I rarely use two different guitars or settings when doubling. I prefer to widen/thicken without changing tones. I'm just boring that way. :D
 
Sounds pretty good.

I have one question on it: are you going for more of a Tom Petty/Americana kind of sound or a country sound? The riff and main melody sound generally more like the latter, but some of the harmonies and vocal inflections add a lot of the latter feel, especially as it gets a little more nasal.
 
Thanks VH - I'm not sure what the classification would be. Wish we had Tom Petty's royalties though....
 
Very clean. Everything's in it's own timbrel space, and distinct. Very nice guitar sound. Strat? or is that a ES Gibson maybe? The drums are very well defined. Overall excellent! :D
 
I thought it sounded pretty good. Drums sound great to me. Like the snare and cymbal sound. Kit is well balanced. Vocals are clear and sound nice. *Everything* is doubled? Lead vocal sounds single tracked.

I like the little guitar riff. Simple, but it worked well. I liked the sound too.

My nits...

The bass could come up a wee bit.

I didn't care for the tone on the rhythm guitar. Too clean for me. I think it could use a little more "sheen" - like a little more energy in the 4K-5K range.
 
BroKen_H said:
Very clean. Everything's in it's own timbrel space, and distinct. Very nice guitar sound. Strat? or is that a ES Gibson maybe? The drums are very well defined. Overall excellent! :D
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Thanks BH - Yes guitar is a Deluxe HSS through a JVM210

RAMI said:
.............so does Sam Smith. :D
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Good one :)

TripleM said:
I thought it sounded pretty good. Drums sound great to me. Like the snare and cymbal sound. Kit is well balanced. Vocals are clear and sound nice. *Everything* is doubled? Lead vocal sounds single tracked. I like the little guitar riff. Simple, but it worked well. I liked the sound too. My nits...The bass could come up a wee bit. I didn't care for the tone on the rhythm guitar. Too clean for me. I think it could use a little more "sheen" - like a little more energy in the 4K-5K range.
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Thanks TM - Vocals are not doubled just delay and reverb.
 
Ya...more space left and right would certainly help....but also depth. A little room space created with panning, slapback delay, and a smallish room reverb might be something to mess with on some or all of these tracks.

All the tracking is nice and tight...so it's all there to play with if you want more space on it.
 
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Thanks Stu - yeah I'm not very knowledgeable about reverbs so time to do some research....
 
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