Original jangle-pop song needs help

jm67

Member
Hi all,

I've been working on a new song ("Stars Inside") - sort of jangle-pop/rock. Unfortunately I suspect the mix needs lots of work. My monitors tell me the mix is really treble-rich and harsh, while my headphones tell me it's muddy and dull. Maybe it's both?! I'm specifically wondering how the bass sounds. It was a Squier Mustang recorded off my practice amp with a SM57 - it may still be a bit rumbly despite efforts to EQ it.
Anyway, all advice & criticism is welcome.

Original Mix: https://soundcloud.com/jm67dc/stars-inside
New Mix: https://soundcloud.com/jm67dc/starsinsideyourhome-mix3

Instrumentation:
Drums: BFD2
Bass: Squier Mustang (Vox amp)
Guitars: Epiphone SG400 mic'd off Roland Jazz Chorus 77, or through POD 2.0 + acoustic
tambourine, bongos, squalling vocals, ...
 
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Bit of an REM vibe. I can confirm it is muddy and dull. The clean guitar is clearest, and some sort of tambourine thing that shows up on the left from time to time. Drums are buried, bass sounds muffled except when you hit certain notes when it booms out. You might want to get the rhythm section and low end sorted out first, then rebuild the mix from there.
 
Bit of an REM vibe. I can confirm it is muddy and dull. The clean guitar is clearest, and some sort of tambourine thing that shows up on the left from time to time. Drums are buried, bass sounds muffled except when you hit certain notes when it booms out. You might want to get the rhythm section and low end sorted out first, then rebuild the mix from there.

Thanks for the listen and the advice - I can work on removing mud from the drums and bass & then repost. The "tambourine thing" you mention is a tambourine.
 
You got to bring up the drums and drive the tune along. The intro is good and then the drums disappear.I like the vocals and the backing vocals too. Just get those drums charging
 
I think some levels might need to balanced like the overdriven guitar on the left seems a bit high and the vox might go down a bit, drums up. Really cool song. I like the bass tone but it gets a little indistinct at times, I wonder if it might be better doing it DI?
 
Thanks for the inputs everyone - much appreciated. I'm working on a new mix with more aggressive drums, and I've tried to make the bass punchier by boosting the mids & cutting the low-end rumble. Easlern - Yep, I usually DI the bass with decent results, but this time it sounded too boomy, so I switched to mic'ing the amp.
 
A bit of boomy might be easier to deal with than what you've got. Never tried an SM57 on bass, though I'm sure many have. Will it pick up enough low end?
 
I like all the components and the song - but the mix sounds disjointed & I couldn't say why or how to rectify it.
How does it sound in mono?
 
Sorry, didn't see that you had posted a new mix. Yes, this is better. Better vocal clarity. That tambourine sounds weird out there on the left by itself. The rest of the mix is narrow. Bass and drums aren't driving your song the way they should be. During parts of the song I'm hearing mainly cymbals, not much kick or snare. They come in better during your chorus. Bass doesn't have much bottom, and sounds like it could be tighter with the drums.
 
Thanks again for the feedback. Sounds like re-tracking from scratch would be in order (although that also sounds like more work than a weekend hobby warrants...)
 
I listened to the new mix. I think it's fine. It sounds like 60s or 70s rock to me. Really captures that vibe.
 
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