Soft rock, female vocal

[Minism]

Hello all,

As usual, I am quite happy with the song, not too happy with my mixing, so please have a go



Some things I am not sure about (not sure how to fix either):
• Strummed acoustic guitars are a bit too much distracting
• Too many different guitar tones for one song
• Vocal fitting the backing not well enough
• General master mix comments (e.g. eq)

Perhaps all that would be solved by having in mind a clear direction of what sound I am going after early in the recording process, but I feel that deciding on that is also something that I struggle with... Any tips?

Thank you!

Best regards
Meduoliukas

 

[spantini]

First off, I'd like to say I enjoyed your voice, and the song as a whole, and especially your outro lead fuzz guitar and backing guitar(s). That section made me think of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young). Specifically, this Stills-Young Band song from their Long May You Run LP :



In the outro the bell-like sound in the right channel seems a might too loud, it's drowning out the nice guitar work on the left and down the middle. Just for kicks, I would reduce the volume on that and add some reverb.. more wet than dry so it kind of washes over things in the background.

 

[gecko zzed]

Generally the elements are there, and maybe there is a bit of tightening up you can do. I enjoyed the song structure and the key changes: original and nteresting.

However, unlike spantini above, I was not keen on the distorted guitar during the song, nor the dramatic bit at the end. I think it detracts from the overall mood of the song, which is good enough to stand up in its own right without it.

 

[Sheetayd]

Hiya, great song, well sung. The mix needs work but 'easy' fix and NOT too many guitars.

The piano is too quiet and seems to wander oddly in the mix from left to right, plucked guitars too loud when introduced. Drums too quiet, electric guitar when first introduced is too quiet, better in its 'solo' towards the end of the song.

For starters the balance needs work, and pick the instruments you want focus on and keep them in the middle of the mix with the vocal (for now at least). The strummed guitars seem to wander in the mix as well, sometimes panned left and sometimes wide right and left (which is distracting as you say) so pick a placement and stick to it. EQ will need work as will compression, automation etc. but balance first, repost, and then we'll see.

I think the composition is pretty good and you seem to know what you want to give. We haven't heard the individual raw tracks to hear how well they have been recorded but if you're not happy with any individual track (timing, feel etc.) re-record it until you are happy, only then move onto the mix.

It will be great to hear this song once more work has been done on the mix as I think it has the potential to be a good song.

 

[Sheetayd]

Hello all,

As usual, I am quite happy with the song, not too happy with my mixing, so please have a go



Some things I am not sure about (not sure how to fix either):
• Strummed acoustic guitars are a bit too much distracting
• Too many different guitar tones for one song
• Vocal fitting the backing not well enough
• General master mix comments (e.g. eq)

Perhaps all that would be solved by having in mind a clear direction of what sound I am going after early in the recording process, but I feel that deciding on that is also something that I struggle with... Any tips?

Thank you!

Best regards
Meduoliukas

Hi,

I came back to hear a revised mix. Too soon or isn't one coming?

 

[famous beagle]

Very interesting piece here. There are lots of nice moments. The vocal is nice. Overall, it was pleasant.

IMHO, the guitar solos are the weakest link, the first one (acoustic) being too repetitive, and the second (electric) sounding a bit amateur with regard to timing and note choice.

 

[mark skinner]

Very nice song ! I thought the vocals were Excellent. Bear in mind I'm listening on a laptop with decent but not stellar headphones. My first impression was the piano needed centered in the intro , and Everything needed high passed with the exception of the vocals. Seems like a lot of low end build up taking away from the vocals. That is where I would start. I would also rethink the entire outro. All in all a Very nice start . mark

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

Some things I am not sure about (not sure how to fix either):
• Strummed acoustic guitars are a bit too much distracting

But they are in time. Its just dynamic.

• Too many different guitar tones for one song

The guitars need more gain. However, it works in your mix.

• Vocal fitting the backing not well enough

She sings real nice. Soft but it is thicker when doubled at 2:15

• General master mix comments (e.g. eq)

Its quiet.

Hey man...'3 words'..."its been so long gone"..Anybody else count 5?

 

[Minism]

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for generous and prompt response. Please see the new mix:


What has been changed:

• Kick turned a bit down and more reverb added, some lows removed
• Keys in the end turned a bit down
• Added extra highpass on almost everything (one instance of eq is not enough?)
• Fingerpicked guitars in the beginning turned down
• Drums turned up
• Solo in the end lowpassed
• Center the piano better in the very beginning
• Removed some reverb from guitar solo in the middle

What I did not do (but was suggested by some people):

• Change/remove guitar solos. These were in the original demo and I decided in the very beginning of the recording process that I want to keep them. They don't sound as good as in the original (which had no keys and somehow that worked better for the solos), but nevertheless I like them. I don't mind that the first one is repetitive and I am not sure there is such thing as 'amateur' note choice. However, I am very keen to hear what is wrong with the timing of the last solo?
• Increase distorted guitar volume in the middle parts. I am not 100% convinced this part has to be there at all, but it was the decision of the band. Anyways, I think this really has to stay in the background as I don't want it to take away the attention from the lead vocal.
• The mix (acoustic guitars) get a bit wider after the mid guitar solo. I know some audio engineers use this kind of effect for choruses to make it more dramatic; what makes you think that sounds bad in my mix?..
• I also misunderstood what guitars need more gain Can't really add that to acoustics and electrics have plenty, I think.
• The mix is a bit silent for now as I am leaving some space to mess around with mastering.

Regarding odd panning - I wanted to create more space in the middle by moving keys to the side for the mid guitar solo, I liked the 'openness' that makes. But current more simplistic panning works too. Also, one reason I kept fingerpicked acoustics turned up, as I feel they they lack definition in my car speakers (not the best solution, I know. Maybe the car system is just bad). Now they have a more supportive role for the piano.

Lazer - wow, I really did not consider lyrics could be understood this way One line is "Three words..." and the other "...been so long gone". The three words are not mentioned in the song

Thank you all again!

 

[Sheetayd]

Regarding odd panning - I wanted to create more space in the middle by moving keys to the side for the mid guitar solo, I liked the 'openness' that makes. But current more simplistic panning works too. Also, one reason I kept fingerpicked acoustics turned up, as I feel they they lack definition in my car speakers (not the best solution, I know. Maybe the car system is just bad). Now they have a more supportive role for the piano.

Speaking as a listener, for this style of music (and most styles in fact), I don't think hard panning instruments that start life in the centre of the mix to the left or right to get them out of the way of another instrument and then pan them back again (or not) is a very successful approach. That's a bit like me sitting in the audience while you and your band perform this song and just before the guitar solo comes in, somebody rushes on and moves the piano to the side, and the performance continues. When you're happy with placement but feel that one instrument is getting in the way of another (piano and guitar in this instance), another approach might be to add a multiband compressor to your piano track, then sidechain the guitar to the compressor and dial into the part in the spectrum of the piano track you want to duck out of the way to give more clarity to the guitar (listen carefully and don't overdo it). There are VST's available if you wanted an easy way to do this (one I know about, and use, is called 'trackspacer' which works well but I'm sure there are others). I'm not sure any of that is necessary in this mix though. Deciding what the focus of the song should be (after the vocal) and better volume balancing/control is what I might look at (the piano becoming swamped for example, if that's not intentional).

Don't listen (and especially don't mix) with the volume up too loud.

It's important that your mix translates as well as possible in all listening environments and listening to the mix in mono is also very important, don't forget headphones as that is how a massive chunk of music is consumed today and also really highlights panning issues.

EDIT: You can pan things in and out slightly in some mixes but maybe only 10% to 15% so not too much. Also, to me, your mix is sounding better!

 

[gecko zzed]

I agree with others in that the mix has improved. My original concerns still remain: I think the song could finish at 2.37 on 'gone' without losing impact. The distorted lead is a bit random and could easily go.