Jimmy, it sounds amazing! Thank you. I listen and I'm like, huh, that's my voice?
Yep, that is you. 
When it gets to the verse, the difference is incredible. There is a terrific increase in intensity and excitement which was really lacking in mine. The vocals seem to blend together a lot better and are just more pleasant.
I noticed that it seems like you did something (EQ?) to the kick drum (to differentiate from the bass guitar?)
Did you mean 'Chorus'? We can go into what I did there more, but in that group there is a de-ess, two compressors (used very lightly-one to control the peaks with fast attack and 10:1 ratio, and the other at lower ratio and attack to smooth out a bit), and an eq (hard to describe this one as it is a Pultec type. It cuts and boosts around the same frequency, but HPF at 70hz. Boost at 4k and 10k). 'PSP Noble Qex' is the plug. All sent to a reverb, slight vocal doubler and the obvious delay, which has a reverb on it directly so that the delayed track sounds a bit distant.
Actually, I added a sample to the kick drum. The original had a tail that sounded distorted (likely just a poor quality sample). I couldn't clean it up so I added one with a clearer attack so that it was not so dark and in the background. And yes, this was so that the bass was able to come out clearer.
And less reverb overall obviously...
Yes, I always try to use as little reverb as possible when starting a mix. More important to get the instruments working first, then add where needed later. I feel I should have used more to keep with your goal, but again I was just doing this as if it were up to me. I can always add more and make the mix 'darker'
And in the beginning the piano and bass parts are much more differentiated from each other. I'm assuming that that is EQ at work...
I cant find a way to get my screenshot to take a snapshot of the plugin I used for eq on the piano. It leaves the screen as soon as I open it. That would be the easiest way to show what I did. Man, this sucks..
Anyway, bass guitar has no specific eq, though the plugin I used for it does have eq adjustments but is more of a compressor/saturation coloring tool. 'PSP Vintage Warmer'. I will post phone pics of the settings I used. As I stated earlier in the thread, there are ways you can do this with free plugs but you would likely need to compensate if going for this particular sound.
The vocal mouth-smacking sounds: nasty. I sang the verses really close the mic, didn't use the pop filter because it was in the way, and I was clutching the mic in both hands. So you're saying this isn't a good technique?! (I was trying to make it sound intimate, which I do think worked but the extraneous mouth sounds are a negative side-effect.) I did use a lot of volume automation to drop down the volume of some of the consonants, esp. the "k" sounds. Can you tell me if that is the same technique you use edit them out, or something different?
Not really. It was obvious the noises that were introduced. I have had good good experience with metal singers using a SM7b held in hand, but it is a dynamic mic and the distance from the grille to the diaphragm made it work. Plus a dynamic is not so sensitive to the vibrations introduced by holding the mic. I would not ever suggest hand holding a condenser mic ever. Use a pop filter and get as close as needed to get the sound you wish. Usually you don't have to get that close with a condenser, but then it depends on the mic.
In Cubase, I cut at the point of the mouth noises. Short fade in and out on both sides.
Now you said you used EQ and compression to get the "air out of my voice". What does that mean? To much breathiness? Like too much breath and not enough tone? Is this something I fix in performance or mixing? I ended up not using any EQ or compression on the lead vocal in the chorus because I didn't think it made it sound any better. So I just left it alone. I did some random and ineffective compression and EQ on the harmony parts that was useless. If you can give me more direction on EQ and compression for the vocals I would appreciate it.
By 'Air out of your voice' I meant bringing forward (more clear) the air in your voice. This means the quality of your voice that involves the actual air movement being there. When recorded as you did, there was necessity to cut out some of the pops and mouth movements, because when the eq and compression were added to bring that out, it also accented the bad stuff. Fix in using a pop filter while recording even if going for the personality of a intimate vocal.
Thanks for pointing out the lyrics error. Worth fixing.
Darkness. Yes, my personal preference is for lots of bass and reverb, if that's what you mean by darkness.
I am down to either mix another version or whatever. I just found the song very cool and wanted to show a different aspect as to what can be done. I am not trying to persuade you or say what your mix needs. Only giving another perspective. I think the song is awesome, and think this song needs to be a bit more 'dark' than my first mix.
And yeah, what is micro shift?
We got that already I think. Love that thing! It is used on all of your synths, chorus vocal and piano to bring them to life. It is just a slight chorus type of effect that does not actually bring things out of phase. Just slight pitch shift and slight delay.
Now with all of this, I want to say that I enjoyed spending time with your tracks and it was also a learning experience for me. It is a pleasure to work with extremely talented musicians (such as you) in genres I do not have opportunity to get a chance to experiment with. If you wish, I can send you tracks with some of the effects I used and you can mix them yourself. I am by no means trying to say what works for you. I am only giving what I heard in my head and hopefully any of it is something that you might use yourself in future mixes.
Plus, I may ask you to sing some tracks for a project in the future. That would be very cool!
Jimmy
for the wall clock hanging in my bedroom, with all of those heavy harmonic overtones. They suggest a clock bell rather than a church bell, if that's the effect you were going for. . .
