What's wrong with my mix?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BeniRose
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BeniRose

BeniRose

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So I've put this song up on the MP3 Mixing boards before, and I was given a lot of great feedback, but unfortunately none of it really helped the matter at hand. I'm having a really hard time getting my mixes up to volume, even after I run it through some basic mastering (WaveBurner). I was wondering if anyone using logic was bored enough to download my logic files and take a look at the mixes.

I've uploaded a 1 gig zip of the assets for 4 tracks I recorded with this girl and her band. I also have the logic file for the one mix I'm trying to get working better. The way I did it was record it all to one project, and then just save out new logic files for each mix. If someone wants to download the assets, and then my logic file and put it in the assets folder and take a look, I would really appreciate it. Or if someone wants to remix it and send me the logic file, I could learn from that too! Again, my main problem is volume level, but I'm also curious to see if there are any sore thumbs that stick out, because I think this recording could sound a lot better.

Assets: http://benrosenbach.com/choons/Mixes.zip

Mix File for Sunny Day Love: http://benrosenbach.com/choons/HighTide.zip

MP3 Mix for Sunny Day Love:
 
Well, it sounds great!

Now I just compared to ray lamontagne in windows media and really yours is not much quieter, but Im no expert.
I really like the way it sounds.
Jason
 
Sounds pretty loud to me. And maybe a bit too compressed. Why do you need that type of music to be any louder? What are you comparing it too?

You might look at the mix in a frequency analyzer and see if you are getting some peaks in a specific band that could be eating some headroom. You might have a touch too much going on in the very low end.

If the project is really important I would send it to a Mastering Engineer.
 
i agree with tex on the spectrum analysis. for any track.

but the only thing i would do is give some stereo enhancement to her voice.
turn the bass down a 1 db
thats my .02
 
Hey thanks guys :)

It just has a little amateur feel to me. I've just found myself having to turn my speakers up after listening to other music and switching to this, but then again, most of what I listen to is rock, so maybe i'm not taking into consideration the genre. I also find a lot of my stuff is a bit more quiet than commercial music, even after a quick mastering process. I wouldn't mind that, knowing I didn't pay anyone to get it properly mastered, but I have friends who do home recording that send me stuff that's just as loud as commercial music, and that's what bugs me. It does also feel a little squished to me, but I'm not sure how to fix that.

I'll try the spectrum analysis for sure, thanks for the suggestion! How do you recommend I do "stereo enhancements" on her voice? There's already a stereo long verb on her vocals, should I throw in a super short stereo delay to widen it out?

The project's actually over, but I'm trying to learn from my mistakes. I like to go back and remix my old stuff when I'm in between projects too, and I thought this would be a good one to do.
 
I just had a listen and it sounds pretty good to me. I don't think it needs to go any louder. Thanks for sharing.
 
It sounds great. You would be doing a disservice to yourself and this song if you made it louder (or let anybody else make it louder).



How did loudness infiltrate music production this deeply? You made a beautiful sounding song that is quiet by its very nature. Be confident in it. This is not supposed to be loud.
 
BeniRose said:
I've just found myself having to turn my speakers up after listening to other music and switching to this.
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I prefer to think of it as "I have to turn my speakers down after listening to good recordings and switching to loud stuff". :D
I also find a lot of my stuff is a bit more quiet than commercial music, even after a quick mastering process. I wouldn't mind that, knowing I didn't pay anyone to get it properly mastered,
Click to expand...
This is kinda' funny because nothing as loud as today's music is even in the ballpark of "properly mastered".
but I have friends who do home recording that send me stuff that's just as loud as commercial music, and that's what bugs me.
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I'd put good money that your stuff sounds much better than what your friends do. Remember, what counts is how it sounds after the listener moves the volume knob. What good is "loud" if the end result is borderline unlistenable on a moderate stereo? What good is "loud" if the listener instantly adjusts it to his listening volume anyway? What harm is "not as loud" if the listener instantly adjusts it for that matter?
 
What sounds wrong to me: Bass TOO loud, Vocals are a bit back? Compress them more, Drums are low.
 
Seems strange to me that you can't get it louder. Every home recording I listen to blasts the crap out of my ears. Most people seem to have absolutely no problems with being loud. That's either good or bad depending on the song....I think it's strange when I listen to some fellas song about love and devoting yourself to collecting flowers for your sweet girl for the rest of your life, sung over a lush acoustic fingerpicked guitar with sweet sweet synth violins...but that's so loud it not only spits in the face of any tender sentiment it may be trying to convey...but literally makes your ear drums explode and bleed all over your keyboard.

end blog
 
I love the bass. Whatever instrument that is. I think it's a nice change that it's up a bit in the mix than most would put it. It's very pretty sounding.
 
I agree with many here... don't worry about getting it loud. It sounds a bit over-compressed to me - probably an attempt at getting more loudness out of it? I would also wager that backing off on your compression a bit would pull the bass down a bit. The low end is a bit loud for my ears. Go for subtlety.

Also, vocal is a bit dry for my taste. Overall it sounds really excellent though. You've just about got it :D Excellent job.
 
I just played it and it sounds loud enough. There's no significant difference between that and the podcast I'm listening too.

The track itself is really well recorded and mixed. Wish I had the skills to be left with an end product like that.
 
Thanks again guys :) It's a stand up bass, and that's what the singer plays (it's her band) so I thought it should be up front. I agree it does sound a little overly compressed, and I think it was in an effort to get it louder. I'd like to remix it sometime. One thing I realized I did was put all my EQs before my compression, not sure if that had a lot to do with the narrow sound of the mix.

I really appreciate the positive feedback! I guess I'll always just always be hounding my stuff until people are actually coming to me and asking for me to record their stuff!
 
I agree the song & mix have a nice enjoyable serene feel. I noticed that early in the song, when the bass is plucked, it sat very well in the mix with the guitar. As the song moves along, the bass becomes more dominant and starts to step on the guitar and the vocal. Especially the bowed parts. Sounded like maybe this was a phenomenon during tracking? I also agree with (whomever) that the vocal sounds just a tiny bit dry when sitting next to that rich bass. I'm not a pro though, just passing my thoughts along.
 
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