Only 10,4 Mb
The size limit should be large enough to accommodate at least 20meg uploads, IMOā¦ not at all uncommon for files that size to be generated. Just about everything I do is 10 or moreā¦
Now to the song. I really like the composition, itās interesting and engaging. The only part Iām not wild about is the ending, itās very abrupt. But you likely have a good reason for that choice. 
And I love how the harmonica fits into what youāre doing. That is the instrument I most wish I could play!
Yes indeed, it is a very full sound, and I think it needs to have some EQ work in the low and low-mids, I think the instruments are crowding out some of what the bass should be covering down there. Some more aggressive high-passing on the guitars, keys, synths, and your vocals would be helpful IMO.
Also, in the first minute or so, before the drums arrive, itās a little hard to pick out the rhythm given that you are vocalizing in a somewhat stylized fashion. Iām having a little difficult āgrabbing holdā of the tempo. Once the drums come in at about 1 min that helps a lot. I would not be surprised that if you clean up some of the low end as above, that the definition of the drums will improve, or at least not take a whole lot more tweaking to bring out better.
Iāll probably listen again after others have weighed in. Good work!
Thanks for your valuable comments Chordwainer,
I already did quite a bit of Eq cutting in the bass and lower mids. Part of the problem is the number of instruments with a lot of lower frequencies going on playing at the same time. You can hear the difference when the bass guitar comes in for the first chorus. Itās a lot heavier than the double bass in the verse. Iām not sure if I should cut out a narrow bit of frequency for each of those instruments. Iām afraid the stringed instruments will become unnatural. But I will give it another try!
About the abrupt ending: I have no logical explanation for it, but hey, if you want completely logical music listen to Bach (or so mathematicians seem to think). I like it and will be keeping it. I am thinking of lightening it up just a bit.
Your comment about following the rythm in the intro and first verse is valid. I think Iāll try emphasising the guitar more, that should bring out the rhythm.
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Hey Aef - Wow! This is a BIG ambitious piece. I quite like the originality Iām hearing here.
I took another listen to the CSNY song you referenced just to calibrate my āmindās earāā¦
Overall, I think the issue is that you need to make more space in the mix for all the elements, and you need to use ambience that is appropriate to the genre.
Dave @Chordwainer mentions using high passing to make space in the low end, and thatās a great tip. It will give allow the bass-critical instruments more space in which to live. However you also can make space at the high end of the mix by low passingā¦ and in the middle by pulling the mids out of some elements you want to sit behind others, and pushing the mids in some that you want to come forward.
I notice that youāve used a fair bit of reverb on a few mix elements to create depth. Thatās understandable, but the first port of call when creating depth is actually frequency. If you think about it, as sounds recede into the distance they lose top end, so you can give the listener a cue that a sound is further back in the soundstage by simply rolling off high end. If you combine that with imagining how the instruments would be set up on a stage in front of you, you can start creating depth with only and equalizer.
Thatās not to discount ambience as a powerful psycho-acoustic tool, thoughā¦ In the same way the frequency response cues our mind to the closeness or distance of a sound, the sound of the ambience that the source sound generates is equally important. However, it kind of works in the opposite way. If the ambience generated by a sound is bright and full-rage, the listenerās mind generally perceives that the sound is distant. This is because the closer the reflected sound is to the source, the less top and bottom the reflection will lose. Conversely, if the reflected sound from a source is dull and has little low end, then the ears tell the mind that the source is closer, as the reflected sound is perceived to have travelled a longer distance to reach the ear.
ā¦ thatās a very long and convoluted way of saying that eqāing our reverbs is essential if we are to create a convincing sense of depth in our mixes.
For example, on your mix, I can hear the vocals and guitar have a very bright sounding reverb on them, which tends to put them ābehindā the orchestral elements in the soundstage, whereas in a performance, it would be opposite. If you listen to Neil Youngās voice in your reference, he has a lot less high end and āairā on him, yet he still sounds like heās in front of the band, because the reverb on his voice is a very warm/dull sounding plate that has a ton of pre-delay on it.
Pre-delay is another powerful control that is on most reverbs. Pre-delay delays the onset of the reverb by x number of milliseconds. This is another psycho-acoustic cuing mechanism for the ears as it the amount of time for the onset of reverb ātellsā us how far a reflective boundary (ie. wall) is away from the source sound. Considering that sound travels roughly about a foot per millisecond, you can bring the singer right āforwardā from his imaginary boundaries by setting a predelay on a verb to, say 80-120ms, whereas, it might be more appropriate for the drums to have hardly any predelay on them, putting them ābehindā the singer in the soundstage.
Hope that helps!
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Very nice work thereā¦ Aef
I like the vocal verb, but agree with cold above that the verb itself is pretty bright.
I am getting quite a bit of collapse of the high end on my side. That could be a soundcloud thing as they are notorious for that. But I think that you have to be at the upper limits for that to happen.
But as for the string vst, I think youāre doing fine with that. The high string part is coming out a foot above my speakers and maybe a foot outside the bounds. So nice and wide there. But maybe everything else is staying in the middle a bit.
So again agreeing with mr coldā¦ a bit of low passing with probably make a HUGE difference. Pick one or 2 things to dominate the ultra top and 1 or 2 things for the very bottom and get the rest out of their way.
Ohā¦ and the drums are too quietā¦ Just kiddingā¦ itās a genre thing. But Iād add tons of saturation and parallel compressionā¦ and gated reverb. But donāt tell anyone that I mentioned gated reverbā¦
Have fun
rich
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Aw, hell, I totally forgot about how Soundcloud downsamples mp3s. I think they force everything to 192 kbps? Thatāll definitely make a 320 kbps-rendered mp3 sound dull. Would love to listen again in the site playerā¦
Good to finally hear it. I was going to say you need to clean up the mix overall and make some suggestions in that direction but then i read Andrewās post and wellā¦ he said it much better than i can. Donāt be discouraged because the amazing thing is what he is talking about is really quite easy to execute and will make such a noticeable difference. I am looking forward to hearing the next mix down.
Thanks a lot guys. The stupid thing is, I know a lot of this psyco-acoustic stuff. I know that you need to use a less bright reverb for instruments further back. I guess I was so pleased with the airy quality of the vocals (first time I achieved that sound I guess) that I didnāt realise the effect it would have on the placing of the vocal.
It took a couple of years from buying a house with a spare space (in the basement) for a studio, actually building the studio and setting things up and learning how to use it in practice. In the mean time I read all of Brandons books and watched tons of videoās on the internet. So in theory Iām all set up. But you really need some fresh experienced ears to help to learn to listenā¦
Iāll check out the panning too. I had been wondering about the violins being to loud in parts, never realising it might be the separation which makes them stand out just a bit too much maybe.
Iām in for some minor surgery on the inside of my nose tomorrow, so I donāt think Iāll get round to any serious tweaking this weekend. But Iāll let you know as soon as Iāve tried some things out.
And thanks for the compliments too. As I said, this song is important for me. Iād really like to get it right 
Itās great youāre helping me out!
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This is so true, and so crucial. It is simply impossible for me to overstate the importance this has had in my own development-- and let me tell you, I know how to overstate things!! 
The group we have here has been awesome in helping me learn that critical skill to go along with all the actual mixing work.
And the wonderful thing is, everyone here is going to have the same goal that you do: to help you get your song right. Itās great. 
Update: I added a new mix to the first post (still canāt upload somehow, so its a link again). Changed quite a lot. Re-recorded some (parts of) tracks mainly because of timing issues, and worked on the reverb and e.q. to give it all more space. Iāve been listening on my hifi setup just now, and didnāt like it at allā¦ Probably went too far in cutting out the higher fqās and the reverb is as good as gone. I hope you guys comment. I did a lot of work and itās not much better 
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Ok, I missed the beginning of that thread
Back to the new mix. To mix, itās way better where elements got some real spaces and avoid to eat otherās areas. A good point in my opinion.
I also found that the second part of the song got less timing issues and I suppose this is where you re-recorded some parts.
On the other hand, the first part keeps this sloppy playing to me.
Mixing-wise, I also find that you could got further to give tracks some room: at the end of the song, vocal and harmonica seem to be hided by the other tracks and itās difficult to find themā¦ 
By the way, great improvement to me and a very nice song with lot of things to say!