…so last time round I posted the static mix of this.
Here is my fully-fledged mix. I made some changes based on the suggestions I received… other stuff I kept the same because…well, I’m stubborn like that, and I know what I like 
Anyhoo… for better or worse, here 'tis… feel free to either eviscerate or ignore… 
Ear candy…it’s a dandy Andy…you are so very handy. AND I can hear every word 
ooh Sounding GREAT! At first I missed the gritty almost-raw sense of the vox in the earlier version but everything all fits so well together, I abandoned that idea! Only able to listen on laptop speakers at the moment but it sounds dynamic, balanced and everything seamlessly positioned.
Really cool vox processing, great harmonic doubling, loved that… and the production shifts and changes to keep my interest. Well Done!
I’m listening through my measly iPad speakers and this production sounds very vibrant and alive. I don’t recall how your previous mix sounded exactly but I do remember that the verses didn’t quite have the sparkle and sheen that the chorus had. In this mix the verse seems to keep up with the chorus. If I’m recalling correctly, this is a major improvement. I can hear that bass popping through the mix really well and the drums, especially the snare has a big impact on the mix. To me it sounds much more polished than the prior mix. I am looking forward to listening to this through my headphones to get a better, clearer and more detailed view of the mix. Sounds damn good through this iPad, though!
I notice quite a bit of saturation/ distortion on the vocal. At first I thought it might be too much but I’m not sure. It might be useful to give the vocal a bit of gravity and fullness.
One thing that I want to focus on when I listen to this next time, is the final lick in the solo. I remember thinking something felt off key in the previous mix. When I heard it this time I wasn’t fully paying attention so that is one of the things I want to assess when I listen through a proper set of headphones. I’m confident everything is going to sound 10 times better through the cans. It sounds banging through the iPad ! Lot’s of excitement in this tune!
I think I missed this one first time around. But I love it! Particularly the chorus with it’s surprising chord changes (very seventies - I’m thinking allong the lines of Steely Dan). Why has that become so rare in contemporary music?
Anyway entering the bashful state: I was listening on laptop speakers and felt it needed something better to make any serious comments, so I played it on my old 80’s stereo set (with Kef shelf speakers that have lost some of their original sparkle in the high end - or is it just my ears?). What I noticed was not the lack of high tones: I’m used to that on this set. But I felt I was missing the bass guitar. I could only just hear it, but in particular missed some warmth (sorry) in the 100 -250 Hz region. The whole song seemed to have a lot of mid focus. Because I don’t trust my stereo set all that much I went and grabbed my cans: the balace sounded much better, but I still heard a lot of kick and less bass. I also noticed how pronounced the click in the kick is (louder than the snare?). I know this is very much part of how modern metal sounds, I just don’t like it (and this is not metal). Anyway a question of taste I guess. It could also be something different I’m thinking now: the bass lines are very consise with short notes. That brings them in the same spectrum as the kick which might be masking the bass? You should probably just ingnore my ramblings Andrew, but maybe it’s worth it to try and bring the bass forward just a bit. Maybe by increasing the decay a bit with a transient shaper?
The song is more than worth it!
Haha, thanks Paul… er… hopefully there is something a little more nourishing than candy for the ears there too! 
Thank you Emma - that means a lot to me! 
Thanks Man… yes, as I said, the other one was pretty much an unmixed working version… Essentially, it is the same basic balance, but there are a myriad of little tweaks that make up the difference.
The saturation comes and goes from the vocal - it depends on the section of the song - Some parts have none, some parts have lots; some parts have just a little… good ol’ Decapitator!
Well, that is one of the things I alluded to above that I’m pretty stubborn about… I like it, and I don’t really mind if it sounds a bit “outside” (as they say in jazz), or that it’s not to everyone’s taste. It is played over a D# sus2 chord, so the harmony is a bit out of the ordinary…In any case, to me music with no tension and dissonance is my definition of “musical wallpaper”.
Cool! That’s what I’m mostly always going for!
Thanks Evert! Yes, I love a bit of The Dan myself - they are a bit of an underlying influence, in that they were masters at presenting really quite complex harmonies in a very “pop/rock” way…BTW, speaking of which - guys who were not averse to a bit of “outside” guitar playing on their solos (Reelin’ in the Years; Bodhisattva).
In this song, while the D5 to F5 verse riff is pretty much just a simple minor/major blues sequence, the chorus run descends chromatically: Fsus2 - Em7 - D# sus2, then back up to D#6/9 (F bass), then the chromatic Fsus2 - Em7 - D# sus2 repeats but resolves back to D sus2.
Believe it or not, none of this stuff was written in a self-conscious “I’m trying to be clever” way. I just tuned my guitar to drop D and fiddled around until I had a chord sequence that came together with the melodies and I was singing…
I find the trend of “dumbing down” of the harmonic complexity of music something quite fascinating… Rick Beato did a video recently on that very topic - I very much agree with his take on the topic:
Thanks for checking it out for me… Just a question, though: Did you compare it against other material on the same system(s)? The reason I ask is because I’ve auditioned the mix on numerous systems and the last thing I would say that it is lacking in is bass!.. I’d probably say that I could still improve the bass, but certainly not by making it any louder! In any case, I’ll keep this in mind…
Yeah, I’ve heard you mention this preference before. I personally don’t think this bass drum is particularly clicky… It has some attack, but certainly not as pronounced as you describe IMO… and it definitely is not louder than the snare…in fact, the kick is a full 5dB quieter than the snare!
I’m not discounting your comments, Evert, (I never discount anyone’s comments!) but I also sometimes find it hard to grasp what is wrong if I just can’t hear it that way…
Ah, this bit might be a clue to what you are getting at… using the word “forward” puts things in better perspective, I think… I’ll try and look at it from that point of view… Thanks!
Thank you - Glad you like it, and thanks for listening and your thoughtful input - much appreciated!
Great mix and blend of sounds here @ColdRoomStudio, the extended harmonies fit very well, mainly because of the way you arrange and blend them I think.
Thanks for listening and your input, Ingo - much appreciated!