What I am finding difficult when listening to these other mixes is that I have my version/vision of the song so deeply set after digging in for weeks and mixing it myself that it’s hard to listen objectively. That said, this is a very well executed mix and tastefully balanced. The one “issue” I have is the reverb on the vocal. The verb seems a too dense and it kind of muddies the vocal. The additional vocal in the first verse kind of added to that issue as well. I like the piano sound you got. I had trouble with it in mine. Your bass sound is superb!
So the following “critique” is really just a taste thing. Although very well done, the drum/bass groove just didn’t work for me, not with this song. However, I REALLY liked how you did the solo section. So yeah, I think this is very well done, but I just didn’t care for the direction is all. Nice job!
Also, if you don’t mind saying, how did you record/treat the bass?
Bass was all hardware with the exception of a lpf in the daw as it was to bright/pingy for this kind of song in my opinion and lowering the treble on the preamp wasn’t working well for what I was after.
But the signal chain was:
Fender American J bass, steel strings–>BBE Bmax bass preamp–>alesis 3630 compressor in the loop.
It really is some solid gear! The Jazz bass just works! The 3630 is nothing special, but it also works fine. The BBE actually has a single knob compressor, but it’s complete crap.
I am really enjoying this mix except, the low vocal is too loud in the first chorus and i think the kick and the bass could be tightened up sonically (thinned out with eq to start with. ). Thanks for sharing.
love the sound of the opening guitar!
Nice mix overall, drums are great. Overall a great listen. Addition of male harmony was cool.
A few things:
vocal is a bit too loud
vocal delay is a too much for my taste.
I think your 10k boost is also applying to the delay which makes them a bit harsh and uncontrolled when harmonies are playing 1:12 is an example
I would recommend, taming the eq a bit for the reverb and delay sidechains harmony and vocal tails could be cropped to time a bit better at end of phrases. Due to the reverb and delay, harmonies are ending at different times.
Beautiful mix overall, seems to flow and maintains pitch.
Likes:
Really liked the drum sounds
Good overall mix
On the plus side of soundscape spectrum created - good job!
Good eq choices overall
Bonus points for going for a few original additions.
Areas to improve:
The lead vocal had clarity, but I felt it was a bit sharp in the midrange, this might be coming from the reverb chosen.
I liked the additions of the bass line, but it seemed to get lost during the solo section and some of the notes choices in that section did not seem to work for me.
The low harmony part added blend quite right for me.
