Hello IRD it’s been a while. This is the song from the Mix with the master contest that I just finished mixing. There are still things I’m still not happy with, but it is what it is.
Let me know what you think and if you have time leave a comment.
Thanks.
The kick is too upfront for my tastes. I’d back it off a bit. The acoustic guitars during the verses are a bit too jangly in the upper midrange. I think the vocals are a bit too bright, I’d use a de-esser on them or I’d use a plugin that would allow me to compress certain frequencies like TDR Nova. I’d add some more reverb and beef up the delay on the vocals too. I would also take out some at 1Khz on the acoustics to open them up more. There’s the Dolby A trick doubletrackinjive figured out. Dolby A Encoding Emulation to Add Air I think he has a reaper template for the dolby a thing if you use reaper and want to use it. I think it would be perfect for opening up the acoustics a little more.
I’d also beef up the electric guitars during the chorus, this mix seems a little narrow. Some more reverb and maybe a few other tricks would help to make it sound wide. Turn up the overheads and room mics? I’d turn up the lead vocal during the nearly acapella section at the end of the song because it’s getting buried in the backing vox.
Hey Jerze - Sounding great!..
However, here are some things I noticed:
The kick is very full sounding - it tends to sound just a little “bulky” to me - maybe in the 80-100hz area. Not sure if this is what @CPF is referring to, but it’s causing some issues with the bass as well…
In the verses, the bass is almost MIA. Compare CLA’s mix of the song and you’ll hear what I mean. I thought at first that there was no bass in that part of the song, because it is really hard to distinguish it from the kick drum in your mix during the verse. It is better in the choruses, but I suspect there is a level/frequency issue causing the disparity. I checked your mix on smaller speakers, and the result was similar. Perhaps evening out the bass/creating some upper harmonic interest, in tandem with taming the lows in the kick may help.
Perhaps the area where the most improvement could be made is in the lead vocal. Both the level and “upfront-ness” need work. This genre (country-ish pop/rock) is ALL about the vocal. Turn that sucker up, compress it/automate it so that every-single-syllable is as clear as a bell. “Whisper”- test it thoroughly. CLA’s mix has it louder than LOUD. Your’s sound like it could stand a good 2-3dB of level, as well as perhaps some of “clarity” treatment suggest above. Don’t overlook some subtle widening treatment for the LV either - it can help drive home the “importance” of the vocal in the mix.
Overall, definitely on the right track, though - All the best!
Much better minds than mine have given some great help here. My first thoughts were the lead vocal was way too low and the bass very weak. It just sounded very busy. This will be fun to track as you tweak.
Sincerely
Paul
Oh thank you so much. I’m not that much better than you young prince. @coldroomstudio Precisely. The kick has too much junk in the trunk mucking up the low end.
Sorry, it took so long to get back life’s been a little crazy.
New mix with things that had been mentioned ( kic ,bass vocals).
Hey Fh Thanks for the listen and suggestions.
I adjusted some of the things you had mentioned so hopefully I didn’t go the wrong direction.I change some things on the vocal sound so hopefully they are a little better.
If you have time let me know what you think .thanks again!
Thanks for the suggestions Cpf.
I did have TDR Nova on the vocals (good plugin ) ,but I did go back and adjust something so hopefully they are better now. I also tried to do some adjustment on the acoustic GT.
If you have time let me know what you think .thanks again!
I think that mix is certainly an improvement. You’re far on your way to becoming a mix master!
Big improvement, Jerze! Nice work.