I have a new version of the mix. Thank you all for your feedback! Hope you think the new version is better.
I changed some panning decisions I made, tweaked the drums, the guitars EQ and added some extra arrangements. Some of you pointed out that an intro would be nice. I tried, but it didn’t give the effect I wanted to have for this song (wanted something immediate like ‘open my eyes’). There is no bass up to 2:14. It is strange, but I like it
If you think there is something critical about this mix then I can tweak it a bit more. Otherwise I will leave alone (otherwise it will never be done)
Before this song I always mixed on headphones because of family/room/neighbors/you-get-the-idea. Though I liked my mixes I know they can get much better. This new song has been mixed in a room which I treated acoustically myself. Probably not perfect but I think it is sounding good. So, here it is, my latest mix in my new studio
Good feedback. Now that you mention it I totally agree.
The drums where recorded with an e-drum. Then I used a drum virtual instrument to have good sounding samples. And then I treated them as a normal drum recording.
I´ll upload a new version after I get more feedback.
I am hearing everything nice and clear. Over all the instruments are a little bright (too much high end) and the vocals to dark (too much low mids) for my taste. I think that the vocals could also use some delays. Those are some of my taste suggestions.
I’m in the same boat as you - I only have electronic sounds as drums. But I have recorded myself playing my e-drums and noticed one big difference between played vs programmed drums. I’ve had to teach myself to “pretend” to play programmed drums. That is, when I normally play a flat beat on the drums, the hi hats are never hit at the same velocity. Equally, when I play a fill, I will naturally play the first few hits harder than than the last. The more I work on this with my programmed drum parts, the more natural they are starting to sound.
Does the bass guit. come in really late? After the 2 min. mark ? Seems unusual, but the bass needs a ton of subs pulled out (below 50-70hz.) and more presence in the mid/high mids (700-1300hz.?)
Would like to have a intro, even if very short(guitar picking?), the abrupt begining does not jive with the smoothness of the track, give us a thread to pinch between our fingers…then tug us gently into the tune.
I do not mind the darkness of the vox, it remains intelligible. The acoustic gits almost need a gentle push towards the background (maybe some highs rolled off, to get them into the same smokey place as the vox (not nearly as dark though)
It seems I hit you with a bunch of subjective stuff , but I liked the track and find that it is a good enough song to warrant further time invested to coax out the best (more subjectivism! Ha)
@ProudMusicStudios, good work on the song man!! I’m liking it quite a bit. In fact, I’m already on my second listen. Good sign I agree that short intro of some sort would be beneficial. Just a really short lead into the first chord, even just a few notes, would make a big difference in how this song kicks off. I’m really liking the overall feel of the song. Good stuff!
Regarding the mix, I like the good clean separation. However, and this is just a personal suggestion, it seems as though the 2 acoustic guitars are panned hard left and hard right respectively. Not a problem per se, but the drums feel like they are set right up the middle. It gives a bit of a disjoined feeling to me (albeit subtle). Usually I like to hear the kick and snare at center but the overheads panned out at least some, and I usually keep instruments (guitars in this case) inside that space… hope that makes sense. This is obviously just a personal taste thing. That’s the beauty of this art
One thing I’m curious about… right at the 3:00 minute mark. When the vocal comes in, it seems like the vocal has some sort of quirk on the first word. Like the audio breaks up or something. Might want to check/edit that since the vocal is the main focus at that point.
Finally, the cello/bass at the end. I’d heavily consider bringing that to the center. I totally get what you were trying to do there, with the violin at the other side, but having any sort of bass off of center steers you away from listening to the star of the show. In this case, the vocal.
I might suggest putting that in the center, but maybe convert that violin to stereo to create that sense of space you were after. There are also things you could do with reverb/delay to give the same sensation. My 2 cents.
Overall, I’m really liking this a lot! Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks @holster and @cptfiasco for your comments. I will apply your suggestions also and see what I get out I actually am thinking of panning the guitars towards the center (50% maybe) and pan an echo of each hard riight and hard left. Just to see what happens and maybe it fills the hole you are feeling in the mix.
About the bass, yes, it comes in very late and just plays a bit. I like that unusual arrangement in this song. I will fix the sound of the bass, have got more comments that it does not sound right.
Very happy that you liked the track. I am in no hurry so I will continue fixing it till it sounds right. Will be uploading a new version soon and really hope you give it a new listen.
No problem! It’s a great song! I like the delay idea, but do you also have separate tracks for the drum overheads? You MAY find yourself in the same scenario if you can’t widen those a bit. It’s not a rule, but I like to think of the band as the picture and the drums as the frame around the picture. It helps provide that feeling that everything gels together when I keep that in mind. That’s my opinion anyway
Wow, I love everything about this track. There is a special mood I felt almost instantly. I didn’t read the other posts so this might be a repeat. The harmonies are very special and at a perfect volume. What you have made is special. Big congrats to you
Sincerely
There’s a lovely musically melancholic feel to this which I always love…
some nice accoustic guitar tones shining through… I found the opening vocal a tiny bit ‘tenuous’ hmmm, these things always catch my ear… I wondered about just raising the volume of the entry vox a little and perhaps adding a little extra to it, parallel compression or some such, just for that beginning part… ?
Sweet harmonies… hmmm, the vibe is reminding me of a group I like to listen to on soundcloud sometimes - Black Mirror - really like the mood that you create, poetic and dark dreamy. Things do feel a little dense as the mix grows… , something mushy in those lower freqs… I would carve out more of an eq space within the synths… while I like the sense of misty darkness that wall of sound creates, it would be cool to have a bit more differentiation with the different sounds.
Really nice song. I agree with previous comments. OH definietely need to be wider. I would give vocs a bit more delay/reverb. The guitars are really cool, the only thing I would try would be to send each guitar to a short delay, pan the delays opposite to the source and adjust the delay fader to taste. Just to see what happens. Good job!
Good stuff man!! Great job. I feel that in some parts the kick takes over everything, and in the beginning, I would have the acoustic guitars a little lower. But this is personal opinion, you’ve done great man
Vocals a bit intelligible. You could cut a bit around 500 hz and raise the volume around 2 db for the vocals. Song is very good. A+ for the composition.
I agree with the kick. In my next version it will be a bit lower :).
I got a comment about the vox being low at the beginning. Maybe it is related to your perception that the guitars are too high there. I’m gonna tweak it a bit.
Disclaimer: I’m listening on a set of 2" desktop speakers in an office, so I’ll have very little to say about the low end!
I really like the song. Something about the melodies/ mode used makes me think of Eastern Europe or Russia, which is cool. And at the end it doesn’t resolve musically which makes me want to hear the next track!
I think the snare sound is really great once the arrangement properly kicks off. At the very beginning, where it’s exposed along with the slightly too-loud cymbals, it feels like it could use slightly less low mids, and generally be made “smaller” somehow?
I think the shaker on the right that comes in around 1:15 is a bit too loud, try balancing the shaker volume at really low level, I sometimes find that helps. Also, sometimes a bit of distortion on shakers and a high end roll off (think above 15k) can get the shakers sitting better in a mix rather than floating over the top. Love the guitars and harmonies in that section through to 1:50 or so! Musically, very strong.
With these speakers I can’t really tell much of what the bass is doing - which makes me think @cptfiasco is onto something with;
If you got a bit more energy higher up, I’d probably be able to hear it on these little speakers.
The acoustic guitars probably don’t need to be quite as bright - sometimes a bit of upper mid push and treble rolloff, can work nicely.
I agree that short intro of some sort would be beneficial. Just a really short lead into the first chord, even just a few notes, would make a big difference in how this song kicks off. I’m really liking the overall feel of the song. Good stuff!
I actually am thinking of panning the guitars towards the center (50% maybe) and pan an echo of each hard riight and hard left. Just to see what happens and maybe it fills the hole you are feeling in the mix.