KVR Audio

quore_ · Post by **quore_** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:27 pm

Hey Guys!
can you help me to improve this less than average mix? I'm struggling with mixing my own music, I lose in objectivity and I don't know how to break the deadlock

https://soundcloud.com/projet7daysagogo/track-1/s-NtrPd

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:41 pm

Firstoff, really nice song and good to hear a bit of jangle in there! Nice inventive arrangement and good choice of sounds too

Onto the mix...

Everything does sound quite a bit squashed, difficult to tell if it's coming from master limiting or on individual tracks sometimes. For me there's also a bit too much reverb on everything - I'd use it more sparingly to emphasise things rather than as a default - things like acoustic guitars in this type of stuff don't really need it at all usually.

Best advice I can give is to leave it a while then start from the ground up - drums first (they're quite muffled and squashed), then bass, then when that's sounding good, fit everything on the top.

quore_ · Post by **quore_** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:20 pm

donkey tugger wrote:Firstoff, really nice song and good to hear a bit of jangle in there! Nice inventive arrangement and good choice of sounds too

Onto the mix...

Everything does sound quite a bit squashed, difficult to tell if it's coming from master limiting or on individual tracks sometimes. For me there's also a bit too much reverb on everything - I'd use it more sparingly to emphasise things rather than as a default - things like acoustic guitars in this type of stuff don't really need it at all usually.

hey thank you very much for the feedback! yeah I applied too much compression on master buss I think... and the reverb suggestion is completely to the point: I applied too much on everything! I'll go with less global reverb and try to add more dynamic to the instruments and parts.. try to shine drums more.
what about the vocals? do you think they're too much processed? too much wet? do you think they gel well with the rest?

Rajiv · Post by **Rajiv** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:58 pm

Hi -- I'm not the person you want to take mix advice from. My own mixes are mediocre. But I wanted to let you know that I really really like this song. I personally think the vocals are the stand-out feature, which is what I think you are trying to achieve. The song sounds very good on my headphones, a bit mushy on my computer speakers (not monitors -- speakers). Drums and bass are definitely mushy and need to be worked out. I love the guitars, vocals and the background instruments/noises. The quiet/loud section at about :50 is my favorite part of the song... loved that.

The only (hopefully constructive) thing I would say is right about 2:25 it sounds like you are starting to build again, but it's done with this clicking sound. That sound is way loud and just doesn't fit, IMO. The guitar pattern right before it sounds like you are about to go into a big crescendo... I think you should go to a big drum beat rather than the clicks. That's just my opinion, because, as I said above, I really think this is terrific.

Steve

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:40 pm

My Feedback

Music - 9.5
Instruments - 8
Performance - 8.5
Mix - 9

Overall - 8.75

Comments: I'm not overly picky with this stuff so take my comments with a grain of salt. I love the mix just as it is, Maybe, and I mean MAYBE you could have the lead vocal ticked up a half a db, but that's it. Well done my friend. Really enjoyed listening to this.

quore_ · Post by **quore_** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:02 am

Hey guys, really thanks for your comments and feedback, I'm really grateful! Sometimes mixing is a solipsistic operation, you spend so much time on a track and then you listen to it the day after and it seems like crap...you really need a kind of external opinion!

@rajiv thank you very much, this is a really nice tip, effectively the click sound (in reality a really cheap congas loop) it's so useless for the climax and it doesn't lead the impact of the final chorus. I will definitely change this!

@wagtunes thank you, I really appreciate your feedback. So I hope to improve to ten now

)

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:23 am

Good song & performance, but its swamped with (too much) reverb and compression. The acoustic guitar is too upfront and the drums are lost. Take DTs advice and leave it a while, then go back & remix it with fresh ears. Try to leave some space & dynamics.

experimental.crow · Post by **experimental.crow** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:34 pm

love the track ...
the mix , not so much ...
comments re: compression and reverb are spot on , imo ...

donkey tugger wrote: ... Everything does sound quite a bit squashed, difficult to tell if it's coming from master limiting or on individual tracks sometimes. For me there's also a bit too much reverb on everything - I'd use it more sparingly to emphasise things rather than as a default - things like acoustic guitars in this type of stuff don't really need it at all usually.

Best advice I can give is to leave it a while then start from the ground up - drums first (they're quite muffled and squashed), then bass, then when that's sounding good, fit everything on the top.

this ...

thecontrolcentre wrote:Good song & performance, but its swamped with (too much) reverb and compression. The acoustic guitar is too upfront and the drums are lost. Take DTs advice and leave it a while, then go back & remix it with fresh ears. Try to leave some space & dynamics.

this , as well ...

nice work ...
welcome ...

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:17 pm

Also, listening to it again I think you've fallen into that trap with the acoustic guitars of over-egging the top end (or cutting too much lower stuff) so they can be heard. Usually, if you've got anywhere near with the recording (which I think you have), for strummed stuff like this you need very little in the way of eq for them usually - a bit of a gentle cut around 300hz if it's too boomy, and a little one around 3khz if you've got a lot of electric guitars like here. I find it's always a lot easier to eq the electrics to fit with the acoustics, rather than the other way round - very easy to ruin a good acoustic recording by fiddling too much, sensitive buggers.

quore_ · Post by **quore_** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:40 pm

Hi guys, first of all I want to thank you for the really useful feedback.
I left the song for a while, refreshed my ears and did another version. I entirely remixed the low-end, giving more space and air to drums and bass, low cutting others instruments and pushing back a little bit the acoustic guitas. I have also decreased verbs on individual tracks and added a little bit of global verb in some part of the song. Still i'm not 100% happy with the mix, but hey, i'm still learning and I advance step by step. Maybe you can point me to the right direction:)) Or maybe I did it completely wrong (ouch!) and need to start again. But anyway Thanks for your help!

https://soundcloud.com/projet7daysagogo ... 18/s-JbizX

experimental.crow · Post by **experimental.crow** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:58 pm

sorry to say , this mix is not as good as your first attempt ...
you really need to fall out of love w/ your reverb ...

i had to stop listening ...

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 3:15 pm

Waaaay too much reverb on the second mix ... first one was better. Are you mixing on headphones by any chance?

quore_ · Post by **quore_** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:01 pm

OK guys, I've completely screwed up everything with this damn reverb thing... I relistened and made A/B comparison, woah! what a mess..

experimental.crow wrote:sorry to say , this mix is not as good as your first attempt ...
you really need to fall out of love w/ your reverb ...

i had to stop listening ...

So I've just reopened the project, turn down all modulation fx on the first part and readjusted volumes quickly... then rebounced. Here the result. What do you think? Please, forgive the second version

really thanks, sorry you are going to hate this song

https://soundcloud.com/projet7daysagogo ... 18/s-Rj00r

sjm · Post by **sjm** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:38 pm

donkey tugger wrote:Also, listening to it again I think you've fallen into that trap with the acoustic guitars of over-egging the top end (or cutting too much lower stuff) so they can be heard.

Listening to the first version, I'd posit that it's not just the acoustics. The vocals are pretty thin and hi-fi too, as though the track is really only taking place in the top half of the spectrum. Are these your vocals or from some pack? Because even in the new version they still sound very processed. At any rate, the reverb on the vocals in the first version is bringing out a lot of frequencies in the vocals that just sound shrill. That's gone in the most recent version AFAICT.

The song itself is great, and the mix isn't awful by any means, but it's not there yet, I'd agree with that.

If you are sitting in front of the computer listening to the song ad infinitum, and trying to mix like that, don't. It's often the cause of over-exaggerating the high end, because doing so brings out the sound more and makes it more noticeable, which helps counteract ear fatigue. Instead of doing that, you want to spend shorter sessions listening to the song so that your ears don't get fatigued.

Not that I'm an expert at mixing either, but I am an expert in things you can do to ruin a mix (and should therefore avoid)

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:47 pm

Version 3 ... the acoustic guitar is dominating the tune, while the vocal seems far away in the distance ... and what's all the "chatter" in the background? Its really detracting from the song.

Is this your song, or are you mixing/ re-mixing someone else's work?

Suggestion on this mix?