mixing advise on avantgarde track?

[austere]

Hello!

I’m wondering if anyone could give me some advise / pointers on this mix. Currently most of the tracks are reasonably audible (on my system) but I feel that there is room for improvement still yet am clueless how to attain that.

Highway (work in progress)
6:14 @ 192kb.s = 8.57mb

Thanks a whole bunch for listening and helping me, it’s much appreciated!

[mystahr]

I find it extremely hard to give advise on mixing, mostly because I myself am still seeing it as one of the most tedious jobs where just a subtle difference in eq-settings can cause a big difference in listening experience. I always try to look at the big picture and try and locate where clashes happen and where eq'ing/panning might make room for air, but in the end I'm merely fiddling and get to my own goals with trial and error.

That all aside I love this track very much, as it has this fresh and sunny side to it that very well goes with the spring-feeling I am having lately.

I must say though listening to part happening from 1.30 on with that cool soft drum that the atmosphere you have here is just beautiful and I feel the quite edgy drums you started out with could be just that, perhaps a bit too edgy and ruff. Especially the hat on the left sticks a bit too much out I feel.

Anyhow; avant-garde or not; I loved this quite much

PS: I never really realized you were Dutch where are you from exactly, and moreso will you have some gigs this year (seeing you have a few live-ep too)

[mayan]

agree with mystahr that the mix is so intimately involved with the creation that it is impossible to comment on - I don't hear any glaring problems other than the mallets may be a tinge in front of the rest of the mix - but that in itself is entirely subjective on my part and intimately tied in to my system as well.

I think the piece is amazing as it stands. It's complex and compelling and is bursting with incredible ideas. I'm sure there is ALWAYS stuff that can be added. Actually, I always put in too much so I then spend a lot of time subtracting elements.

Maybe if you could verbalize what it is that is bothering you or causing you to question I could offer more of my subjective stuff - is there something missing for you? Too much? Technically, I don't hear any glaring conflicts between frequencies but then again I have ears of clay. Wish I could be of more help.

[austere]

Thank you both very much for listening & giving input! Mixing is indeed a very though note to crack, unfortunately. Both of you mentioned the drums as “problematic” and I guess you are right there. I was aiming for these powerful, big drums that would give lot’s of energy to the song with their rough & sharp edge. Though, I think I’ve may indeed have gone too far in that . I’m also starting to think that the drumsound that I started out with is perhaps too dusty & murky for what I’m aiming at. A any rate it should be treated differently by me. Thanks for making me aware of this.

In my ears it perhaps sounds a bit like a child’s drawing who’s been a bit too enthusiastic with the use of crayons . And that makes it sound sort of disjointed, like it’s not really “one whole”, if you catch what I’m saying. If it was a picture I would throw a colour-filter over it to make the hues more homogenic.

Also, I sometimes have the impression that the song sounds a bit murky & dark. I’ve tried boosting the mid frequencies a bit over the final mixdown and that sort of helps but also hurts something in the song. Maybe it just needs some sparkle.
I’m also worried that a lot of the details in the song are drowned out when on anyother system than that it’s made on.

Eventually vocals will be recorded mixed into the track, which is going to be an interesting & difficult task to get right, I think. But in the morning I will mess around with the drums a bit and try making them a bit less edgy and see how they fit in then. I will also attend to the coppers cause I don’t like them all that much now.

I think the piece is amazing as it stands. It's complex and compelling and is bursting with incredible ideas.

Thank you very much! I’m very happy that there are people out there who “get the point” of what we’re trying to do. It’s quite a bit of work to compose in this style for lappenpop and often I feel like her effort is wasted on most ears...

Anyhow; avant-garde or not; I loved this quite much

Thank you, that’s good to hear! If you got a better suggestion for genre I’m very open cause I’m quite clueless to where this fits in, genre-wise.

PS: I never really realized you were Dutch where are you from exactly, and moreso will you have some gigs this year (seeing you have a few live-ep too)

I never really proclaimed my “dutchness” anywhere on this forum, I think, apart from posting a scharminkel song once. Anyway, I’m from (ver)Rotterdam(n)(ation). Where in our small country do you live?

I wasn’t actively involved in the recordings of the Analogue Pagans live eps, though I did edit & master the recordings. I am involved in the Nascent & Time&Tide projects. As for live gigs I’ll be performing with Time&Tide in England in September and live gigs in the Netherlands will also come, I guess. We’re busy arranging them at the moment. Soon I’ll be involved in yet another project which is going to have 8 live gigs in the coming months, though no dates have been set yet cause we haven’t even started rehearsing yet...don't even know what that is going to sound like . But if you want I can keep you informed.


Once again thank you both for your input!