A brewing mix...

[iD Entity]

Ahoy,

Sorry to trouble people. If any have a few minutes free, and the will to share it with a bassist in a conundrum...

We have a song that 51m0n has kindly offered his mixing/mastering services for. However, our vocalist/songwriter decided to attend the task as an exercise of his own skills.... of which he has many, but mixing is not (yet) one of those things.

But he loves his mix and feels very strongly about it, thinking it could be set for mastering. I feel very strongly about it, for the exact opposite reason. And we've had quite the discussions. It's to the point he's asked me to collect the opinions of others. Of which, I agreed... if I am way off and the mix is solid, I want to know. If it's not a good mix, I would want to know that, too.

Regarding that free few minutes... here is the link - there's only the one track. Please have a listen and feedback honestly.... on frequencies, levels, effects, vocals, instruments, the way we play or the way we sing... any feedback is adored and I will gift you with feelings of positive vibes!

https://soundcloud.com/id-entity-1

(as reference, we are drums, bass, 2x guitars, vocals, the rest is programmed tracks)

We are still going to have it and our other songs professionally mixed and mastered, but feedback helps us understand what we're doing and improve our trade. (And maybe get over our deadlock *cough*)

Thanks a tonne!
Brett

[clauster]

Hi Brett,

First off, I don't have the greatest ears around. I don't think the mix is bad apart from (and this might just be me) the vocals seem quite low in the mix.

[Lowender]

I think it sounds pretty good. The balance is just right. If I were producing you I'd recommend a little more mids on the bass -- a slight bump at 400 hz and 2K and maybe roll off everything under 60hz -- which is just mud.

I'd also like a little more snap on the snare -- around 5K and cut 800 a notch -- but that's personal taste.

I'd also have the vocalist re-do some parts where he's singing sharp.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Lowender

[Chrismanbass]

Hi mate

overall not a bad attempt at a mix not a professional mix imo and not ready for mastering (the mastering engineer probably just send it back to you)
i agree that the vocals aren't loud enough and they're a little inconsistent (tuning wise)

the guitars are little muddy too much low mid

as much as the massive sub sounds probably sound awesome on studio monitors but on most systems (most people will listen on laptops or ipod headphones for example my mac speakers dont go below about 150hz and to my ears they're a lot better than most laptop speakers) it won't come across and will just serve to muddy up the mix.

the overheads aren't really coming across properly the rest of the kit sounds nice and tight whereas none of the cymbals are coming through the mix properly

the bass needs more high mids to make it more distinct and maybe a little bass cut

overall i think the mix is very bass heavy theres not much definition to any of the instruments and the balance is a little off at some points

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]51m0n is a lovely guy and an awesome engineer he'll set you right and i'm sure you'll be happy with the end result [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]i hope i dont seem to harsh but i listened to the mix on 2 different sets of headphones, my studio monitors and finally my laptop speakers and the observations are consistent over all of them [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]just as a side note i love the music its right up my street if you guys have any gigs in london i'd love to see you live [/font][/color]

[charic]

It's not bad but it's sounding a little bit "flat" to me. Those vocals are sitting far too far back, I can't remember a single lyric from the song because of this tbh. I expect this has been brought on by the person doing the mixing doing the mixing.

[ironside1966]

If this is his first mix it is very good first attempt.
If I was to critique the mix I would agree with the above it lacks openness a bit of clarity (this need to be sorted in the mix by using the EQ to crate space for the other instruments), the vocals don't cut through and the reverb on the main vocal in the quiet section sounds like a low quality native verb. A good reverb is one of the best investments you will make.
One question I always ask myself when mixing is if someone wanted to transcribe the song could I work out all the parts and in this case the answer whould be, no

[xilddx]

It's ok for the most part, but it's a bit meh, and there are some weird volume balance jumps. Eq is odd, very deep, not bad though. It lacks the sparkle and the auditry psychology tricks that someone with 51m0n's knowledge and experience can bring too it.

[Ziphoblat]

My criticisms would be;
[list]
[*]The bass is too deep and rumbly. Might be a stylistic choice, I don't know. But for this kind of music I think you'd be far better with a gritty grindy sort of tone. More upper mids, slightly less lower mids, and far less bottom end. Leave most of that to the kick drum. I often get the impression there's something more going on with the bass but all I hear is a stampede in the distance.
[*]The vocals are a touch tinny and could probably do to be a tad louder. Not too much, but a bit would definitely help.
[*]Space. There isn't any. It's really hard to work out what's going in parts. That's fine at times I suppose, but the whole mix just feels like one wall of sound; it never lets up. Frequency conflictions are probably a large contributor to this. The guitars are just too much and too muddy.
[*]I'd give the snare a little less fizz and a little more crack.
[/list]

[6v6]

I agree with most of the comments so far:

- Lead vocal too low, needs slightly more level, and possibly more compression & eq to make it more punchy and up-front
- The backing vocals sound a bit *too* forward to me, and drown out the lead line
- guitars do sound a bit muddy to me, but I tend not to record or play very drive-heavy stuff like this
- bass needs some eq to bring it out of the mix a bit more
- the overheads are too low, I'd cut most of the lows and low-mids out , pan them and bring them much higher to make the drums sound more 3-d, especially the cymbals
- the sub-bass effect IMHO is unnecessary and kinda distracting, even on good headphones it sounds muddy and a bit odd.
- the strings are a bit to forward for my taste, makes it sounds a bit "movie soundtrack" ish

All of those are really just nitpicks though, overall I like the track, the playing and recording/mixing overall sounds very well done, nice job!

[ironside1966]

Are the drum sounds Toontrack, mabe EZdrumer?

Edited September 2, 2013 by ironside1966

[iD Entity]

A huge thank you taking your time to listen and respond... my notebook is being frantically scribbled on! You put the issues much more clearly than I was able... you guys are awesaome!

The drums are from a real drum kit, same with bass, the 2x guitars and vocals. The other stuff going on is programmed. We like the symphonic elements, but it's VERY challenging to mix regular rock instruments, let alone throwing in a bunch of orchestral parts.

Rock on!
Brett

[Conan]

Interesting track! Sounds a bit like the Darkness.

The overall sound is kind of muffled - like some of the recordings I used to make on low quality cassette recorders from old vinyl!

Can't disagree with what the posters above have said. Vocals need to be more to the fore (or at least the lead vocals do). Re-EQ the bass, drums and guitars. Oh and probably the strings too.

It definitely has potential though!

[artisan]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1378131872' post='2196071']
It's ok for the most part, but it's a bit meh, and there are some weird volume balance jumps. Eq is odd, very deep, not bad though. It lacks the sparkle and the auditry psychology tricks that someone with 51m0n's knowledge and experience can bring too it.
[/quote]

this sums it up perfectly.
mainly too muddy can't hear the instruments clearly,especially your bass


love the song though & with a really good mix it will be really good.
kind of reminds me of a Kind Diamond / Scorpions type of thing.

Edited September 2, 2013 by artisan

[Dad3353]

An excellent, romping track. I can't comment too much on the mix (my ears aren't as fine as the previous posters...) but I agree with the general drift. The compo and arrangement, as well as the execution, definitely merit a quality result. Respect to all involved; hats off to the vocalist(s). Jolly good work; will be a real gem when polished a bit by experts.