Mix Feedback

[dazzjazz]

Hi,

I'd like some feedback on my latest composition/mix. I'd especially like technical feedback on frequency spectrum and perception of depth. I listen with musicians ears, not like a trained engineer, so I'm especially interested in that so I can learn.

 

Sunlight In Your Eyes

 

Thanks

 

Darren

[KuruPrionz]

First, the song is very good and worthy of your best efforts. 

I'm just using headphones currently but I've mixed quite a few things on them that translated well so here are my mix impressions. Hope they are helpful. 

Overall I'd say you are at a good point, some tweaks will make this shine. 

 

First, this song is about the singer, she's great. Work on her sound and make it louder and fuller. Try to EQ more midrange into her voice into her voice, it sounds a bit thin in the mix.

 

Try to change the mix so that there is more tension and release. Right now there isn't much variety in the dynamics. What follows are overall mix suggestions. 

 

Turn the kick down, reduce compression, it's pretty overwhelming. 

Slightly decrease the low end on the bass, and/or move the low frequencies up a bit higher - the kick is carrying the low end in this song.  Add some high harmonics, I've mentioned this in another post on this forum but will repeat it. Copy and paste the bass track to an open track so you have 2 identical bass tracks in sync. Put a high pass filter on the second track, don't go lower than about 2-300 hz. I'm using distorted guitar amp plugins but any plugin that has harmonic distortion will work. Don't over-do it but get some snarl in there. Then, mix that track down low so you still have a full, clean bass tone but with a bit more definition. You don't want "fuzz bass" so be careful with the distortion. 

 

When the guitar comes in the first time turn the "strings" way down. It is noted that the second time the guitar comes in the strings are more or less gone, maybe bring them back just a little bit or have them build to a peak. 

Snare on the last verse is too loud. You do want the last verse/chorus to be more forceful and dynamic than the first or second ones. 

Would love to hear what you come up with, please re-post when you've done some tweaking!!! Cheers, Kuru

[NewImprov]

I'll play. Listening on my studio monitors (Focal CMS 65's and a KRK Rockit Sub).

 

Overall impressions: great tune/arrangement/performance. Love the tone of the guitar hook. Imho, you are really close to a great mix, and any suggestions I make are for just giving it that final push and not meant as remedial.

 

Like Kuru mentions above, the vocal is the key focus of the tune, and, while her performance is great, it doesn't quite stand out. I especially notice that she loses some presence in the mix when she goes for higher notes, and those should be the emotional highs of the piece. I'd add some low-mid eq for warmth, and more compression. On lead vocals, I'll often do 2 stages of compression, one to level out the dynamics as needed, and another running relatively lightly to add presence. For example, I'll use an 1176-style comp as the first stage to knock down the peaks, then an LA2A-style running just3-5 DB of reduction to really smooth it out. This works for me to bring out details of the vocal in the mix. I'd also situate the vocals just a bit louder in the mix, though adding compression may do just that. Maybe automate her line up a bit on the higher parts as well.

 

My room is kind of weird in the low end, and I'm noticing that the kick hitting some of my room nodes in a way that wouldn't translate well if I were mixing it here. Make sure your high-pass filters are tight and check it on systems with subs. If you are having the piece professionally mastered, it may not be a problem.

 

Overall, great job, and thanks for sharing! I like this idea of sharing mixes for advice, I know I feel like I often can't complete a mix without at least at some point feeling like I have no idea what I am doing and am completely unqualified to be allowed to be around sounds at all, so it's awesome to get some unbiased/objective feedback. I may shore a few things sometime soon.