Looking For Opinions/Advice About My Mix

Hi everyone,

Just looking for some critical ears and honest opinions on this mixed I just finished. This will be only the 2nd mix I've ever done and I'm trying to get good at it.

I'd gotten some great advice here the last time I posted something. I was hoping I'd get the same with this one.  I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to give me feedback. A lot of you guys are very good at mixing and I think it's great that you're willing to share your knowledge.

So, let me put on my flack jacket, and await whatever comes. BTW - I'm not one of these people who needs their ego stroked. If what I've done sucks, then it sucks. Let me know. No one ever got good at anything by believing everything they do is great.

Thanks in advance and here's the link.
http://snd.sc/skMPyL

Sounds pretty good to me, too. Can't wait for the video!

Songs forum for a start...

But just no bass. Needs a lot more bass. Aside from that, pretty good. Sometimes the words are lost a little in the mix with so much going on though. Maybe a  little bit of volume automation to bring them out just where they need it, but no-ones probably really going to notice that anyway. Main this is just getting it some more bass. Feels like you forgot to mix down with the bass line..

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to have to get some new monitors. I'm using Tascam VL-S21 monitors. They have a subwoofer. It sounds like I have plenty of bass. I cut it down because I thought it'd be too much bottom. That was the problem with my last mix. People thought the kick was too low.

Hmm ... I have the subwoofer sitting on a brick slab and Auralex Subdude to reduce the vibration for my neighbors in the apartment below me. I wonder if this is why the base feels "right" on my set up but too low to everyone else?

Question: I'm using a sub bass for the bass line. How do I get the kick to come through without sacrificing the "feel" of the bass line. Not sure I worded that properly, but I'm hoping you'l understand what I mean. 

Thanks.

I like the recording, writing and arrangement.....the only thing it's missing is rhythm instrumentation that covers 150 hz-- 600 hz or so range - like a rhodes or clean guitar or similar....but that's an arrangement issue more than a mix issue in my opinion. I'd go with it as is.

The mix is pretty good and your monitors/acoustics are not holding you back doing a good mix. You have basically got an excellent mix now. Bass is fine and I can hear it clearly! It is just a warm smooth and deep type of sound that moves around nicely underneath it all. The vocals are a little sibilant and need to be smoothed out a little. Also the vocals are a little too loud. More time needs to be spent getting them to sit in the mix. Turn your speakers way down and listen to how the vocals relate to the music. (do this on a small quiet mono speaker then you will really hear what is going on between music and vocals)

The kick or the dotted crotchet rhythm needs to be a bit more pronounced and punchy. The kick takes on a new and much better sound around 2.04.  I would like to hear that sort of punch all the way from the start. If you want a change (in the kick) at 2.04 then layer something extra in with the kick then.

Some of the synth parts and things going on the background (ear candy) could come up little here and there to add some extra interest into what is already a pretty cool song. This type of music can take on different conditions in terms of mixing, the spread of energy across the spectrum and the sorts of sounds that are being used. Opinions may vary because people are either not familiar or used to it.

The main thing to do is to always have on hand a great mix and mastering of some of the best sounding commercial music so you can just switch to that at any time during mixing and mastering to see how it sounds and how your mix is relating in a way to that. The speakers and acoustics to a certain extent disappear when you are doing this.

I believe you can work with one pair of decent main studio speakers, a small single quiet mono speaker and the car with a slight bass heavy sound system. If you get it right on all three you have made it. The car easily shows up when you have got too much bass. A lot of albums seem to go to 60 Hz and drop off fast. Really trim down the amount of deep and sub bass present. But with synths you want to keep a certain amount of bass to keep them sounding fat. The little speaker is great for getting everything balanced and the vocals set into the music perfectly.  The main speakers do everything else and sound great loud!

mike_mccue


It seems to be all mids and upper mids with almost no low mids and just a little biut of bass drum.

It makes the mix sort of "unique" and my first thought is that it seems like it would appeal to a very young stereo enthusiast in 1978 when everyone was talking about detail in the treble.

The reason I bring it up is that song seems to be designed for club themed listening and I imagine the hi freq drivers will not be gentle to it and it's going to be cued up between two songs that have full rich low mids and bass.

You may know all that and you may have made a conscious decision to step out from the crowd, so I just thought I'd point out that it's pretty obvious that this song is not like what I expected as I listened.  I kept thinking I was in an intro and something was about to kick in.

Other wise, all the production tricks seem top notch and the mix seems very well done.


best regards,
mike

Thanks, Mike. I'm figuring out how to keep things clear without losing that bottom. Seems to be a reoccurring theme with my mixes. This is my second mix ever. The same was said about my first one. Got to figure that at out.