• Songs
  • Rock Song : Find My Way Home
2018/06/12 03:50:20
Axiology
One of 14 tunes I've been working on to send out for mastering for CD, etc.
My stuff is muchly influenced by Rock music from the late 60's - mid 70's.
I think I've got this mix about as good as it can be, but I don't know anyone else with the critical listening skills for a second opinion.
So I would appreciate some opinions on the mix, especially from those with professional experience, if you would be so kind to spare the time to listen.

https://axiology.bandcamp../track/find-my-way-home

Thanks

http://axiology.bandcamp.com
2018/06/12 11:56:33
montezuma
I feel like the rhythm guitars are a bit prominent....and to be honest, the guitars in general. The drums are a bit swamped by the guitars. I like the idea of the song and see what you are going for but the instrumentation isn't quite there...sounds like it could use some great 50's style piano chords maybe supporting the rhythm. It has that late 50's kind of rhythm. So, let's say, tone down the guitars..they are doing too much heavy lifting. Open it up with piano perhaps on the left, a simple guitar accompaniment on the right, the licks off to a side. It's crying out for back up vocals too. 
2018/06/12 13:31:32
Wayfarer
A really nice tune Ax man. I'd bring up the drums and vocals though. (Vocals aren't that soft now, but if you bring up the drums they will be.)
 
Bill
2018/06/12 18:02:46
SupaReels Music
I've listened to a lot of your work and agree with the others on this. You have (IMO) a really good set of songs that remind me of early Santana in places, and I loved their sound.
My input, I would do a remix taking time for placement of individual instruments etc, so that your vocal stands out on it's own but sorta 'in the mix', that might not sound so muddy on the final mixdown?
That said your work is really good, so looking forward to the upcoming album !
 
Steve 
2018/06/13 05:02:04
Axiology
Thanks guys for your input, though I don't think I'm going to make any drastic changes. This tune is one which I've fought with more than others to get it right. I don't want louder drums in the verses, the high hat and snare are where I want them to be there, in terms of volume, but they are a bit obscured by everything else in the choruses, and perhaps bridge.
I will probably bring the guitars down a bit in the choruses to let the drums come through a bit more.

I prefer the song without chorus harmonies, I've experimented with that, as I do with most of my songs and usually end up leaving them out of my mixes. In fact of the 12 vocal tunes of the 14 total, only 2 have harmony vocals.
Maybe I'll try a bit of piano rhythm - just in the choruses, no way do I want it in the verses.

Steve, as far as " placement of individual instruments" I've gone with the tried and true mix method of having instruments either 100% left, 100% right or dead centre for most instruments, with their respective reverbs being on the opposite sides. So all my mixes have rhythm guitar on the left, lead guitar on the right, snare, vocal and bass drum in the centre. Though I have deviated from this with the bass and high-hat, they're about 25-30% to the right - they seem to sit better in the mix his way.
2018/06/13 14:14:26
Wayfarer
Ax man, you have do what works for you. Suggestions are just that. Take them or leave them. Having said that, I'm going to make another one.  There are two reasons good record producers don't mix anything 100% right or left. Number one is that often music gets listened to on just one speaker even in a stereo system. Have you ever walked through a grocery store and noticed they were playing a certain song you knew over the store speakers and that a couple of instruments or background vocals were either gone altogether or extremely low in volume? I spent a good deal of my life as a meat cutter. I remember not having a regular job for more than two years and floating around from store to store filling in for guys who were on vacation etc. and noticing in several different stores that they were just playing one side of a stereo field. It's quite common in all kinds of stores. Store managers don't know anything about electronics and seldom hook music sources into the sound system properly. As long as you don't mix far right or far left, at least some of the content will always get through. The second reason is that extreme panning is unrealistic and also makes things rather thin sounding. When have you ever been to a concert and had musicians playing to the side of you? Even from the first row they're all in front of you. Panning anything more than 75 to 80% is impractical and odd sounding. Sounds thinner too, though I don't know why.
 
Just a thought. Keep on trucking partner.
 
Bill
2018/06/15 03:10:44
Axiology
Bill,
Pardon me, but I think you're not understanding the method here. I believe this mixing method is used far more often than you think, so I'll go over it again in more detail.
The dry signal, for example, of the lead guitar - is panned 100% right. A send from that track is sent to a buss with a reverb in the busses effects bin. The reverb in this buss is set to be entirely wet(none of the dry signal present), and panned 100% left. The opposite is done with the rhythm guitar - dry track panned 100% left, wet rhythm guitar reverb buss panned 100% right.
Because of this the guitar does not sound as if it's panned 100% to one side - only the dry signal is. IMO a very effective way of mixing a 2 guitars, bass and drums recording. All of my 14 recent tunes on my bandcamp site are mixed this way and none of them sound either thin or unnatural.

http://axiology.bandcamp.com
2018/06/15 13:40:51
Wayfarer
"All of my 14 recent tunes on my bandcamp site are mixed this way and none of them sound either thin or unnatural."
 
It does to me. We experimented with that back in the 80's and quickly gave it up. To each his own.
2018/06/15 13:53:21
Voda La Void
Ok, don't mean to mess up a good song posting, but since you fellas are talking about this...I've always panned electric guitar tracks full left and right, though double tracked and mostly the same effects, maybe slight difference in EQ or something, or even a different guitar for each side.  But, mostly the same sound, and I think I have them split full like that in everything I've ever done.  
 
Is that bad?  I have played with the panning before, but never liked it as much as that full spread.  
 
On this tune...not really into this style so not fair to comment.  In terms of the mix, I agree with Bill's observations. 
2018/06/15 14:26:16
Wayfarer
No, it's not bad. You won't go to Hell for it. We all like things different. Stereo recordings came out in the 50's, but very few people bought them until FM radio came along and people got used to hearing things in stereo during the early 70's. Up until then it was considered gimmicky. I remember reading where both Elvis and Bing Crosby much preferred mono. The Beatles all said they liked the mono recordings of their albums better than the stereo releases. It's all a matter of what you're used to probably. I imagine that if we all were marooned on an island for a couple of years with nothing but an old Gramophone and a stack of 78's, that when we finally got back to civilization, stereo music would likely sound very strange and even off-putting to us. Personally, I still think everything sounds thicker and richer in mono, but I do pan things slightly to resemble a stereo stage from my perspective of about 3 rows back at a typical concert. Recordings made like that make me feel like I'm at an actual concert. It's just what I like. Of course if you step more than five feet back from the speakers, it all sounds like mono anyway. 
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