Hi all
 
I've had a couple of tracks  critiqued on here now (and had fantastic opportunities to work with other forum members and have them mix my tracks) and personally feel that my (limited) mixing abilities have certainly progressed - so thank you all 
 
So here's my latest track for your ears:
 
https://soundcloud.com/awesmusic/gone
 
Whilst looking for feedback on the mix, I was hoping to get some feedback on how my mixes have progressed, I definitely feel the above, and Call It Out (https://soundcloud.com/awesmusic/call-it-out) are  massive steps forward from some of my earlier mixes, but would appreciate your thoughts/comments on it. Cheers

Hi,
 
Like it, I guess you have more room to play with the song.
 
 

vocals up please! Your lyrics deserve to be a little louder than the violin and the guitar.
 
I can't do the comparison for you, but I like a lot about your song. Gave me a slight "Blue Nile" feeling - ever hear of them?
 
If you listen carefully, you'll hear some audible hiss right at the beginning, a kind of "air" but I think it might be the noise floor rising up, like maybe from your guitar cord? This noise floor, I think, is even visible in like the very first second of your Soundcloud file.
 
And barely noticeable, a "ringing" can be heard later in different spots of your song, very high pitch. I first noticed it at 0:33 -0:36 when the drums come in, maybe your snare has a ringing going on? It's particularly noticeable at 0:46 or so, when you aren't singing.
 
I'd like to see how you approach the mix with a little less reverb, maybe dry up the vocal and bring it out front? Just a few ideas, I like the tempo and mood of the song very much.
 
cheers,
-Tom
 
 
 

Hi Damien for me the problem with the vox is the reverb which by effect pushes the vocal way back in the mix, most of the instruments sound OK but that reverb on the Vox just takes the edge off the whole.

Thanks for the listens and feedback!

PiBoy
Hi,
 
Like it, I guess you have more room to play with the song.
 
 

 
Thanks! Haha, I did intend to expand it out, but I seem to do that with a lot of my tracks, progressing into something completely different as the track goes on, so decided with this one to keep it quite minimal (there's not even a bass guitar on it!), keep it short, sweet and not much to it 

emeraldsoul
vocals up please! Your lyrics deserve to be a little louder than the violin and the guitar.
 
I can't do the comparison for you, but I like a lot about your song. Gave me a slight "Blue Nile" feeling - ever hear of them?
 
If you listen carefully, you'll hear some audible hiss right at the beginning, a kind of "air" but I think it might be the noise floor rising up, like maybe from your guitar cord? This noise floor, I think, is even visible in like the very first second of your Soundcloud file.
 
And barely noticeable, a "ringing" can be heard later in different spots of your song, very high pitch. I first noticed it at 0:33 -0:36 when the drums come in, maybe your snare has a ringing going on? It's particularly noticeable at 0:46 or so, when you aren't singing.
 
I'd like to see how you approach the mix with a little less reverb, maybe dry up the vocal and bring it out front? Just a few ideas, I like the tempo and mood of the song very much.
 
cheers,
-Tom

 
Not heard of Blue Nile, checked out a couple of tracks on YouTube and I guess I kinda hear it...... kinda LoL! 
 
I did struggle with the 'hiss', you're right, it is amp/cable noise. I tried putting a gate on it, but ended up just cutting off the end of the guitar parts so left it as it is. I'm planning on ordering an amp stand and will get some better cables at the same time, hopefully that should help. Guessing the ringing is also amp noise as the all instruments are VST's (except the vocal and guitar).

Wookiee
Hi Damien for me the problem with the vox is the reverb which by effect pushes the vocal way back in the mix, most of the instruments sound OK but that reverb on the Vox just takes the edge off the whole.

Reverb issues is a common issue on this track it seems. From memory, I didn't use too much reverb, but it's probably accentuated by the fact the vocal is a double take, one with a long delay on it. Then thrown into a bus and compressed pretty hard. Maybe the reverb is made worse because the hard compressed bus will have the delay brought up as well as the double vocal track. I'll look to pull it back a bit then up the vocal level.


 
I'm not really a vocalist (When I say not really, I mean not at all!) and using the above method helped mask some "performance issues". Will look at getting it sounding more natural. 
 
Thanks all 

This mix is pretty good for a start. I think the song could use a bass and maybe a little percussion to add some motion. Also, I do agree with the others that the vocal is way too wet, unless that's your intention.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

You know, that's a violin isn't it (or synth)?  Now I think you might accomplish a bit of bass tone by changing it to a cello.  I love the sound of the violin in this song but kept thinking it should be a cello.  I am going to have to go back and listen to the tune again.  There's a lot of good things about it.  Your vocal sounds fine.  I too am a vocalist who doesn't like my vocals.  I always look for someone else to sing my songs but really don't have a lot of luck.  I couldn't tell if you had any delay (carefully added) on your vocal because the reverb was so heavy.  Actually the whole song seemed reverb heavy.  Now that could be the way you wanted it.  That's a "personal taste" thing.  I'm listening again and would really love that cello!  

You got a lot of good suggestions for this, and it seems you have a handle on several of the points others have made.  All in all, I like this song, and it's worth the trouble to get it right.  I'm looking forward to hearing more.

I like this s lot
IMO it all works well mix-wise until the violin comes in and then it drowns the vocal out. 

Thanks again all, it really is appreciated!! 

dcumpian
This mix is pretty good for a start. I think the song could use a bass and maybe a little percussion to add some motion. Also, I do agree with the others that the vocal is way too wet, unless that's your intention.
 
Regards,
Dan

 
I'm going to revisit the bass idea, I did have a really good bass line but it just didn't fit with the melody so scrapped it. Equally I did have a shaker in there and couple of percussion bits, but felt for a track I wanted to be quite simple, had too much going on. Maybe just a cull instead of a full delete would've been better.

evadianepug
You know, that's a violin isn't it (or synth)?  Now I think you might accomplish a bit of bass tone by changing it to a cello.  I love the sound of the violin in this song but kept thinking it should be a cello.  I am going to have to go back and listen to the tune again.  There's a lot of good things about it.  Your vocal sounds fine.  I too am a vocalist who doesn't like my vocals.  I always look for someone else to sing my songs but really don't have a lot of luck.  I couldn't tell if you had any delay (carefully added) on your vocal because the reverb was so heavy.  Actually the whole song seemed reverb heavy.  Now that could be the way you wanted it.  That's a "personal taste" thing.  I'm listening again and would really love that cello!  

 
Haha, I think, from memory (I'm not at my PC), that it is a cello - the first one that comes in and repeats through the verse part. Was in Miroslav Philharmonik, maybe too far up the scale that it lost its bass and became violin like. Will revisit it, knock it down a register!

Lynn
You got a lot of good suggestions for this, and it seems you have a handle on several of the points others have made.  All in all, I like this song, and it's worth the trouble to get it right.  I'm looking forward to hearing more.

 
Thanks, just a pain that the next 2 weeks I'm away a lot with work so have little, to no music time  

daryl1968
I like this s lot
IMO it all works well mix-wise until the violin comes in and then it drowns the vocal out. 

Thanks. Hopefully, with less reverb, moving the cello to a deeper sound to move it away from a violin sound and a bit of vocal automation, will help tidy up that last part