any constructive criticism is much appreciated
https://soundcloud.com/universalconstan ... lderblades
waste
Moderator: cgarges
I've revised the mix a few times and the most recent version is up.
there are a few moments where an errant note on the guitar clashes with the bass guitar note. The guitarist/songwriter told me she played it that way on purpose.
I tried just taking the couple of bass notes out so it doesn't get quite so muddy, but that sounds even weirder to me.
I also tried eq-ing the low out of the guitar at the point so it's not as evident. That also didn't work for my ears.
Can anyone offer any suggestions? I'm honestly looking for constructive feedback to help develop my mix skills.
thanks
there are a few moments where an errant note on the guitar clashes with the bass guitar note. The guitarist/songwriter told me she played it that way on purpose.
I tried just taking the couple of bass notes out so it doesn't get quite so muddy, but that sounds even weirder to me.
I also tried eq-ing the low out of the guitar at the point so it's not as evident. That also didn't work for my ears.
Can anyone offer any suggestions? I'm honestly looking for constructive feedback to help develop my mix skills.
thanks
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Snarl 12/8
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From the description I thought I was gonna hate this, stylistically, but I really dug it. I think my only real qualm is the varying vocal level. I feel like the mix is constructed around the guitars, not the voice, and it should be about the voice. I can see a couple approaches worth considering.
1) Work with the voice solo'd until it sounds amazing and full. (I kinda think it needs de-essing and then compression and/or fader rides). Then bring in the other instruments one at a time making sure nothing ever steps on the vocal's toes. It could be that some 2-buss compression and/or verb "glues" it together.
2) The other would be to leave things kindof as they are but use the vocal as a side-chain on a compressor on the rest of the mix, so that when there's vox it "ducks" the rest by a db or two. That will probably sound like weird ass, but it would preserve the kindof waveriness of everything which I actually like a lot. I'm worried approach 1 will make it sound too much like everything else that's out there.
3) Ride the faders more. Maybe put the guitars on one, bass on another lead vox on another and dance 'em around so that voice is always there, but the other instruments get their moment in the sun too.
Regardless, I think it needs some de-essing before any of those approaches will help. Without de-essing I think it'll sound worse if you make the vox more prominent.
The dissonance doesn't bother me one bit. I think that aspect is very well done and I wouldn't try to hide it. I could see how mixing it you could come to dwell on that aspect and lose perspective on whether it's musical or not.
Good luck! Regardless of where you take it from here, I enjoyed listening to it as it is now.
1) Work with the voice solo'd until it sounds amazing and full. (I kinda think it needs de-essing and then compression and/or fader rides). Then bring in the other instruments one at a time making sure nothing ever steps on the vocal's toes. It could be that some 2-buss compression and/or verb "glues" it together.
2) The other would be to leave things kindof as they are but use the vocal as a side-chain on a compressor on the rest of the mix, so that when there's vox it "ducks" the rest by a db or two. That will probably sound like weird ass, but it would preserve the kindof waveriness of everything which I actually like a lot. I'm worried approach 1 will make it sound too much like everything else that's out there.
3) Ride the faders more. Maybe put the guitars on one, bass on another lead vox on another and dance 'em around so that voice is always there, but the other instruments get their moment in the sun too.
Regardless, I think it needs some de-essing before any of those approaches will help. Without de-essing I think it'll sound worse if you make the vox more prominent.
The dissonance doesn't bother me one bit. I think that aspect is very well done and I wouldn't try to hide it. I could see how mixing it you could come to dwell on that aspect and lose perspective on whether it's musical or not.
Good luck! Regardless of where you take it from here, I enjoyed listening to it as it is now.
not bad at all
but to be honest it kinda sounds like ... well... a demo
for reasons like carl said
it sounds overall unprocessed, which is not a bad thing per se
but it depends on what the band wants to do with the demos
remember that the "common" listener is used to really compressed and "overproduced" music so something like this will sound weird to most people IME
nevertheless the minimalistic sound fits the music and if that's the sound they're going for there's no reason to change a thing!!
personally... with so much space in the mix and such a simple song I'd try to get the guitars more stereo
with one side heavy reverb/room/delay pretty hard L or R not too loud
and a more dry track where you want the guitar to sit.
but to be honest it kinda sounds like ... well... a demo
for reasons like carl said
it sounds overall unprocessed, which is not a bad thing per se
but it depends on what the band wants to do with the demos
remember that the "common" listener is used to really compressed and "overproduced" music so something like this will sound weird to most people IME
nevertheless the minimalistic sound fits the music and if that's the sound they're going for there's no reason to change a thing!!
personally... with so much space in the mix and such a simple song I'd try to get the guitars more stereo
with one side heavy reverb/room/delay pretty hard L or R not too loud
and a more dry track where you want the guitar to sit.
thanks for the critiques guys.
I'm not really sure how to go about making the vocal sound more full. I have a de-esser feature on the plugin the lead vox are going thru, and it's enabled. I can certainly turn the compression ratio up considerably. I can try adding other effects to it as well. Maybe massey tapehead or something similar.
I've never tried side-chaining anything before. Maybe it's time I attempted that.
seriously though, thanks for taking the time to offer me advice. Wish more people were as willing to help. It's hard mixing in a bubble.
I'm not really sure how to go about making the vocal sound more full. I have a de-esser feature on the plugin the lead vox are going thru, and it's enabled. I can certainly turn the compression ratio up considerably. I can try adding other effects to it as well. Maybe massey tapehead or something similar.
I've never tried side-chaining anything before. Maybe it's time I attempted that.
seriously though, thanks for taking the time to offer me advice. Wish more people were as willing to help. It's hard mixing in a bubble.
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Snarl 12/8
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ott0bot
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yep. ride the vocal with volume automation. then use eq to cut out and distracting frequencies, then de-ess, then add compression after. than you can add back some frequencies with an eq after.
try just a touch of compression, then run that serial into another comp and you can experiment my going heavier on the comp or easing off. try sending the vox to an aux and having a parallel vocal panned hard L or R with some 100% wet verb. even just subtle this can make the vox sound "fuller"
try just a touch of compression, then run that serial into another comp and you can experiment my going heavier on the comp or easing off. try sending the vox to an aux and having a parallel vocal panned hard L or R with some 100% wet verb. even just subtle this can make the vox sound "fuller"
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