Hi Alex, I listened to your version and then I compared it with the original. First of all I think you have done a great job singing and playing it. But I am afraid with the mix there are some problems:
I think your voice sounds great but the tonality of the recording is not so. It sounds rather boxy, (it's like you were singing inside a box) That could be caused by recording in a room that is not treated for audio recordings. (like absorption panels etc).
In that case you can't get the tonality completely right with equalising. If the room is acoustically healthy, you can correct the vocal recording by mainly taking out a lot of the mid frequencies.

Next I think you used an instrument plug-in (bells) that is not the best choice for the song, it's too noisy. The original is more calm.
(I am not saying you should imitate the exact ingredients of the original, far from it! I think you should make a cover in the spirit of the original, but in your own way.)

Last but not least, the different instruments are fighting for space with each other and with the vocal. That is because they all share the same frequency range and character. This gives a restless vibe to the music. Listen carefully to the original and pay attention to the way each part has its own space and they don't push and fight. You can achieve that transparency by eq-ing each part in a way that they all have different tonal spaces. Sculpting with EQ.
Well,it's easier said than done, but by training your ears and mixing skills you'll get there. Or you can also concentrate on making beautiful music and leave the mixing part to someone else.
Success!

Une Alex, française, qui fait des covers ?!
Do you want to be my friend ? 😂

Nothing to add to the comments before but don't say you are a noob, nobody knows everything since the beginning so ... lets just pratice, learn and play, there is no end to all of that !

Hi @Aart dB , thanks for listening ! :)

As you guessed, I don’t have a treated room. When EQing the voice I also felt that it lacked brightness so I removed 2dB from the low end (around 200Hz) and added 2dB at around 5kHz, do you think I should increase those settings to make it even brighter ? I don’t want it to be as bright as the original, but boxiness was clearly not the objective 😅

At first I actually tried to imitate the original for that cover as a sort of listening exercise so thank you for pointing at the bells ! I’ll try to soften them.

As to the frequential distribution of the instruments I struggled a lot on that, especially on the synths. I can hear that they all seem faraway and blurry. I made a mistake when choosing 2 similar presets with differences in the filtering only, I’ll try to replace one of them or to add other synths and EQ them differently.
Thank you !

Hey @Darth Fader ! (Je vois qu’on est devenu diplomate haha ;) )
Thanks for the feedback, it really helps ! I’ll put more synth as I said earlier so I’ll try to spread them more in space (as well as frequency) and check if there are some instruments where I could boost the highs.
And more shaker & less snare, got it !

And hi @Alexandra Escalle , thank you for the supporting words ! Yep I shouldn’t be so negative, I simply meant that I know I have a lot to learn. I just listened to some of your covers on Youtube, seems like you’ve been practicing for a long time, well done ! How come there are so many French people here ? Does the friendship offer stand even if my name isn’t actually Alex ? 👀

@Alex D I start to sing at 8 and practice guitar during 3 years.
I had my certificate in sound in 2014 (BTS métiers de l'audiovisuel - option son au LISA à Angoulême) and I'm working in technical stuff and sound since 2015 ;)
But I'm just at the beginning, there is so much stuff to learn and pratice ...

No, there is not a lot of french people here.
Ouuuutch ... but ... it's ok for me 😂

Hi @Alex D, thanks for your reply. In answer to your question about the frequencies in the vocals, I think your voice has a little low end that is characteristic, so don't take away too much of 200 and below, just a little. I also think you don't need more brightness. But the frequencies that need to be lowered are between 200 and 2000. It's hard for me to tell exactly because there is also an effect on the vocal that influences it. It may be two or even three dips you need to make in that area. Main goal is to get rid of the boxyness.

Without room treatment I have been struggling to make recordings sound right, but it's impossible. Even with the best microphones. Now I am treating a part of the room specially for acoustic recordings.
It's cheaper than investing in a better mic. It is the best investment any recording artist can do.
You can achieve a lot with piles of clothes, thick curtains, etc.. What I do is make wood frames around sheets of mineral wool and cover them with cotton cloth (You must be able to breathe through the cloth) and place them strategically. The effect is amazing.
On internet you can find plenty of ways to do it on a budget.

Another thing I can recommend is to become a member of the Mixdown Training Room on this site, and download the weekly multitracks for practicing purpose. Very helpfull hereby is the feedback you get from other members. It's a very effective way of learning.

Nice start @Alexandra Escalle ! The road to knowing what you’re doing seems a bit long when you’re at the very beginning (which is my case) but it’s also fun to learn :)

Thanks @Aart dB , I added a negative bell on the voice around 1kHz, the improvement isn’t incredible but either the recording cannot be fixed or I lack the experience to make the good adjustment. I should try to make DIY acoustic panels, the walls here are so bare it’s probably the worst room to record in. Also, the mic I use (Rode NTG-1) is designed for cinema from what I read on the internet, do you know whether another mic in the same price range but meant for music (Rode NT1-A for example) would make a huge difference or is it pretty similar ?

And I saw the Mixdown training room, it seems like a nice exercise ! I might try some day but I already have difficulties working on these cover songs and I'm afraid it would be too dispiriting to try and mix something without a specific goal.

hi Alex (or non-Alex 😆)
I won't give advice on the state of your mix. so as not to complicate and confuse your situation even more than now))))
advice has already been given above, and that is enough. Before climbing into the wilds, you certainly need to deal with what has already been said.
I listened to your cover. I like it.
and given that this is your first (or one of the first) experience in mixing - it sounds, even in this form, not bad. I had to hear first experiences (including mine 😀) that was nothing compared to what you do

and to write this post, I was forced by one of your phrases.
this 'I might try some day' ...
I'm writing this to say that it doesn't work that way. if you try once, nothing will happen. nothing will change (except that you will take one step out of 10,000). in order for exercises like the Mixdown Training Room (which can be anything - just go to the cambridge website and choose the multitracks you like)... well, in order for such exercises to give anything, you will need to try it not in one day, not once... but many days... many times... repeatedly...
the results will become at least noticeable after several dozens of such training mixes.
it can be both other people's multitracks, and their own works (author's songs, or cover versions).
the decisive factor is the number of mixes performed.

at the same time, especially at the initial stage (the closer to the beginning, the more pronounced this feature) - it is not so important how well you did the mixing.
the important thing is to DO IT!
I mean, three completed mixes (which may be technically less than ideal) is much better than one 'ideal' mix that isn't finished.

I'm saying this to the point that it makes sense to try to edit this mix according to the advice already given, and then move on to the next mix (your own or someone else's).
if you intend to master the art of mixing, then this can only be done through a lot of practice.
and again it is necessary to say about the trap of looping over one track. Let's say you have 90 hours of mixing time per month (3 hours a day). it will be more efficient if you work on 4 different mixes during these 90 hours (one per week) than if you spend all 90 hours on one mix.
why is it so? because as a beginner, no matter how many hours you spend on one mix, you still won't get it done the way an experienced mix engineer would.
and working for a very long time on one song and not getting the sound you expect - you can get into a rut, you can get stuck ... you can get frustrated because of this ...
and you shodn't have to be disappointed 😊))))

what is the way out? the solution is this: accept the fact that at this stage you are mixing this version sounds like this ... and no better than that ...
the next mix will be better. and this mix doesn't need to be polished to infinity... the next mix will be a little better.
and these improvements are not always noticeable... they can appear on the second, on the third ten mixes...
and then you open one of your first projects, listen and say 'oh la la' ))

There's another trap to keep in mind - mixing your own recordings is harder than mixing other people's recordings. one spends more time mixing his recordings, but the result is (perhaps) even worse than when mixing other people's tracks.
psychology))))

therefore, if this track (the cover that is being discussed here) has some meaning, more than just a mix made for myself (well, for example, it will be submitted to some competition. and this is needed now and not in the future), then it is better to delegate work on it mix, more experienced engineer

if it's just one of the many mixes you want to make for yourself - then the advice has already been voiced above.
make the recommended edits (as you can, as you understand), and move on to a new track.
and if there is a desire or need - return to the same mix after mixing 10 more other mixes. and from the position of new experience, try to make new edits. and this time, you will do much better than if you work this one song for another 2 months.

do it quickly and easily. make it harder and longer you will still have a lot of opportunities! )))

If my story seems confusing to you, feel free to ask clarifying questions. I'll be glad to help.
best regards.
Ziggy (but what if not Ziggy? )))))))))))))

Hi Maybe-Ziggy-maybe-not ! Thank you for all the positiveness and for the time it took you to write all of this ;)

I followed your advice and ended up posting the track after editing it with all the advice above in mind. It's in the first post ! It still doesn't sound that good but it's... correct I guess and I know that with my current knowledge/experience I can't push it further anyway. Time for a new song as you say ! :)

The thing is I don’t really aim at becoming a sound engineer, I’m only trying to learn some stuff about mixing because I like making music and I want it to sound as good as possible when I share it — yet it’s just cover songs on YouTube and I can’t have a professional mixing engineer working on them so I have to do it on my own.

I tried once to mix one of the Cambridge library tracks but never finished it because once I met difficulties I felt I was doing something useless and that I should be pulling out my hair on a project of my own instead of a random track… deep down I know it’s not true and that doing the whole mixing process several times on other tracks would be much fruitful than spending lots of time on one but I have a hard time doing things quickly, even if I know it's just an exercise and I won't share them in the end. How much time to you typically spend on a mix for the Mixdown training room ? Do you set a timer ? Or maybe you just mix quickly because you’re experienced enough ?

Hi Alex/Not Alex :) I see a lot of similarities in our thoughts & goals (including not seeing the real value in spending time on someone else's music I don't really care about) and I can add that I really, really wish I had started doing practice mixes as soon as I found out they were a thing! (been about 6 months or so now). The ear training & practice mixing have had way more impact on my personal projects than the previous 2 years of just working on projects with the help of YouTube vids (my band reformed in 2020 & we're about to release our 3rd album - which I now want to go back and remix from start :D ).

Working on a bunch of different stuff than maybe you're used to, getting feedback & hearing how others approach things has been invaluable IMO (and there may be mixes you may not want to share, but we're a friendly and encouraging group over there :) ). It's a weekly mix, which I think is also very valuable - it forces one to make some faster decisions, and even if it means I often don't finish the mix to full satisfaction (which isn't my current goal, although someday :D ), there's almost always something I'm happy with having figured out or gotten to sound the way I want that makes even the meh ones worthwhile

Best of luck on your ventures however you decide to tackle them!

J'utilise le français pour aller plus vite et être plus claire ... @Ziggy Shpakovsky a totalement raison, il faut faire, même si on n'est pas entièrement satisfait.
D'ailleurs moins je savais faire, moins je me posais de questions sur le mixage, la qualité etc ... et plus ça fonctionnait sur Youtube car j'étais juste plus régulière et plus spontanée.

Il ne faut pas penser : je suis débutante donc je ne sais pas faire donc je vais attendre de savoir faire car il n'y a aucun moment où ça nous tombe dessus et du jour au lendemain tout est parfait. ;)

Surtout quand on fait tout du début à la fin (instru, voix + mixage) on trouvera toujours TOUJOURS quelque chose qui ne va pas et rester bloqué dessus est la pire chose à faire car on peut même s'en dégouter et au final ne jamais publier.

Alors qu'au fond on s'en fiche de la perfection d'un mix ou pas, on reste notre pire critique et parfois on va bloquer sur quelque chose sans importance pour au final laisser passer quelque chose de plus gênant.

Quand j'écoute ta cover, je suis loin de me dire oh mon dieu quelle horreur ... On découvre ta voix, la chanson (pour ma part je ne connaissais pas), le visuel, l'instru, les harmoniques et a aucun moment je me dis aha elle sait/ne sait pas faire.
Tu proposes quelque chose de construit, l'essentiel est déjà là !

Il y aura toujours quelqu'un pour te dire, j'aurai mis plus de si, moins de ça, pas assez de reverb, trop de delay mais je te rassure, même avec les bons, il y aura toujours quelqu'un pour venir et dire qu'il n'aurait pas fait ça comme ça donc effectivement il y a les bases mais tout reste très subjectif.

Fais, fais, fais sur tes propres musiques ou sur d'autres et revient écouter ce que tu as fait ensuite, n'oublie pas d'écouter d'autres artistes, d'autres styles musicaux vers lesquels tu n'aurais pas été de toi même et tu feras ta propre popotte avec le temps et elle évoluera tout au long de ta vie et tes envies du moment !

Bonne route ! :)

Hi Alex, I was going to comment on your reply to my last reply.
But then I've read my friends Ziggys and Jasons responses first, and I completely and totally agree with them, I have nothing to add to that.
That leaves your question about the mic. You mention the Rode NT1-A. I honestly don't know if it's much different from the one you have. But like I mentioned before, you have much more to gain from some basic room treatment. Only after you've done that, it's worth looking for a better suited mic. But maybe then you like the one you have.
Concerning mics, I'd recommend to try before you buy, because for singing a mic is a very personal thing.

I'll listen to your revised mix later. I'll let you know what I think. Right now my ears are too tired from listening to music critically

Bonjour @Alex D (Algaye) ça fait longtemps^^ Je trouve l'ensemble au niveau mixage vraiment bien, du moins je n'entend pas d'erreurs flagrantes, le reste c'est subjectif. Je pense néanmoins que le sound design des instruments peut être travaillé pour donner plus de corp à l'ensemble, ainsi que le snare (à partir de 0,58) qui est tout seul dans les aigus, en superposant peut être un snare ou un clap qui tape dans le bas mid ca rendrait vraiment pas mal. Trouver le bon équilibre du clap/snare n'est pas évident du tout, surtout que c'est un élément très important dans une musique. En tout cas beau travail dans l'ensemble ! J'espère avoir pu t'aider un peu. A bientôt

hey!
I listened to the new version (and of course watched the video))))
And oddly enough, I still like it 😆))))))))))))

I did not compare the old version and the new one in A / B mode, so I can’t say how much you managed to satisfy the advice given to the first version.
but it sounds acceptable. it's a good word. there are no gross violations in the mix, which is good. and improving what is - it's a never ending story. no matter how high level engineer you are.
as they say, the mix cannot be completed, it can only be stopped )))

just out of curiosity, go back to this project after you've done 10 more and try mixing it again. and then compare the results. for yorself.

as for whether you want to become a sound engineer... but in order to mix your songs, you need to have the same knowledge that you need to mix other people's songs )))
those. The difference between commercial sound engineering and sound engineering for oneself is only in the degree of exactingness, and in the degree of responsibility ))))
so the principle is the same.
therefore, study this science little by little.
choose any sound engineering course. yes, the course is better, so that there is a structure in it, and not scattered fragments. in order to build a comprehensive picture with training, albeit without details, but comprehensive.
choose some internet guru. there are many, choose the one who seems sensible to you (or use someone else's advice on choosing a teacher).
The course does not have to be paid. All the information you need is available for free. the main thing is to be able to distinguish it in this ocean of Internet garbage ))))

for now, it's best to avoid lessons with fiture. fiture are subtleties that it makes no sense to study if there is no overall picture. it is foolish to draw details in a picture that has gross violations of perspective or color balance (unless it is done deliberately within the framework of a certain style).
in fact, there are surprisingly few basic principles and techniques in mixing. And it's not hard to study them.
the most important thing in this is to learn to LISTEN. those. learn to analyze what you hear.

those. learning how to operate an equalizer or compressor is not a tricky business.
a much more tricky thing is to learn to determine what exactly needs to be done with the sound in each specific case.

namely, the development of the ability to analyze and are devoted the workouts of this site.
I recommend getting into the habit of doing them daily.

about multitracks from the Cambridge site (and from any other sources).
The website sorts by difficulty. you can sort the tracks for beginners.
and I recommend doing it. and not to take any complex projects, with seven dozen tracks ... with which, indeed, sometimes it is not clear what to do.
choose projects with a small number of tracks.
and when faced with some incomprehensible moment in this project, you already have a specific task. and the answer to this particular problem you are looking for on the Internet. I'm sure the answer is already there. the main thing is to formulate the search query correctly )))) and having found this answer and applying it to this project, you are guaranteed to remember the studied material. and this is of great benefit. basic meaning.
in the next project there will be another task, the answer to which will also have to be sought ... and like this, these pieces will form the sound engineer inside you)))

and after watching some random video, with some interesting trick - apply it immediately to your current project (even if this trick is not very appropriate there. in the end, delete it if you want). this will also help me remember this technique. otherwise...
otherwise, psychologists say that the next day we remember only 40% of the information received today ... after 3 days it remains 20% ... and after a week ... crumbs ..
(I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the numbers, but the meaning is something like this).
and if we immediately apply the information received in practice, then these percentage figures become more pleasing )))).
That's why practice is everything!

I sometimes spend a day on MixdownTrayingRoom mixes... and not because I have enough experience, but because of disorganization... I often start the next project from this space on Saturday, and I just don't have more time. and sometimes you have to spend a sleepless night))). I can't move quickly.
and almost every time, I post the result, knowing that more work could be done on the project, and even knowing what specifically could be done to improve it. but term.
and the deadline is one of the pluses of this weekly venture. it encourages to take and do.
because I spend many times more time on multitracks that I choose for myself for training than on projects from MixdownTrainingRoom... but they sound as a result, not necessarily better 😀))))
just procrastination and relaxed ass)))))) because there is no deadline ... but a deadline set for oneself .... one can always agree with oneself (at least on this issue)))

PS
I was not going to get into the discussion about the microphone (since I'm not a special expert).
but when I saw it on the video I decided to add my two cents...
on the video is really what is called shotgun, and this is often used in video production (but not only).

it's not really the type of mic you normally see in a studio... but... it's a mic and you can record vocals with it (and your example is proof of that).

moreover... if you had a more correct microphone (usually used for recording vocals), then your recording would probably be even more problematic (that boxy overtone of the room).
Why? because the room is not acoustically prepared for recording in it (the tips given by Aart dB are relevant. listen to them. at a minimum - until the room has been processed, take temporary measures for the next recording. cover the window with a thick blanket, hang clothes in any possible places (especially winter clothes) open the cabinet doors).
and since the room is unprepared, the correct mic would pick up even more unwanted room sound (which can't always be eliminated with an equalizer).
and your microphone captured the sound of the room less, tk. it is narrowly directional and ignores sounds coming from behind and to the sides of it. so maybe you are even lucky that you have just such a)))
accordingly - until you've prepared the room acoustically - don't think about buying anything like the Rode NT1-A. in an unprepared room, in addition to your vocals, this will record all the reverberation of the room, and the noise of computer fans, and cars outside the window, and how the neighbor flushed the toilet.
but even if you decide to change the microphone without processing the room, choose a dynamic model. for example, some Shure SM58 will give you better results than any condenser microphone (in a treated room, of course, a condenser will win).

to record to your existing Rode NTG-1, just follow some additional steps:
1 Place the microphone so that it is pointed directly at you (more precisely, even directly at your mouth).
2 Don't sing close to the microphone. because The microphone is designed for recording from a distance. I do not know what distance will be optimal. try to figure it out by experience. sing the same phrase at different distances (start close, and move further away with each take (don't forget that you have to adjust the effort)). and be sure to follow point 1.
here you have to choose between two troubles: at a close location, the sound of vocals can be somewhat distorted, but at a large distance, there will be more extraneous noise in the recording. need to find a golden mean
3 choose the position of you and the microphone so that the line you-microphone is not perpendicular (90 degrees) to any wall of the room
4 choose your position so that the wall behind you is not too close
5 On the wall behind you, hang up some clothes or a blanket.
6 If possible, hang clothes or a blanket behind the microphone

I've seen it before

Haha this meme is on point !

Thank you all for explaining how you made progress in mixing, I see you all agree on the importance of mixing tracks as an exercise so you know what, I’ll have a try with this week’s mixdown training (unless it’s a hardcore 50 tracks one haha) and we’ll see what happens ! It’s posted on tuesdays is that it ?
And @Jason Cardin : Good luck with the new album !

As to the acoustic treatment, I first need to decide where to put panels because for now I just record in my living room, I don’t have a dedicated space. But I put that on top of my list !

@Cindy Preta Hello ! Thanks for the feedback :) Yep the snare is still too present. At first I tried to reproduce the original song’s sounds so I suppose I thought too much about finding similar sounds instead of just choosing them depending on what I liked. Some of them turned out a bit weird ! 🤷‍♀️ But for the next cover I’m making a different instrumental !
Merci beaucoup pour les conseils 3

@Ziggy Shpakovsky I already use a course program in French that is pretty helpful, it’s on a paid platform but it’s well structured and it’s easier for me than trying to make sense of all the fragmented (but amazing) knowledge on YouTube ! But you’re right, I don’t practice enough, I learn the theory without applying it afterwards as you described. I’ll try that thing about applying the tips and tricks right away to remember them ! 🙏

@Aart dB as to the mic I’ll just keep that one and wait for the right moment before buying a better one. And yes, it’s a hypercardioid one so it might be the best pick for an untreated room !

Thanks again for all your help it's really helpful ! I hope I don't forget to answer one of the topics above ;)

@Alex D Yes, I speak about the snare of the original song
which is much more balanced in the mid, by layering you can have this results :)

Hi Alex, the minor adjustments on your vocal are a pleasant improvement. Well done!
There is one more thing that I want to point out, and that is the part you play on the mini synth. The sound you choose is quite forward and dominant. I think it's okay to use it, but I would recommend not to use it when you are singing. In the pauses it would be great. If you like to have a constant acompanying part, I would choose a sound which is less dominant to give your voice all the attention.
I regard this opinion only part technical, but also part personal taste, which you can't separate. But technical correctness should always be considered more important.
Good call on the mic, get the room treatment sorted first. Since you record in your living room, of course you don't want to turn it into a recording studio. So portable absorption material is the solution, which is simple to set up when you need it and just as quick and easy to move out of the way when you are finished.

I hope you were able to do the multitrack from the Mixdown Training Room.

@Cindy Preta Oh, I actually never tried to layer sounds for snares, kicks or anything in the beat/percs 😮 Thanks for the idea !

@Aart dB Thank you ! Yep it's a different instrument playing the solo in the middle of the song (even though it's the same melody). The one which plays with the voice is a bit softer but not enough i guess :/ And yes I just posted in the Mixdown Training Room ! I hope it's not too late, we're still on Sunday evening in France. It was a good exercise, I did not spend tons of time on it but trying to find the most important things to do was fun ! Thanks for advising me to try ;)