Mix critiques & advices - reach your mixing goals!

Ruud Reiher

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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 05, 2021
Hey guys,

New here on SoundGym, absolutely incredible. Here to see if the community is awesome too.

I did a mix recently and wanted a critique on the quality, clarity, and overall dynamic feel.

Please, don't be afraid to bash me if it's terrible haha:
https://soundcloud.com/anish-puthuraya/ab-aur-nahi-jul-2021

Thanks!
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Tomasz Banyś
Jul 05, 2021
Hey, and welcome. ;)

I'm not even a month here but I daresay you should find the community to your liking.

As for the mix, it's decent, and even though I don't understand the lyrics at all, I like the feel of the track. I like the overall sound. There are moments where there are some minor phase issues but they don't affect the quality of the track. Little to EQ there, it's quite balanced. The dynamics are okay, there is some audible clipping so you might want to tweak the limiting, though the character of the track masks it pretty well. Generally, good job!

Regards,
Tom
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 05, 2021
Thanks a lot Tom. Really helpful critique. Could you point me to where the phase issues are?
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David Church
Jul 05, 2021
Well done Anish. Well balanced, great arrangement and tasteful use of instruments and reverb etc. I really enjoyed the song and all the interesting ways you developed your musical ideas. The vocals were a real stand out I thought. I look forward to hearing more from you and hopefully seeing you in concert.
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 05, 2021
Thank you so much David. I'm really glad you enjoyed the song. Appreciate your ear for detail :)
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Christian Labeck
Jul 05, 2021
I tried to listen to it but get an error that the file has been removed
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Tomasz Banyś
Jul 05, 2021
@Christian Labeck, @Anish Puthuraya -- Indeed. I've just come home from work and wanted to take a listen to help Anish pinpoint the phase issues, but I'm getting the same error now. Maybe the mix will resurface in the future. ;) In the meantime I have no excuse, so I will move on to everyday chores. ;)
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 05, 2021
Sorry about that. It should be back up now. Could you please try again Christian and Tom?
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Tomasz Banyś
Jul 05, 2021
@Anish Puthuraya -- Okay, it works now. One example is the guitar riff starting at 3:58, for about its first 10 seconds, where I think there is too much width and the riff is thinner than it could be, unless it is the desired effect (it might be so). A similar thing can be heard in the intro, although less prominently. As I mentioned, the issue is minor and could be left alone or even introduced intentionally. However, should you choose to correct, you might find you like the sound of those sections better.
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 05, 2021
I see, I think you're right. Those guitars at the end are definitely thin. Thanks a lot for that man. Really appreciate it :)
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Laura Ali
Jul 05, 2021
I can't help you much, since I'm new to all this, but I really loved your song. I enjoyed it so much.
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Tomasz Banyś
Jul 05, 2021
@Anish Puthuraya -- You're welcome. :) A fresh set of impartial ears always helps.
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Diego Gamboa
Jul 05, 2021
Hello Anish,
Superb song!
For me working a bit more on the kick and snare will definitely be an improvement. Also after listening to your song please use this song -> Santa Monica by Theory Of A Dead Man as your reference track.
Hope I was able to add value to your mixing approach.
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 06, 2021
@Laura Ali Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed the track.
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 06, 2021
@Diego Gamboa I just had a listen, this is a great reference for the song. Thanks for the suggestion :)
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Ben Sinclair
Jul 06, 2021
Hey Anish, track sounds pretty damn good! Diego gave a great reference track and I definitely think the drums need a bit more of a drive to keep up with the energy of the rest of the track. You can have them sitting behind everything else while still giving them a bit more punch. Try to get more attack out of them with some aggressive EQ boosts and if you have access to a DBX-like compressor you could give that a try, I think it should work pretty well to give the drums some serious punch.
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Anish Puthuraya
Jul 28, 2021
@Ben Sinclair Sorry for the late reply. Thanks a lot :) I'll keep that in mind
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michael schmidt
Jul 28, 2021
dang tracks gone, welcome though