Mix Critiques

Lukas Veleminsky
Feb 07

Hello guys, for anyone with a little time on their hands, I would appreciate feedback on this mix I'm doing for my band :)

Here's some info about the track:
Last year my band recorded an EP and got it mixed professionally (I study sound design, but don't have too much actual hands-on experience mixing yet). We also recorded this bonus track for CD's, to give something extra to people who would buy them. I mixed it quickly to be in time for our release party, but wanted to do a proper mix later to release the song digitally - which is what I'm doing now :D.

The song is a very old one we wrote as teenagers but grew to like it for it's simplicity. It's inspired by the early 60's (mainly the beatles, simon and garfunkel etc). It's recorded and mixed at our home studio, which of course has it's limitations when it comes to acoustics and gear, but should be servicable.

For the mix I wanted to do a compromise between the old school, early to mid 60's sound and a more modern take at the singer/songwriter genre.

I feel like I'm getting to a point where I'll soon call it finished, I'm starting to get diminishing returns and getting into my own head a bit - so I wanted to ask for any ideas (if there's any terrible aspect I've overlooked :D, or any small tips) before I finalize the mix.

What I still want to do:
- reevaluate the balance a bit with fresh ears - I moved a lot of things by small margins today and maybe I'll change them back later.
- Automation - vocals and lead guitar mainly - I'd like to retune the vocals as they were done a bit hastily and I think I could pull back on the tuning and make the sound a bit more natural. After that I think if i automate the volume I could pull them back overall and still have them be heard.
- maybe brighten some aspects of the mix a bit. ( I think if I reduce the tuning I could make the vocals brighter without it sounding plastic, but I'll have to see :D)
- consider adding/changing some reverbs/delays.
- hope for some 'special sauce' inspiration to strike me :D.

Thank you for your ears and opinions :)

29 props

Darren Boling
Feb 07

Great song, I think you could exaggerate everything a bit to bring more energy out. I find myself really wanting to feel the impact of the musical moments more.

2 props

Lukas Veleminsky
Feb 07

@Darren Boling Thank you for the feedback! That's what I often find myself thinking about my mixes too. Do you think I should be less careful/afraid of compression, saturation, reverbs etc. ? Or is it more in the balance of instruments ?

0 props

Maxime El Kaim
Feb 07

Sounds really creamy to me !!! well done !

1 props

Dylan Neal
Feb 07

This is great! The song is a lot of fun and the mix is 99% perfect. In my opinion, you shouldn't waste your time trying to get the last 1% out of it. If your intention is to sound like 60s rock with a modern sound, you have nailed it. It sounds vibrant and clean. No-one (except for other mixing engineers) will care that it isn't 100% perfect. Old-school music isn't meant to be perfect anyway! Your time would be better spent writing more songs and playing gigs and promoting your band.
Excellent work!

2 props

Adam Kubát
Feb 07

Ahoj Lukáši, já jsem tady v té produkční oblasti úplný nováček, takže dávám jenom pár drobných postřehů, přijde mi to celkově velmi dobře vyvážené, ale souhlasím s tím že by to mohlo být co do dynamičnosti trošku silnější, takže určitě bych se nebál si pohrát s delayem, reverbem, saturací, kompresorem... aby to prostě bylo šťavnatější. Nástroje mi přišly vyvážené dobře, jediné co mě trošičku rušilo je zvuk té sólové kytary uprostřed a na konci, tam bych zrovna si pohrál s nějakým efektem a dal tomu trochu prostoru možná i ekvalizaci. Přišlo mi to trošičku krabicovaté a lehce ostré ve výškách. Asi bych i na masteru přidal celkovou hlasitost, na kolik LUFS je to cílené? Celkově ale krásná práce! 👏🏻

1 props

Lukas Veleminsky
Feb 08

Thanks for the kind words guys! really means a lot :) and you have a good point @Dylan Neal - I tend to overthink instead of finishing and aiming to improve with each new project :D. I'm not gonna dwell on it much longer, but I'd like to sort of compile the ideas and advice I can gather, listen with fresh ears, try it out and finally finish it :)

2 props

Lukas Veleminsky
Feb 08

@Adam Kubát S tou sólovou kytarou to je pravda, na tu bych ještě měl mrknout :) Zatím jsem master ještě nedělal, jen to mírně zvednul (bez limitace) limiterem aby to bylo slyšitelné tady na soundcloudu :D - plánuju to přeci jen trochu přikomprimovat. Uvidím co bude fungovat, ale chtěl bych asi mířit kolem 12-10 - aby to znělo moderně, ale zase ne moc squashed, přeci jen to je spíš jemná věc.. Při tom masteru to ještě taky zkusím trochu nakopnout, ale myslím, že čím víc se mi toho podaří v mixu, tím lepší to bude :) Díky moc za postřehy!

1 props

Adam Kubát
Feb 08

Super, souhlas @Dylan Neal má dobrý point. Každopádně se těším na finální verzi 😉

2 props

Darren Boling
Feb 08

@Lukas Veleminsky I think you could try a version where you try exaggerating things a bit, just save a new session to experiment with and go nuts. Even if it doesn't work you might find something in there you can implement into your final mix. I think I'd approach it not thinking technically at all, just let the music guide you and focus on bringing out maximum impact via all the wonderful moments already in the song, work the automation to enhance the arrangement, let things go in and out of balance. Think of how the Beatles have those bits we all listen for but also how their songs just grab you and guide you along a journey.

1 props

isildur green
Feb 08

This is good. So I don't know how the usual mixing for these type of songs are, so I am going with things that stood out to me.

1st: The acoustic guitar is too panned to the left, maybe bring it a little bit closer to the center, I noticed that it is offset with the electric guitar to the right, however, the acoustic sounds a bit louder and harsher compared to the electric. SO it kind of defeat the purpose of doing a Hard L/R pan of the instruments. If you want to keep the acoustic at that angle, then just bring it down a little bit and clamp down on its harshness, maybe some EQ cut on the upper 5k+. On large speakers this problem is not apparent but on head phones it's obvious. And it leaves your ear ringing especially on the left after the song ends.

2nd: I did notice the drums are a bit too compressed, including the snare. Now because i am not too familiar with this genre not sure if this is the usual style. Me personally i would have added a transient shapper to make them cut through, especially the snare, but if its not appropriate for the genre then no worries.

3rd: I would add some more reverb on the vocals, i did notice that in the begging of the song, the sticks had reverb on it, but not so much on the vocals.

4th: This is actually a great song! I liked it a lot and it is a track i would add to my playlist. Lyrical content, arrangement and instrumentation. Everything is good. Great job.

3 props

Gaspar Acevedo
Feb 08

Pretty nice !!! I like the melody and the vocals (60s teenagers all along). Even if it is a ballad (very nice one) I would try to give the song more energy overall, mostly to the instrumentation and within that to the guitar but drum and bass could be a bit more exciting ! To me, the main thing is to have a nice song and you've got it ;)

4 props

Logan Schoessler
Feb 11

I honestly quite like both the song and the mix, it feels like similar to early Pink Floyd in a very good way. In addition to the common point everyone else appears to be saying about adding a bit more energy, I feel like the last chorus should have an additional percussive element just to switch it up a bit, personally I think a bit of of cowbell or perhaps a ride could add a solid bit of differentiation.

3 props

Helmut Mair
Feb 11

Hi Lukas,
that's a very nice song and a really good mix. I understand the comments concerning the energy. On the other hand it brings something light about it that I really like. For me there a two aspects I would change (for my taste). Less highs around 8K would reduce the harshness ( for my taste it's really too much) and for the lead vocal I would suggest to try a little boost of the low mids around 200Hz, but only a little bit. Congratulation, cool song and very good mix!

4 props

Frans Rewijk
Feb 11

Hi Lukas,

A shot from the hip: overall nice balance. Nothing is to far off, but maybe it lacks a bit of character. I'm somewhat distracted by the acoustic guitar on the left, it seems a bit disconnected. And I'd center all the vocals and separate them on the front-rear axis through reverb. (For me, this type of song calls for a 60's vibe vocals, but that's a matter of taste of course). Hope that helps.

5 props

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