Mixdown Training Room

_uxnbuxn _
Aug 15, 2021

Hello, dear Mixdowners,

Hope you're doing fine. Here comes my try at Will Evans - 'Me and My Crew':

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u7shie0fl9w70s8/Will%20Evans%20-%20Me%20and%20My%20Crew_1%20CLNTN_S%20MIX.wav?dl=0

Workflow/Motivation:
First thought was, I can't make this sound well because of too much mic bleed. Then I wanted to prove myself wrong and make it as ''studio'' as possible.

Started with standard moves (gain staging, polarity/phase check, trimming unnecessary areas, balancing multitracked instruments, etc.)
We all noticed the singer was moving a lot which caused unsteady level, so I clip gain automated that first. Then started looking for a balanced 'steady fader mix'.

Then I put a ton of FX and automated the sh*t out of everything. :)

Lemme know whatcha think...

Bonus:

I don't see the point in slamming limiters just to make it louder, so no 'mastering' involved (my ears and my home studio are not equipped for mastering purposes to be honest).

I strongly recommend downloading the tracks and level matching them in your DAW (+ aligning them helps as well for direct comparison).

Since this is the same track for everybody LUFS-I is a great indicator. 1 LU (Loudness Unit) corresponds to 1 dbFS so you can adjust this easily in your DAW.

You need to analyze the LUFS-I of all tracks first of course and then adjust the levels accordingly (you can use clip gain). I tend to use the most silent track as reference and bring the louder ones down to match to that level. After this you can simply turn your volume knob if needed.

Example:
I just DL'ed Magghy's Mix and needed to turn it down by 5,4 db to level match our versions:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iu3zdfzakhur1ui/AABJGyUMlZ9z5kxrVAlRVTXza?dl=0

Only this way your brain won't be fooled by level differences (even tiny amounts can make a difference). As Soundgymmers you already knew that right? ;)

Cheers

6 props

David Alva
Aug 15, 2021

Hi Clinton! Nice mix. I like your automation moves! On the other hand the instruments could benefit from more spaciality and overall the mix sounds a bit too much processed.

2 props

_uxnbuxn _ (author)
Aug 15, 2021

Hey David, thanks for taking time. Oh yes I went for a super processed version this time as a challenge. And to try new stuff out... not sure if band/label would have approved it ;).
As usual critical listening to the other mixes helped detaching from my own version. Now I feel it being a lil narrow and claustrophobic here and there. I'm happy with punch of the drums, and instruments and vox in geeneral but I should have used the room mics differently. Thank you for pointing this out. Cheers.

1 props

amilwhat ?
Aug 16, 2021

Good mix, interesting use of the fx on the vox and good use of the delays on vox and sax. Vox fades too much to the back at times (?) lots of details there.

1 props

Adrián Quiroz
Aug 16, 2021

Clinton!1
So I love the space your vocals have in the mix, like they dont sound buried at all. How did you do this? :D
That being said, they sound just a bit far off my ears, so I would bring the up a couple of decibels, this is just a matter of personal taste, but if you do that then I think they would be nicely balanced with the rest of the mix, and of course making them feel a bit closer to you. But really nice job making all that space for them!

Also, they feel a bit boxy and nasal, but maybe thats the sound you wanted for them! Nice touch.

Maybe bring the brightness of the Overs a bit down, as I feel they are too present and probably take away the attention from the vocals. So vocals up, hats down :))

Loving your snare its so tight. Also love your sax on the bridge.
Other than that, very nice job! Well balanced and thought overall. Nice job on your delays.

Its really good to know that you check phase correlation!! It shows that your sound is very mono compatible. I think in this song the snare gained the most from phase inversion.

And at last, I agree that louder or lower doesnt really matter at this point, but I actually love how pushing the limiter a bit brings everything together haha, just my personal taste. I mean, there is a reason that pop, EDM and rap songs are still smashed somewhat with a limiter nowadays on spotify, even when lufs are a thing.

Sorry for the long comment, love talking about loudness hahaha I love to fight a lot with my classmates about that topic ;D

1 props

Songboy John
Aug 16, 2021

Hi Clinton, I notice you went for a similar telephone-style effect for the intro vox as I did - I thought that was a good way to rein things in for the intro before moving things up a gear for the verse. I was missing the lower range of the lead vocals, though - perhaps you were a little aggressive with cutting the low end? This is more noticeable because the lead vocals seem to occupy their own space. That's great for legibility of the lyrics (which is important in a song like this that has so many words crammed in), but means that they don't blend as much with the instrumental tracks as they could have done.

On a related note, I thought that the panning and processing were a bit extreme at times. I would have held back on the vocal delays at various points (or at very least, turned down the feedback so that they don't muddy the mix by carrying on for too long - especially at the very end), while the sax seemed a bit too drenched in reverb at times. As Adrián mentioned, the snare sounded tight and overall I thought the balance was good. You mentioned that this was more processed than you would normally do - if you dialled back each idea a little, so that there wasn't so much going on, I reckon you'd really be onto something. Good mix!

1 props

infaust _
Aug 16, 2021

Great mix, that bass!! The delays in several tracks give some spice to it, but I agree that at some places it sounds overprocessed to me (e.g. in the outro). I like though the reverse reverb that creates an effect of a pad near the end. I am also curious, did you pitch correct the background vocals at the beginning? They sound really cool, but not sure if that's the reason, or is more about the reverb and EQ.

1 props

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