Anyone care to comment on this mix???

[Mickstape]

hi fellow forum goers.

im 70% done on mixing a band i recorded recently, i would like some comments on the overall sound and what i may have to do to improve on it.

My thoughts are that i need to cross ref on a few more systems, the vocal seems a little tinny and radio like(i'm thinking not enough 400-500hz). The snare doesnt seem right (i'm thinking either 10-10.5K or 2.6-28K) to give it a bit more oomph. Also the bass seems a little boomy on larger speakers(the largest are my skytek PA bins although i just listened through some genelec 1037C's).

Comments are welcome.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/a2v8eu

[DaleRoyce]

after a quick listern..
give that singer a bit (lots) of room. Snare, hats, guitar and some keys all seem to be within 10 degrees of center.
Once thats done post file again.

[walding]

Seems almost in mono on headphones.

Ride the Vocals heaps.

The cymbals seems very harsh but that could be the MP3 quality.

There really is no way of giving good advice with MP3's.

If space is an issue try at least making them a minimum of 224 (320 better) and rip them with LAME.

[SteveL]

Maybe it's just me, but I found the resonating snare springs a distraction during the guitar intro (at least I think that's what's vibrating away under there). I'd tamp the snare down for that bit if you can.

[DaleRoyce]

And i forgot to mention waldings observation.."Seems almost in mono on headphones."
That's because it almost is. I want to walk into your mix, not look at it .
And once you crack that baby open, you can start to think about Eq settings or sound..
I think it probably suffers a tad from the 'all though the same-same mixer' pre's..
where the Vox, guitars and drums all have a similar sound..
BUT...I have been wrong before.. Even as late as today ;-)

[Mickstape]

Hi all.

Firstly thanks for the comments and suggestions, i appreciate it.

After a second listen i found it was extremely mono, its amazing that if you are'nt paying attention you can miss a hell of a lot.

So i have had a tinker, i think this mix is a lot wider and there is a bit more separation between the instruments as well as a bit more of uniformity between actual signal levels.


@SteveL - Yes that snare spring is quite present. Its present in the whole kit mix which nfortunately for me, due to a little hastiness in the actual run through in the initial stages of the tracking session, got totally missed or "shudder" ignored. So its one of those things that although i can reduce it by fading the early parts of some tracks, it is always present in the overheads. Why keep it in the overheads? I feel that the spill from the guitars really adds some flavour to the presence of the guitar overall in the mix so i have elected to keep it there. You may notice that the guitar is hard left for the first few bars then joins the stereo image after, this is from fading in the overheads on the kit.

@Walding, mate it seemed mono because it was. Heh i got lost in the mix and thought "oh yeah, its coming out both cans, thats stereo enough". bad bad mick! As for the harshness, i gave the snare a bit of 10k to bring out a bit more "sizzle" and i think that the cymbal spill is clashing with the overall drum mix. Any thoughts on how i might combat that?


I have uploaded a 44K/24bit wav. Its approx 47mb, i hope that doesnt deter people from d/l'ing it.

Again your comments are appreciated and welcome.

Mick

http://www.sendspace.com/file/23sxx6

[Gian]

Is that file 49MB?

[Mickstape]

Is that file 49MB?

yup, its 49mb, not 47.

[Mickstape]

ohhhhkay.

I just listened again and i think i went overboard with the panning, now there is nothing in the centre and the friggen vocals are 25-30 left as well.

note to self,

when you bounce

don't do it after sitting on a bus going over the harbour bridge listening to it in your cans.

that is so not cool.

[jithknot]

note to self,

when you bounce

don't do it after sitting on a bus going over the harbour bridge listening to it in your cans.

lol amen to that :D