Indie Rock Mix - Feedback please

usamike · 21st March 2007

So I'm not a mixer, but here's a mix I did of a song that's going to mastering soon. Indie rock, more about the vibe than a commercial sound, but any feedback for improvement would be great. Thanks,

Mike

AlexLakis · 21st March 2007

I'd lose the breaths on the male vocal in the filtered vocal parts. Kinda distracts from the female vocal.

The guitars occupy good space, but they sound a little too roomy for me, especially the left one. Just a personal preference for the genre, really.

As far as the arrangement, the vocals are cool when they're together, but I don't dig it when two vocalists are singing different things over each other. Typical of the times, I suppose, seems to be everywhere. At least they're not screaming over each other!

That's all I can tell on my crappy laptop headphones. Sounds nice! thumbsup

usamike · 21st March 2007

Thanks, Alex- that's great advice. I took out those breaths and the trading off is much clearer. Here's the other song I mixed for them.

-Mike

imloggedin · 22nd March 2007

im not fond of the effect on the vocals at the beginning. i think i know what you were going for but the effect u put just kinda sounds like someone put a piece of cardboard between the singer and the mic or something. it sounds pretty good but id prolly do something about the drums too. the snare sounds a little funny to me. what kinda mics did you use and whatd you mix in?

imloggedin · 22nd March 2007

that was regarding the first song.

usamike · 22nd March 2007

Top to bottom Protools LE w/a Digi 002r. Snare drum was a 57 into Helios pre w/a touch of distressor.

lpkyer · 23rd March 2007

More drums !! More Reverb and EQ on everything!

usamike · 23rd March 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpkyer

More drums !! More Reverb and EQ on everything!

I feel like the drums are sitting ok. As for more EQ and reverb- I'd love to, but what EQ and what reverb on which tracks. This is the advice I'm looking for. I'm pretty happy with 'Shake' (the second tune), but centerpiece I feel could be better. Bring on the tips!

johnnybregar · 23rd March 2007

Just my 2 cents on the second song.... This track has a very "live" feel to it - meaning that the individual parts don't really have much individual definition.

First, the whole mix could use a bit of "de-mudding". There's a lot of energy around 180 Hz and you may want to thin out the guitar and bass there. That would open up a hole for the vocals.

I would also pan the guitar left a bit and maybe even the vocal right since there's only 3 instruments.

Here's some random stuff to try:

1. Put the guitar and vocal on one room reverb, the drums and bass on another.
2. Add some 4kHz to the guitar.
3. Compress the bass a bit more - it pops out from time to time and gets a little pointy. Same with the kick drum.
4. Maybe take a little high end off the kick.
5. The last chorus is totally distorted and sounds like a cheap limiter has been jacked up too high to get levels hot. Don't do that - let the mastering facility do that.
6. Add some 8kHz to the lead vocal. Maybe even add a little delay to her voice.
7. Add some more compression to the lead vocal - it's ducking in and out of the mix - or ride a fader...

Overall, it's a good song and a good first mix.

Thar ya be....

AlexLakis · 23rd March 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnybregar

First, the whole mix could use a bit of "de-mudding". There's a lot of energy around 180 Hz and you may want to thin out the guitar and bass there. That would open up a hole for the vocals.

Agreed, this is part of what I meant when I mentioned that the guitars were a little too "roomy" sounding.

FossilTooth · 23rd March 2007

First song:

Some of the sounds are great! others can be improved. The snare is a bit inconsistent in level and tone. In one section it's buried, and then, when it comes back in later, it's huge and bulky. Maybe try a high pass, subtractive eq in the mids, some diferent ambience, and the level fader. It sounds sloppy instead of rockin' to me.

Some guitars are great! Some interesting guitar lines could pop out more, and some lines could be more subdued. The vocal could use a little work. Feel free to give the 'lo-fi' sections a little more distinctive personality!

I think there's some great stuff there! Some of the performances and arrangements are pretty good as well. Keep working at it!

usamike · 24th March 2007

Thanks for all the advice (esp. Johnny and Justin). I've put in some time on both. Here are revisions. Gettikng somewhere?

23rd March 2007	#11
FossilTooth Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 920	First song: Some of the sounds are great! others can be improved. The snare is a bit inconsistent in level and tone. In one section it's buried, and then, when it comes back in later, it's huge and bulky. Maybe try a high pass, subtractive eq in the mids, some diferent ambience, and the level fader. It sounds sloppy instead of rockin' to me. Some guitars are great! Some interesting guitar lines could pop out more, and some lines could be more subdued. The vocal could use a little work. Feel free to give the 'lo-fi' sections a little more distinctive personality! I think there's some great stuff there! Some of the performances and arrangements are pretty good as well. Keep working at it! __________________ Justin Colletti Audio Engineer and Journalist from Brooklyn New Issue of "Trust Me, I'm A Scientist" out now Win Free gear on SonicScoop Get Science on Twitter \| Facebook \| RSS

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21st March 2007	#2
AlexLakis Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3,631	I'd lose the breaths on the male vocal in the filtered vocal parts. Kinda distracts from the female vocal. The guitars occupy good space, but they sound a little too roomy for me, especially the left one. Just a personal preference for the genre, really. As far as the arrangement, the vocals are cool when they're together, but I don't dig it when two vocalists are singing different things over each other. Typical of the times, I suppose, seems to be everywhere. At least they're not screaming over each other! That's all I can tell on my crappy laptop headphones. Sounds nice! thumbsup

22nd March 2007	#4
imloggedin Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 649	im not fond of the effect on the vocals at the beginning. i think i know what you were going for but the effect u put just kinda sounds like someone put a piece of cardboard between the singer and the mic or something. it sounds pretty good but id prolly do something about the drums too. the snare sounds a little funny to me. what kinda mics did you use and whatd you mix in?

22nd March 2007	#6
usamike Gear addict Joined: Apr 2005 Location: LA Posts: 479 Thread Starter	Top to bottom Protools LE w/a Digi 002r. Snare drum was a 57 into Helios pre w/a touch of distressor.

23rd March 2007	#7
lpkyer Lives for gear Joined: May 2006 Location: Montréal Posts: 1,809	More drums !! More Reverb and EQ on everything!

23rd March 2007	#9
johnnybregar Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 509 1 Review written	Just my 2 cents on the second song.... This track has a very "live" feel to it - meaning that the individual parts don't really have much individual definition. First, the whole mix could use a bit of "de-mudding". There's a lot of energy around 180 Hz and you may want to thin out the guitar and bass there. That would open up a hole for the vocals. I would also pan the guitar left a bit and maybe even the vocal right since there's only 3 instruments. Here's some random stuff to try: 1. Put the guitar and vocal on one room reverb, the drums and bass on another. 2. Add some 4kHz to the guitar. 3. Compress the bass a bit more - it pops out from time to time and gets a little pointy. Same with the kick drum. 4. Maybe take a little high end off the kick. 5. The last chorus is totally distorted and sounds like a cheap limiter has been jacked up too high to get levels hot. Don't do that - let the mastering facility do that. 6. Add some 8kHz to the lead vocal. Maybe even add a little delay to her voice. 7. Add some more compression to the lead vocal - it's ducking in and out of the mix - or ride a fader... Overall, it's a good song and a good first mix. Thar ya be....