Pop maestros mix advice please!

[butterfly]

Ok, I'm in the process of putting to-gether a demo for a music lawyer of commercial pop, rock, rb, hip hop etc and want to get the stuff sounding as close to a record as possible, tricky since I am not a mix engineer and have very modest gear in an untreated room. This is a girl pop, a la girls aloud etc, tune. Pretty difficult for me to judge the low end on my monitors and whether things are getting cluttered when the choruses come in. the only real eqing I have done is to filter off the low end on the majority of the tracks that were eating up space there. I think mix is ok but kind of lacks excitement and sounds a bit static. Anyway would love to get some input from u guys on this, any thoughts on mix or even arr and song welcome.

[Mr. Liszt]

Hey Butterfly,

I've been meaning to get to this.

Only listened on Laptop speakers so keep that in mind.

Very much reminds me of Maroon 5 latest two hits.

Mix sounds fine. It's hot! Fun arrangement and really impressive. Great vocals. Clever little melodies.

I think that the arrangement needs something sometimes.


Why does the piano disappear sometimes in those parts? I like what is there but I think it needs to be thicker. It sounds like there is a track missing from the mix. I think this is because there is only counterpoint (single melodic lines) which is typical in this genre to some extent but a sustained chord in the chorus at least would be nice. Maybe a distant guitar strumming one chord per bar? Maybe though if you just brought the backing vocals out a lot more this would solve it.

Also, in the chorus, on the first sylables of each phrase: "Top" "Got" "Freak" and "See" I think you should add a very clear well executed high E note on each sylable. That would really improve the chorus n my eyes. There is a hint of a high E in there sometimes but not an impressive one and not consistent.


A little long, no? If the club version then that makes sense.

[butterfly]

Cheers Jerome, yeah perhaps the chorus could do with a bit more harmony, normally like to keep it tucked in, harmony increases throughout song as I felt it was more effective rather than bunging it all in the first chorus. Piano part is probably thinned out quite a bit to let the bass come through. I think the idea of a guitar chord is a nice idea and possibly worth trying. Yes agree it is a little long I did a shorter mix but just didn't like it as much, will probably require a bit more thought. Anyway how's your stuff going, what ever happened to that track that u recorded the live drums for and were going to write a killer tune for?

Anyone else have any insights or is this too poppy for all u rockers? or not urban enough for all the hip hoppers?

[Mr. Liszt]

I see your thoughts. You will make the best decision. I really stress those high E's though.

To poppy? Not urban enough?

This song is killer and fun as hell.

How about some other cuts from the demo?

About my song, "Oooo... Ahhh..."

I have not been able to track the rest of the instruments yet. The arrangement is done though and I think it is very strong and I can't wait for you to hear a preliminary demo of it. I have like 100 songs to record! It's crazy lately! Soon though.