mixing, mixing, mixing

[johnlewitt]

Hi All,

I've been working on my mixing technique, trying to come up with a detailed approach to take on every single song I produce (I've gone so far as to create a detailed check list, though I keep adding to it!). This is one of the first tunes I've finished with this new approach and as such, I'm curious to hear what you all think of it.

https://soundcloud.com/john-lewitt/not-forgot

Thanks for listening.

John

[cassmcentee]

Getting a really nice warm sound John!
The bass has a wonderful tone...
One thing though re:bass---- it kinda distorts my subwoofer at 1:03, could pull that bass down just a hair each time that bass repeats that phrase.
Does anybody else hear that?
Or do I have my Sub too hot????????
Everything else sounds so good.
One of the nicest mixes I've heard recently...

Beautiful work Sir!
Cass

[becw75]

Really good... On headphones.
Balance perfect, I didn't detect any distortion/ clipping on headphones.
After reading previous post - I could hear bass end was rumbley. Esp earlier on when less instrumentation.

Regards
Rebecca

[sansharbour]

Hi John

I listened to your song twice. Good song.
Just one comment though. Bass is a strange animal
The bass sound you have on this tune is very powerful and strong. Almost wanting to jump out of the speakers.
At its current volume I found that when it came in it demanded that I listen to it which took away from listening to the vocal.

If you turn it down to an extreme low volume level you will hear the bass on par with the vocal which probably means the bass is too loud.
I used to crank the bass on my songs but recently have lowered volume because it can still be very supportive at lower levels.


Like Cass said just down a hair......

Don

[johnlewitt]

Thanks everybody, your comments are much appreciated.

I posted a new version with the bass brought down by 2 dB's. I'm not sure if that's too much, but I'll be checking it on some other sources later today.

John

[bobporri]

Sounds very good John. I think I heard the older version because it sounds like bass could come down just a bit or maybe scoop out the EQ a bit in the boomy frequency of the bass. I think I heard in headphones what Cass meant at 1:03 and then that part repeats a few measures later. Overall this sounds very good though. By the way, I am a bass fan and really like hearing it but as someone above said, you don't want it to compete with other important parts and I feel it can support and still be fairly prominent.

Some nice parts in that song.

Bob

[mikemichnya]

Hey John,

I listened a few times through the built-in speakers on my dell (not my studio computer) - very warm sounding. I didn't notice what Cass heard at 1:03, but I don't know if I heard the original or the revised version. Your voice has a rich quality, and I thought the counter backing vocals were a nice touch.

I think a systematic approach is the way to go, and since I'm a novice in this area, I'm curious about your procedure. How would you feel about posting your detailed mixing checklist?

Great job!

[johnlewitt]

Thanks Bob and Mike.

Mike, when I'm finished my checklist and happy with it I'd be more than happy to share it.

John

[andygabrys]

hey John,

I think the vocal reverb needs attention. (or maybe I should say i would go for a different approach personally).

remember that a reverb can be:

1) eq'd
2) compressed
3) distorted
etc.

If you leave something full range, it sometimes takes up a lot of space in the mix, and is sort of obvious.

Conversely roll of bottom to keep it from getting muddy (may 80-100hz) - and roll off top (even down to 1 kHz or 2 kHz) and suddenly you can have some space around the voice, yet it can sound a little more contemporary and not heavy on REVERB screaming at you.

For the Lana Del Rey type reverb / delay things you can still filter, but compress and use other tricks (like how you use delays and verbs together) to get that reverb that is brontosaurus thick hanging on the vocal.


NOTE: I am talking about the reverb returns here - not the actual mix sounds themselves

so you send some of your lead vocal to an aux bus that has the reverb inserted on it. After that reverb throw on an eq and remove a little lows and as much as highs feels right to give the vocal some space and still make the reverb a little more invisible

[PaulBergren]

Nice mix John. Yeah, a little heavy on the bass, but other than that I think it sounds great.