Advice needed for more polished production

[trailercue]

Hi everyone,

I’m fairly new to the Taxi world - specifically mixing, mastering, and producing (not as a composer). I recently submitted to a 90s rock listing, but didn’t get forwarded, which is ok

One of the references was Everlong by the Foo Fighters, and the panelist also used that song in their feedback.

Here is the feedback and link for my song https://www.taxi.com/members/eIP9cmPwQd ... kin-garden

“What I like most about this song:
I like the riff idea and enjoyed listening.

I think you could improve this song by:
The production could sound more polished and commercial for this request. More lofi vibes coming through.
Compare with "Everlong" by Foo Fighters for review.

I returned or forwarded this song because:
The production could be at the level of the ref material.”

First, I’m thinking the reference to the LoFi vibe is about the tonal/EQ sound of my song - probably not analogue sounding enough. Does that sound correct?

Second, and most important, what are some things that I can do to my song to make it sound more polished and commercial? I’m at the top of my mixing and mastering skill level (mastered to -14LUFS). I want to use this as a learning experience so that my future songs will be more polished.

Any advice would be invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Scott

[AlanHall]

Scott,
I liked the song. I'm not an expert in this genre, but a couple things stuck out at me. Do you A/B your mix against a reference track in your DAW? That's always recommended.
IMHO the drums are too distant. A few tom fills were barely audible, where I would expect them to really push the music into the next phrase.
Overall, I think the mix is too 'clean', sounding more like The Cars than Foo Fighters.
And I heard some long delay (almost a call and response kind of thing) that I don't recall hearing in the desired genre. But that could be my limited familiarity!
Take the criticisms that I've shared with a grain of salt.

I do believe the recording is good, and a more genre-appropriate mix will go a long way towards making it a forward. There are many Taxi TV episodes (and other videos available) about mixing in general, and many about using compression and saturation to get the "rock vibe" to come across on a recording. Good luck!

[cosmicdolphin]

Scott - It's quite a nice track but it's just not mixed that well.

There is quite an absence on the low end and the mid range is kinda nasal sounding. There's no not much front / back depth either and everything sounds fairly flat.

I ripped a dirty Mp3 and threw it into my mastering setup and even just doing some mastering type EQ and adding a bit of saturation and some depth makes quite a difference.

I still think there is other work to be done but if you wanted to PM me a link where I can get the full Wav I'd be happy to render a new master that you can A/B with your own along with a few notes. I'm away all day tomorrow but I could probably send it back to you Fri/Sat

Mark

[Paulie]

Good feedback above. I agree that the drums sound far away, not close or crisp. The guitar overtone at 0:51 was distracting. Musically I think this track is good, but the mix needs work. Check out YouTube for videos on the infamous "Pink Noise" mixing technique to help level out all of the instruments.