Please offer suggestions, mix advice for first TV instro

[jjack73]

I would certainly appreciate any comments or suggestions regarding "Rough Road" -- my first attempt at a TV cue. It is aimed at an old listing that asked for an uptempo contemporary country track for a reality cable show, or something like that. I am using it as a test listing.
This is also my first track using Logic Pro X (finally graduated from Garageband). And speaking of firsts, this is the first time I have ever used loops or samples to compose and record a track. Normally, I do singer-songwriter material.
Any help, criticism or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
James Albert Jackson
https://soundcloud.com/jamesalbertjackson/rough-road

[Joseph]

Is there any way you could post the listing? This will help us give better feedback.

-Joseph

[jjack73]

Joseph, thanks for responding. As far as the listing is concerned, I don't have it handy and it isn't really vital since I am more interested in the technical and compositional aspects, as opposed to accurate market targeting. The listing I mentioned was just a jumping off point for what is basically an academic exercise.
Sorry for the hassle.
Thanks again,
Jim

[Joseph]

Joseph, thanks for responding. As far as the listing is concerned, I don't have it handy and it isn't really vital since I am more interested in the technical and compositional aspects, as opposed to accurate market targeting. The listing I mentioned was just a jumping off point for what is basically an academic exercise.
Sorry for the hassle.
Thanks again,
Jim

No hassle, man. I like the track. I think it has a good vibe and compositionally it works. There's some good playing in there, too. The mix sounds well balanced to me, but maybe a little dark or muddy. I'm not very skilled at picking apart a mix yet so maybe some more experienced members could help more on that front. If you are going to go for the marketing end, look at adding some edit points and maybe a break from the guitars so it doesn't just sound like a jam track (No offense, I'm just repeating the critiques I heard at the road rally about some tracks that were similar to yours). HTH

-Joseph

[daveydad]

Not an expert on this genre but I like it! The first thing I thought was that the mix seems a little muddy and not distinct enough. Can't hear the drums real well... it also kind of has a sameness the entire time. Maybe add a break or change the feel somewhere along the line.

[jjack73]

I agree. I also think I need to add edit points as well, which might serve to break the monotony.
I rolled off a lot of bass and low-mids in order to eliminate muddieness. Should I take more off the bottom or boost the top? I'll give both a whirl!
Thank you very much, sir.

[andygabrys]

hey James,

its got really good energy and the ideas are there. It absolutely needs some build over time and some edits.

the mix needs a lot of work. If you are going to roll off bottom that is cool, but don't touch the bass and drums - the bottom of this mix is nearly nonexistent.

Strangely - the next tune that came up on your soundcloud page https://soundcloud.com/jamesalbertjacks ... e-sky-demo has a great sounding backing track (until the vocal comes in) that is mixed like you should be mixing this country theme. Hear the bass and drums. Also make things relatively present (i.e. not distant in reverb). If you mixed the backing track on "Frightened..." then you already know what to do. If you didn't, that's the gap right there.

Four things I would consider:

1) ambience - if you are adding a lot of reverb to the guitars or the kit or really jacking the room mics up on the kit, consider backing that off. Things sound murky because they have a layer of something between them and the listener.

2) cutting vs. boosting eq - to make something darker, roll off the top. To make something brighter, roll off the bottom. To make something clearer, find some midrange bands that resonate when boosted with a tight Q and cut them a couple db instead of boosting - often this will be around 400 hz (the room sound on most live instruments) and on vocals 1kh and 2.2 kHz etc. To make something sound really close to the listener and larger than life, boost the top end judiciously (often used for vocals). Beware of boosting everything (especially if you have already cut a lot of bottom). That usually results in a trashy sounding ultra cut your head off bright mix.

3) Panning - Wide mixes (IMHO) sound great. But using a bunch of stereo tracks doesn't make a wide mix. Nor does copying the same performance in mono, panning one hard L and one hard R. This still sounds narrow. If you want stuff to pop out and be heard, use more mono than stereo, and double your performances L + R instead of copying. Or if you are tight on time, learn how to either time shift or use delays / reverbs to give the L side performance a complementary R side that is slightly delayed in time, opening up the middle of the mix for your melody(s) and giving the mix impressive width.

4) Balances - perhaps the most important thing, but if you are going to mess with all the tracks as above, it needs to be revisited many times through the mix. Turn your monitors down to the point where they are nearly inaudible, then raise them to the point where you can hear yourself breathe over the music. Now can you hear every element in the mix? Revise levels until the mix is balanced.

HTH

[andygabrys]

Is there any way you could post the listing? This will help us give better feedback.

-Joseph

One more thought -

even though you are doing this cue as an academic exercise - the listings often have tracks that you can reference for mix and production quality (as well as style and vibe).

If you have some ref tracks that you can cut back and forth to listen to you will be more successful with the end product.

Along those lines the Magic AB plugin is one of the most useful things you can ever get. https://www.samplemagic.com/details/184/magic-ab

its often on sale cheaper than that although they just released a new version and the price went up a little. Very useful for mixing or "mastering".

Good luck.

[jjack73]

Wow Andy! Thanks a lot! As you can tell, if it isn't singer-songwriter, vocal and piano/guitar, I am rather lost. I really wanted to push myself with something new to me, so that I could learn the ins and outs of using Logic Pro X.
I will continue to learn how to produce fuller arrangements by doing test tracks and posting here for reviews (if people will tolerate me). Otherwise, I think I should stick to simple singer-songwriter tracks, and perhaps piano/guitar solo instrumentals, for a while.
Thanks again,
Jim

[andygabrys]

Wow Andy! Thanks a lot! As you can tell, if it isn't singer-songwriter, vocal and piano/guitar, I am rather lost. I really wanted to push myself with something new to me, so that I could learn the ins and outs of using Logic Pro X.
I will continue to learn how to produce fuller arrangements by doing test tracks and posting here for reviews (if people will tolerate me). Otherwise, I think I should stick to simple singer-songwriter tracks, and perhaps piano/guitar solo instrumentals, for a while.
Thanks again,
Jim

NAW! I think you did good work. Of course, there is the composition / playing (which works I think), the arrangement (which would be much better considering a building scheme towards the end and some edit points), and the mix (which is the think that sticks out the most IMO).

Just mix it like the other tune. Its the same thing, different sounds.