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Hi folks - Working on this singer/songwriter diddy and seeing how the mix is translating. Are the vocal levels about right? Any other mix thoughts?

Thannks!

EO

https://app.box.com/s/acnrxe2cp3yrpefof1lmjs35502ywoza

eeoo wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 17, 2025 11:57 am

Hi folks - Working on this singer/songwriter diddy and seeing how the mix is translating. Are the vocal levels about right? Any other mix thoughts?

Thannks!

EO

https://app.box.com/s/acnrxe2cp3yrpefof1lmjs35502ywoza

Hey Ethan.
Listening as I write this -
really dig the vibe and panning.
However - the center guitar seems to be COMPETING for attention in that space with the center voice.
Would like to hear a mix with the instruments better separated away from the lead vocal.
2 cents from a lurker.
I think this is the first time commenting on one of your productions.
Very cool song.

Wow, beautiful on all fronts. The finger picking guitar seems to be down the middle competing with your wonderful vocal and too hot IMHO.
Like to hear it without that guitar You still got it bud. I hope you get many comments to help in the refinement.

Spot on you guys, thank you! I don't want to get rid of that guitar since i feel like it's driving the bus in a lot of ways, gonna mess around with some side chain compression and see if i can dial something in. Wish me luck and thanks for taking the time!

E

A really nice, captivating song. I agree with previous comments that the vocals need to be heard more, so turning them up a hint would help, maybe a hint more presence, and if that still doesn't do it then perhaps some gentle mid-side processing on the guitar so that its not all down the middle. I hope you get where you want to be with this one, and wish you good luck with it.

eeoo wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 17, 2025 6:57 pm

Spot on you guys, thank you! I don't want to get rid of that guitar since i feel like it's driving the bus in a lot of ways, gonna mess around with some side chain compression and see if i can dial something in. Wish me luck and thanks for taking the time!

E

Hope we'll get to hear your re-mix. I wouldn't REMOVE any of the guitars - just place them wider, and let the vocals hang more central with the bass.
Cheers,
Peter

funsongs wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 18, 2025 12:53 pm

Hope we'll get to hear your re-mix. I wouldn't REMOVE any of the guitars - just place them wider, and let the vocals hang more central with the bass.
Cheers,
Peter

Doesn't fix the root problem though, relying on panning to fix the clash is just moving the problem around instead of solving it.

Pretty song and nicely performed

LIke others mention the picked guitar is stepping on the vocal. It's worse at the start when the vocals don't have so many layers but basically you need to dip that part when the vocalist is singing.

If you have something like Trackspacer it's pretty simple to have it dip only the clashing frequencies whilst the singing is there so you don't lose out on the full guitar sound when the vocalist isn't singing because it works dynamically

Obviously there's different ways around the same issue..dynamic EQ, sidechaining, ducking compression, detailed automation , level riding or you could just mult the guitar and just apply a static EQ when the vocals are present.

I wouldn't be using any panning / widening tricks though as they may not translate well into mono ( still a lot of mono TV's, Radios and stuff like in store audio out there ) so best to do it the right way and EQ or compress the guitar in the first instance.

Also I might like to hear a tad more of the low end, a bit more warmth down there to balance out the sparkly high end.

Mark

You guys thanks so much, really appreciate the ears! I ended up sidechaining the main guitar to the lead vocal and i think it worked pretty well. Also slightly enhanced the low end overall like Mark suggested. If you're curious it's here:
https://app.box.com/s/7yvlf10lhoodp5c540jh2eux6941nsu8

Thanks again, you guys rule!

E

hmmm