New Approach to mixing..feedback wanted..

[RobertAllan]

New Approach to Mixing!

Hey guys! Not much action in the "user showcase" part these days..Lol
Anyways..I was hoping for a little feedback on a mix i just finished.
Wrote the song yesterday, recorded this morning, stepped away and mixed it tonight.
As much as the song might be "meh...?" depending on what you like, there are tons of people
with good ears and mixing experience that MIGHT give me a "thumb up or down"..
The reason i ask is i did the mix totally different then any other mix ive ever done. Meaning i
mixed the tracks in different order, different approach to refference track, used plugins i havnt really
looked into before etc.. etc..
NOW...In my head..Ive listened to it on my monitors and on my mp3-player with headphones.
I feel like ive nailed a "ballance" on this mix that i havnt done before, which to me makes it sound better
then previous mixes ive done. But i need a second opinion..If cool i have found a new way of mixing,
if fail..well, lol..back to the drawing board,lol..

https://soundcloud.com/robertallanofficial/ttyodemomix

Thanks in advance:)


RobertAllan

[midimoose]

Hi Robert--

I'm no "mixmaster" by any stretch of imagination, still climbing that learning curve myself But, I know how easy it is to lose your objectivity after listening to a piece 1.3 million times, so-- my 2 cents worth. Overall, the mix sounds pretty good to me, although the left channel sounds considerably stronger than the right,(especially in the 1st half of the song). Might just be my aging ears? I would be tempted to bring up the guitar volume a bit, and pan it more to the right for balance with the vocals. I listened on a pair of Sennheiser earphones. I'd also like to hear some input from more experienced ears than mine, but that's my initial take. I keep learning and remind myself to keep it fun! Rick.

[RobertAllan]

Hi Robert--

I'm no "mixmaster" by any stretch of imagination, still climbing that learning curve myself But, I know how easy it is to lose your objectivity after listening to a piece 1.3 million times, so-- my 2 cents worth. Overall, the mix sounds pretty good to me, although the left channel sounds considerably stronger than the right,(especially in the 1st half of the song). Might just be my aging ears? I would be tempted to bring up the guitar volume a bit, and pan it more to the right for balance with the vocals. I listened on a pair of Sennheiser earphones. I'd also like to hear some input from more experienced ears than mine, but that's my initial take. I keep learning and remind myself to keep it fun! Rick.

Much much appreciated Rick!! Thanks for taking the time to check me out and leave your thoughts!
That was basically exacly what i had hoped. Someone but me to listen and say what they heard kinda thing
And i think your right on your opinion to be honest. I recorded a scratch track of the entire song on guitar before
i recorded the rest for refference and to make it easier for myself to create layers, when i deleted it (didnt focus on playing good or making it sound nice, just focused on chord changes and rythme) i may have lost a guitar track that was ballanced towards the vocals. I will try and just adjust the volume a bit and maybe re-pan one of the main guitar tracks either to the middle (with the vocals) or to the right of it, to sort it. Also yesterday i realized that the bassline is a little
weird on the second E chord (sounds a bit weird to me..) So i might re-do the bassline or see if i can mix it differently to sort that. Thanks again Rick! Means alot to get a second opinion


RobertAllan

[RobertAllan]

So...I did a new mix. Would be cool to hear what you think.

I re-did the panning (left and right) and hopefully that gives a better ballance between guitars and vocals
I re-mixed the bass (played around with eq and compression), i adjusted volume on a few tracks to give it
a smoother sound, and adjusted the guitar-tone for the solo.

https://soundcloud.com/robertallanoffic ... demomixnew






RobertAllan

[midimoose]

Hey Robert--

YEAH-- this sounds much more well balanced, and overall "brighter" than the first mix. Upping the guitar volume really helped, and I hear the guitar parts much more clearly now. Nice work, and, in my opinion, your mix system seems to be working well for you. I'd still like to hear some more experienced ears weigh in on this--c'mon Mixcraft folks, let Robert know what you think--I hope you were able to hear the initial mix compared to this one. Huge improvement, in my opinion.Keep it up! Rick.

[RobertAllan]

Hey Robert--

YEAH-- this sounds much more well balanced, and overall "brighter" than the first mix. Upping the guitar volume really helped, and I hear the guitar parts much more clearly now. Nice work, and, in my opinion, your mix system seems to be working well for you. I'd still like to hear some more experienced ears weigh in on this--c'mon Mixcraft folks, let Robert know what you think--I hope you were able to hear the initial mix compared to this one. Huge improvement, in my opinion.Keep it up! Rick.

Thanks a million Rick! Im glad you liked the new mix
Im really happy with it myself,lol but then again i was happy with the last one, but then after you said what you heard
i heard the same thing, so maybe more experienced ears will find something else i can/should tweak..
But really, Thanks alot man! Really needed a second opinion on this



RobertAllan

[mick]

I'm not a mixer, only a listener so this is just a personal opinion whether right or wrong!
You can borrow my ears if you wish and they are hinting that the guitars at the opening are panned too much left and right.
I can imagine bringing them a little more centre so that they sound as if they belong to the same band and not 2 guitarists with an ear each. Its something that came across immediately but thats all! I'm taking my ears back now.

This is tricky because I am listening on headphones and its a case of this goes in this ear and that goes in that ear, but in real life the sound is not so defined as left ear and right ear because generally an ear gets a bit of what the other is hearing. With headphones its not so, - so the mix needs to bleed a little bit of the other channel to simulate some degree of reality.
A pair of speakers placed in front at a given distance apart could give a different vibe altogether so that could change everything. So for speaker listening its likely to be spot on, but for headphones almost.

[RobertAllan]

I'm not a mixer, only a listener so this is just a personal opinion whether right or wrong!
You can borrow my ears if you wish and they are hinting that the guitars at the opening are panned too much left and right.
I can imagine bringing them a little more centre so that they sound as if they belong to the same band and not 2 guitarists with an ear each. Its something that came across immediately but thats all! I'm taking my ears back now.

This is tricky because I am listening on headphones and its a case of this goes in this ear and that goes in that ear, but in real life the sound is not so defined as left ear and right ear because generally an ear gets a bit of what the other is hearing. With headphones its not so, - so the mix needs to bleed a little bit of the other channel to simulate some degree of reality.
A pair of speakers placed in front at a given distance apart could give a different vibe altogether so that could change everything. So for speaker listening its likely to be spot on, but for headphones almost.

Appreciate the input Mike! Easier to sort things, when i know what to sort,lol
Re-did the panning and adjusted a few volumes..Any better?

https://soundcloud.com/robertallanoffic ... odemomix03


RobertAllan

[thevolumecontrol]

the song is really good. the mix sounds great too, however, my ears want to hear an organ in this song. you should do one!

[midimoose]

Hi folks,

Happy to hear some other objective input on this-- it's a learning experience for me, too. Thanks for the listening, Mick-- another set of objective ears is a great tool for us learning the mix thing. Robert, I gave this latest mix a listen on my monitor speakers instead of 'phones, and I agree with Mick-- this is sounding better as you go. Glad to have been of some help, Rick.

[mick]

My monitors are not fixed up presently and the best I could do was put 30 seconds of each mix on a cd and listen in the car. Not recommended at all but it proved what I said about monitoring with head phones or speakers because I get a different sound with both mixes with speakers compared with headphones. I don't get a "guitar in each ear" with speakers even tho' they are crappy (but not bad for a car) (The speakers not the guitars!)

The second mix is better and sounds more "open" but the guitar in the left channel still sounds a teeny bit louder and draws my attention. But, my left ear is better than the right for sensitivity and higher frequencies so there's another factor to consider confirming that many listeners are much better than one and could be why I get more guitar in the left.

I agree with Midimoose that the second mix is better, and for me at least sounds more balanced for headphones and speakers.

[RobertAllan]

the song is really good. the mix sounds great too, however, my ears want to hear an organ in this song. you should do one!

Much much appreciated thevolumecontrol! And i was actually concidering it






RobertAllan

[RobertAllan]

Thanks alot for the input guys! After a while of messing with a song you start needing fresh ears,lol
Glad you all feel the mix is getting better, that helps alot! Im leaning towards leaving the mix as is and
then see if i can add some keys etc.. and then concider the song done for now
Thanks alot Rick,Mick&thevolumecontroll! Really needed to know if i was on to something with my new mixing style on
this one









RobertAllan

[RobertAllan]

.................

[Mark Bliss]

All examples missing?