What's Wrong with This Mix?

Falcon900EX

New member
I'm convinced the vocals need to cut through more (maybe louder?). I've used EZ Mix 2 (as I'm a newbie), but have Reaper's plugins at my disposal. Any suggestions on how to make this thing sound better? Thanks!

soundcloud.com/philip_geddes/some-memories-cannot-die3
 
It's a nice, simple mix. Vocal sounds good (goes a little flat on that last line before the "band" kicks in). I guess the only thing fighting majorly with the lead vocal is the piano; it takes up the vocal range and it also takes a lot of stereo space... I would change the piano to mono, or at least crush the stereo spread (panning) down a bit, also bring it down volume-wise. Also, now that I got to the end, I think the string section is very "hot" (loud) as well. I'm not sure if you compressed the vocal much; it sounds nice and crisp but gets a bit lost when your dynamics are lower or your lyrics are a bit dense (words are close together). I'd compress a little more, and bring the overall volume up _a touch_ (it doesn't have to be radically louder). A big thing with mixing for a lead vocal is to generally put it dead-center, and keep everything else out of the center to create the space it needs. Even if it's just bumping other instruments over a few ticks to the right or left. Nothing should be in the center other than what you are featuring (in this case, vocal); if a lead instrument like an electric guitar or a sax comes in for a solo (no lead vox), then that can move to the center to take "center stage" with the listener...

That was a lot of mixing minutia, I know, but you really did do a great job; just needs a few tweaks to be even better.

GJ
 
GJ,

Thanks so much for the terrific feedback! I attempted most of the changes you suggested. Hopefully I didn't go overboard on the compression/processing... Would you say it's an improvement overall or no? Thanks again for your time!

soundcloud.com/philip_geddes/some-memories-cannot-die4
 
MUCH better! Vocal is out front where it should be, piano is clear and fits _around_ the vocal nicely. Believe it or not, I'd bring the drums up though, especially on the choruses when the snare backbeat pops in; that's where you want to propel the song with some power. Especially that fill before the modulation-- make that more present. Also, I can't really hear any bass if there is any, but that is most likely my tiny Dell computer speakers (but remember, lots of folks will be listening on something similar rather than a high-end system, so mix with that experience in mind). One other thing, I think it needs a fill leading into the first chorus, if you still have the ability to tweak drums. A little abrupt just going from side-stick/brushes to backbeat without any set-up figure. JMHO...

GJ
 
Allrighty... after some additional tweaks, I'm calling this "good-enough"! Couldn't have made this much head-way without your guidance, so hats-off to you, GJ.

soundcloud.com/philip_geddes/some-memories-cannot-die
 
No problem, glad I could help. The link you posted is broken (I get an error page), but I think I heard the most updated version by just eliminating the "4" at the end. Anyway, it sounds good and nice job.

GJ
 
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