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does this mix need more air?
hey! this is a final mix (at least … i think and hope it is haha) and wondering if it needs more air?
i played it in a car back to back with a lot of other similar pop rock vibe songs, and felt it lacking in the air dept. a little muted, maybe needing some more sparkle. also i might still be concerned about the flubby-ness of the lower to mid range, but i also think i’m wayyyy too close to the mix at this stage and have lost some perspective 😉
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6 Replies
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Phoebes,
I’m thinking you have another mix possibility in you for this super-poppy (comin-in-hot-at- (-9LUFS) love song.
I read your critique and then listened. My first impression was that no, you’re not lacking air in the intro KB/ BS/SYNTH line. But then the vocal appears and it can’t compete (frequency bandwidth wise) with the music. That contrast of a dull vocal against the music might just be the crux of your identified lack-of-air problem. Your singer might be emphysemic, but I have another diagnosis worth pursuing.
I put a Mid / Side EQ on your track and soloed up just the Mid thinking I could add a high frequency shelf to bring the vocal’s airiness to the forefront. Listening with that EQ in place revealed what I think might be a big contributor to the problem. The vocals in the middle are not very loud. It sounds like the two vocal performances are interfering with each other time wise. It’s phase-y. It’s a cool, effective sound when used for creating width on a stereo track, but if you had a solid foundation of vocal center panned and then hard panned the two additional vocal takes L and R, you’d have a wide, lush, vocal presentation that would be easy to brighten up to save your patient and bedazzle your audience.
To be fair, I am not an actual doctor, but I do like analogies.
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thank you Paul! the vocal effects were definitely a stylistic choice. i liked the spread slightly distorted vibe. but yes i think you’re right, they’re getting buried from verse 2 onwards when everything get’s more punchy and full in texture. maybe i center it more from verse 2 onwards and that would make for a fun change in momentum as well.
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Phoebe,
Your stylistic choice for the slightly distorted and split vocals supports the song better than does a main center vocal as I suggested. That’s a polite way to say the singer sounds appropriately off center. Following that path, I put the M/S EQ across your track and gave just the SIDES a +2 dB high shelf (Baxandall shaped filter.) That seemed to clarify the vocals and draw a little more attention to them off to the side and away from the thumpin’ good Middle music. Perhaps that will get you to the finish line.🏁
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So good, @phoebekatis! Such a fun track – and mix! Follow your ears and gut on the top end 👍. I think it’s really close and has a total vibe and is loud and proud and punchy. And could stand on its own as-is. BUT, yeah, if you want it to mix nicely in a playlist of top 40 pop, def try some top-end “lift”. Try a quick test for your car with a simple Pultec EQP-1A set with a wide-bandwidth boost at 10-12k. Or a MAAG/NTI EQ – 1-click of 2.5k and a generous dose of “Air” band.
To @-PT‘s point, you could also add some top-end air to the vocal first, and then add more top-end to the overall mix to taste, as currently, if feels like the track might have more top-end than the vocal. Try some Pultec 10k, or even the “Dolby” send I talk about in many of the MixLAB videos. You can also see me showing it in this video around 46min.
Great work, great music, @phoebekatis!
mixprotege.com
Mixing Indie Folk Vocals (feat Cammy Kurtzman)
In this livestream, Dana Nielsen shares his go-to methods for mixing vocals with indie-folk artist, Cammy Kurtzman.
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thank you so much ! we added more vocal air it POPPED so i’m very happy w it 🙂
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Amazing! Can’t wait to hear it when it’s done!
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