-
I need some trusted ears on this!!!!
Hey beautiful MP family! I need your humble opinion on mix and just overall feel of this song please. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Mix and arrangement is what I’m most looking for.
Thanks in advance,
~AG
-
21 Replies
-
AG FLUX! Love this, man! Thanks for sharing with us all 🙌
Here are my initial reactions:
- The autopanning on the Rhodes feels too extreme to me – like, it’s kinda fun and trippy in the intro when it’s the only instrument, but after that the “depth” of the panning kept distracting me from the vocal and it was all I could focus on haha. I would try a few things: 1) keep some of the rhodes fixed at center pan while a lesser amount of it swirls L/R (u could achieve this via parallel processing or blend knob on the autopanner, or put the pan plugin on a send so u still get a fair amount of “dry” centered rhodes. 2) slow the pan frequency so it’s less franetic, more washy, oozy-doozy. 3) make the rhodes more dark/lo-fi so it competes less against the vocals and becomes more textural than featured. The filtering could be automated too if u want, so instead of “rhodes on” and “rhodes off” you could have “rhodes filter-morphing” as a 3rd option. I tend to automate the stock Avid “kill filter” or the Soundtoys FilterFreak for this type of thing, but there are tons of options out there.
- Turn up those vocals! And they could use a bit of hype and hi pass. Here’s a tip that feels like cheating: drop a Waves CLA Vocals plugin on the insert, load up the “Face to Face Dry” preset, which will sound overboard and too loud but also cool, so then just dial back the output and some of the other bells and whistles on that plugin to taste. I’m all about knowing (and teaching) how to achieve a polished, hype, hifi vocal sound from scratch. But if you’ve downloaded my 5 Mix Power Tips you’ll also be familiar with my “don’t be snobby” tip lol. I used to scoff at those all-in-one Waves things. And while they do look hideous 😂, and do kinda feel like cheating 🤫, there are some great go-to settings and presets in some of them that I’ll turn to for a quick fix.
- Love the kick – feels great
- Could smash up the master bus a bit more – not distorted, but louder and more aggressive. Try some harmonic console bus plugins on your master and see what sounds cool. Waves NLS and Softube Console1 are a couple go-tos of mine. And then check out the limiter vid I posted on @JLEW‘s recent discussion and see how far you can comfortably crank that mix. https://mixprotege.com/forums/discussion/limiter-mastering-question-please-advise/
Great stuff, Alex! Looking forward to reading thoughts from others in the community and hearing how your mix progresses!
-
Dana,
Always bringing the heat man!! Dang so many great observations and yes that pan is making me sea sick haha. So great to have you all as my compass, I literally was smiling reading these cause they make absolute sense to me. I’m gunna mess with all these tid bits in here and def post the progress by tomorrow latest. Much much appreciated! Also thanks for the plug-in advice and little mix doc.
-
Hey Alex! Love it man! Thanks for sharing this.
This song sounds great! I LOVE the chorus, especially the rhythmic flow of the vocals, so cool!
I read Dana’s comments and agree w/ the panning/filtering stuff he was saying.
A couple of other thoughts that were just my first impressions – at the end of the song I kind of wanted another chorus. When it ended after just a half chorus it felt like it wanted the second half. I’m sure you are trying to keep it shorter time wise, but if not, I don’t think it would hurt to add it in. Maybe it could end with the additional chorus, but this final time without drums or with some other cool treatment that puts a point on things! just an idea…
I also really like that middle section where it breaks down to the orchestral string “stabs”. I found myself wanting to hear some sick bass fill coming out of that section, around 1:49-1:51. You did do a two note fill but I wonder what something more featured might feel like there?
Just a couple of ideas to take or leave. The track sounds super dope. Let us know when the final version is out. Can’t wait to hear it!
Best,
JLew
-
Jesse,
Thanks so much for listening!! I really appreciate the feedback and great points with the bass fill + more chorus (as I’ve been debating). This is aiming for an ad campaign so I wanted to keep it short and sweet. Much love for the suggestions and elephant ear!! I will keep y’all posted on the next mix ASAP.
-
-
Saaaaaweeeeet Track Alex! – Great vibe for sure.
(I made these notes before reading Dana’s masterclass, on point observations!)
- Everything Dana said.
- The panning at the beginning is somewhat disorienting. I’d suggest it being more subtle in the mix and dropping out from time to time for variation
- I wanted to hear those vocals a little more up front in the mix
Just a couple of creative notes that you can take/leave
- Perhaps intersperse some harmonies/efx on specific phrases periodically for some ear candy
- Maybe every 4th snare hit could have a med/long reverb for some texture
- I wanted to hear a bit more of the string pad. Very nicely used sparingly
And lastly – That Kick hits hard!😎
Great Job
Stuart
-
Stuart,
Thanks for the input and listen!!! I very much agree and am implementing these options. I just switched up the main key from all the panning nightmares lol and it sounds a lot better already!
Appreciate you taking the time with this. Sending a newer version ASAP!
-
Stuart,
- Perhaps intersperse some harmonies/efx on specific phrases periodically for some ear candy
- Maybe every 4th snare hit could have a med/long reverb for some texture
- I wanted to hear a bit more of the string pad. Very nicely used sparingly
Love these point too. Sorry I didn’t address these enough in initial post. I will mess with these but really appreciate these ideas. Obsessed with the snare stacks. The harmony fx’s are always fun to play with, agreed. Ear candy for the WIN. That’s where my head likes to go! True with all responses.
This community is really insane. I am very lucky to have all this feedback and ear insight.
THANK YOU😱🙏
-
Alex, If my memory is correct, during the M-P meetup Dana had a couple months ago you mentioned you were in Hawaii. That fact stuck with me because I’ve been over yonder a couple times and loved the islands. I even hopped the Do Not Cross signs on a Big Island southern lava flow and had a magical sunrise hike. All I could see in any direction was lava or the Pacific. Now for the offered opinion and I was really trying to be succinct but you got to set up the punchline. “This white boy spits fire like Pele spits Aa.” Absolutely love the middle section where you break it down to orchestral stabs!! -PT
-
Haha Paul, love that line. Glad you dug the stab orchestral part was just tryin to switch it up.
Yes a beautiful island indeed. The people, culture, weather, music, food, and ocean is a trip. Glad you got to dip your toes in the mana that surrounds these amazing lava rocks. Lots to be seen!
-
-
Alex, I took the opportunity to work on your track addressing a few of the mix family comments. My hope is that your listeners here can now compare the before and after, at least within the parameters I can get at. Thank you for allowing me onto your work. I’m learning some new tricks in mastering because of this. Firstly, my Ozone 11 Mastering software allows me to discretely raise the level of a Vocal, Bass, or Drum stem right off the two track. It’s crazy. I think this is the most audible change. Secondly, I managed another .5dB of overall and avoided any clipped samples while adding a touch of saturation using the low level of soft clip afforded by the Ozone. Thirdly, I took the “Low End Focus” tool and made the 20 – 150 Hz range more punchy than smooth. You get that option. Dana loved the thumpin’ kick so I gave it a little love. And finally, I took advantage of the software’s intelligence and ran the track through the frequency analysis. It splits things into up to 4 bands across the audio spectrum and then allows you to enhance the L-R spread of any or all bands. I gave the low mid and high mid bands a little breathing room so the Vocals and Keyboards have a little wider feel. Although I’m a sucker for the old Beatles vocals thissa way and instruments thatta way technique, I kept you modern. I trust you will be the best judge of my experiment and especially hope other listeners find it educational. -PT
-
Paul,
Love it!!! Thanks for really getting in there and passing it through ozone. I love that plug-in and concur with some of those touches for sureeeee. I found with re-setting some of those initial input sounds it cleared a lot of space and clarity. There’s this distortion in the vocals that I’m tryin to figure out with some of the bass frequencies as well.
Got a newer mix coming soon that solves some of these issues mentioned. Very much appreciate, the thought, time, critque and listen Paul!!! Taking notes from the crew, my hand is tired haha.
-
-
Vibey track! Real tasty.
Man, I can’t add much of anything to this thread that hasn’t already been said. I enjoy Alex’s phatter kick though I miss a little bit of the energy of the original mix/master – the rest of the instrumental felt perhaps quieter.
Happy to hear more vocals.
The Rhodes pan does make me seasick in headphones so would ask to tame that per Dana’s notes.
Can’t wait to hear the next iteration!
Thanks for sharing!
-
Jeremy,
Thanks brotha!! Yes, crazy how the panning element I just completely threw to the side cause I over listened to this. I was tuned into the wrong things, thank god for the community!
New mix coming soon. Thanks for the ear man!
-
-
Okay so some improvements I feel, thanks to you ALL!!! I’m getting kinda frustrated with this one lol and about over it. Switched up the patch from that one key (seasick) sound as I couldn’t control the panning the way I wanted so I decided to explore for different sounds. Added a cool hook synth and it def helped with overall vocal clarity. Took pieces from everyones suggestions and really like how they sounded.
So again, THANK YOU!!r
-
Love this, Alex!! I can really hear and focus on your vocals now! And so many great little ear candy production moments (are the background vocal textures new? Really nice!). Bravo, bra! 👏 💜
And thanks everyone for their amazing, insightful, creative suggestions!! Go, team!! 🤜 🤛
-
Thank You Dana! No not new, just uncovered from the chaos so great input! That really solved multiple issues in one stroke. Those are adlibs that I panned left and right with some altered filters and delay. Glad you dug!
-
-
-
Alex, I have an arrangement idea that I was enjoying in my head today. During the breakdown / orchestral stab section (1:30 +) you drop the electronic claps ever so briefly. They’re playing a syncopated pattern on the uno AND two FOUR. I wonder if that section would have a stronger differentiated feel from the other sections if the backbeat of TWO and FOUR were used. I’m gonna upload a middle section of rap (not me, that’s for sure) that sits inside a piece I’m working on. I specifically invite you have a listen when you can as our apparent hop head. In a day or so. -PT
-
Thanks Paul! Cool idea that I may try and implement. Also I’ll keep an ear out for your track too! Thanks for listening and glad you hear improvements.
-
-
Your new version is much stronger and focused on the vocal delivery. YEA!!
-
Hi Alex, nothing more to add here. Love the track! Good stuff!
-
Hey David! I greatly appreciate the listen and stoke.
-
Log in to reply.