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Please Don’t Break this Heart of Mine – finishing touches?
Hey everyone! Would love some feedback on this R&B big band track I recorded and mixed here at Berklee. I’ve put a lot of hours into this project and am running into some ear fatigue. I’m really happy with the balance and tonal composition of the track but it still feels like it’s missing some glue or magic fairy dust. Would love any advice! (file size is too big so forgive the google drive link haha)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/179PE72wZT-CdaW1sRqKoU_ABrBebhUNu/view?usp=sharing
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4 Replies
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Sick! Can’t wait to give this a listen when back in the studio this weekend! (I owe @barrose a listen too 😬 – gonna get caught up after an insane week). Back soon…
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Wow, Sam—what a beast of a mix! 🧠🎧 No wonder you’re feeling some ear fatigue. It’s a long track packed with instruments, and someone’s always soloing—so many elements competing for attention. That makes your job as the mixer super challenging… and I think you’re doing an excellent job given the complexity of the material!
Some highlights:
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Really nice tones across the board.
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Great reverb choices on both the lead vocal and the ensemble.
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The drums have a cool CTI (jazz label) dryness to them—very tasteful.
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Love the wide stereo image on the brass and wind elements—adds a lot of life.
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The bass is super clean—very DI. Could be interesting to warm it up with a parallel amp sim (something classic like an Ampeg B-15 might add some vibe).
If this were on my desk, I’d probably be donning a big ol’ 10-gallon producer hat. I’d be muting those quadruple-tracked background vocals that come in right away 😬, tuning and taming the lead vocal a bit more, and simplifying where possible—like choosing moments for brass and winds to shine, and carving out clearer rhythmic pockets in the groove. Just doing anything I could to guide the listener more easily through the song.
Of course, a lot of that veers into producer/arranger territory—and those decisions can be tricky if the artist is attached to the current arrangement. But given what you’re working with, your mix choices are seriously impressive. 👏👏
Hope that all makes sense! Hats off to you, Sam—great work on a very tough mix!
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Thank you! I definitely learned a lot trying to tame this mix and make room for everything. Maybe I’ll try and make a separate, re-arranged version with some of those cuts and production decisions you were mentioning. Might be nice to offer that as an option. Thanks again and I’ll keep you updated with the final draft!
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Right on, man – keep up the good work!
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