Song About New Year - Help With Mixing Needed

[ant_in_wales]

I wrote this song last New Year. Lyrics are fine and music is 12 bar blues. Not superb playing but it's just to get the song over.
But the mix is horrorshow. And I really don't know quite what's making it so bad.
Is it possible to tell from a mix exactly what your problem is, like being able to tell a computer needs the fan cleaning from the sound?
Or is it just something I can't do?

Any thoughts on "Where to begin" gratefully accepted. That song  @Douglas Kirby just posted sounds so well mixed it's like he's taunting me  ?

Thanks

"New Year" - Same Old Mix Problems

[jack c.]

some voice notes a tad off.bring up bass guitar and music.jack c.

[freddy j]

I like this song.  You are right the lyrics are good and I really like the change in tempo.  I always hate to comment on mixing since I always have trouble with my own mixes and I use "dollar store" equipment.  However,  I will make an attempt anyway!  This sounds like a very rhythmic song and thus the bass, drums, and rhythm guitars should be driving this song ( not prominent but present).  There are many ways to pan these instruments and all  ways can work but a common way is the spread these out in the center area of the recording.  The lead  and organ can be place more to the L or R.  All of this is up to the tastes of the mixer of course.  Early on in my participation in this forum I received early advice concerning Dynamic Range and over compression.  I normally try and keep my dynamic range around 8 or 9, with the realization that the current trend is to apply more compression. 

Before considering any of the above suggestions, I suggest you wait for other suggestions, from persons such as Douglas, who really know about which they are talking.

With a little work I think you have a good song going here.  I look forward to more of your songs.

 

[DeeringAmps]

There's a lot of "congestion" in the middle of the stereo field, and low end mud.

Fun one though!

Take a look at Mike's video Kick and Bass Side Chain, maybe that will help a bit on the low end.
Some high pass filtering on the guitars and keys might also help.
Generally I high pass most tracks, some feel you can get carried away with it, but I think it tends to help.
Even an open E chord on guitar can stand some pretty aggressive high pass. The fundamental of that low E
really isn't what "defines" the timbre of an electric guitar (IMHO). Ignore what it sounds like "soloed", its how
it sounds in the mix that matters...
Reverb can stand quite a bit of High and Low pass as well.

t

[msmcleod]

I 100% agree with @DeeringAmps here - a high pass filter could go a long way to sorting out the mud in the low end, and then some ducking compression on the bass side-chained by the kick drum.

The bass itself could do with a bit more treble to give it more definition. A small amount of distortion can help it poke through without sounding obvious in the mix.

I would suggest looking at your monitoring though.  That the bass is so obviously boomy on my system, suggests that your monitoring is presenting the low frequencies to you at a much lower volume, and you're turning them up to compensate.

I've had exactly this issue in the past, and I've had the opposite as well!  (too much bass in my monitors leading to a really tinny mix).  The only way to fix it is to fix your monitoring, which means a combination of:

1. Acoustic treatment in your room
2. Better placement of your speakers 
3. Optionally room correction software such as Sonarworks or IK ARC 3.

If 1 & 2 are difficult / impossible to do,  definitely consider option 3.   I use ARC 2.5, and it totally transformed my mixes by giving me a more honest frequency balance.

Another option would be to get the headphone-only version of Sonarworks and mix on a half-decent pair of headphones that's on their list.  This does work, but you really need to take the time to get to know your headphones well to get decent results - the same goes for your room too really, but even more so for headphones.

[antler]

The vocals and guitar seem to be the loudest things in that mix - it's important that they're heard, but you also need to balance out the other instruments. When starting a mix, one of the first things I do is to get a good general balance before adding compression/eq - it helps to turn the volume down so that I can just barely hear it, and then to adjust the levels so that you can make out all the instruments. It can also help to listen to reference tracks at that volume too, to compare which elements of the song you can hear.

Once the levels are approximately there, you can turn it back up and start making things a bit clearer by adding eq/panning. When I was learning to mix, I used this article:

https://docsbay.net/the-equalization-primer-the-complete-lesson-on-getting-started-with-eq-by-robert-dennis

(I don't think it was on that website when I found it, but the article text is the same). If any instruments sound thin, you can try adding some compression to give them a bit more sustain/punch/body. I usually apply compression before the eq - compression alters the sonic quality of the instrument, and then the eq helps it fit in the mix.

Compressing the busses also helps to glue everything together - generally, you'll want a gentler compression ratio and attack/release for the busses than the individual tracks.

[ant_in_wales]

Thank you very much to you all for your help.
I was just thinking about hi-pass to give the kick it's own space, then the bass, then everything else above 150Hz (?)
I'll have a play and report back (hopefully might help others)

[SUPAREELS]

Hi mate,

I think you have the same hang as myself, in that your a words man first and a muso second ... and I mean no offense. My advice (as I have the same problem .. and have done for many years ) is to listen to stuff that is like yours and leave the writing bit till later, in that, for you that is the easy bit.

When you have a plan musically .. play with it get it to make you wanna sing those words as they should be ...it ain't easy there are guys on this site should be making a mint ... you found a gold mine of info so try to make one song and post it after working on it till your happy ... there's no-one here will break your heart, but they will help... and then you can say .. it's just a song and now I'll write something better .... Of course you will ..we're all here 'cause we couldn't .. LOL (But there's a lota love)

Stay loose

Steve

 

[Douglas Kirby]

It's a fun song and I really liked the tempo changes that you incorporated.  I agree with adding a bit of treble to the bass, as mentioned above. Perhaps bring out the snare in the mix a bit more as well.

Overall, nicely done.

[PhonoBrainer]

I'd start off by saying cool tune, love the loose attitude towards the end, and your vocal performance totally works!

the mix struck me as having these potential issues . . .

1. The vocals are too loud. Processing is just fine, really, maybe just drop em 1-2 db at least?

2. The guitars sound thin, a bit jangly. Jangly guitars can sound very cool, but often the parts are doubled or chorused to give it some thickness.

3. Bass guitar brought up some unfortunate questions about how it was recorded and what equipment you have. How did you record the bass, what audio interface, what preamp, did you actually mic an amp, is there a clean DI blended in, those sort of questions. Just a total guess but it sounds like you stuck an sm57 in front of a mediocre amp that had seen a few years on the road? And ran the mic line into a not awesome preamp or audio interface? Not trying to be harsh, because we all work with the means and the tools we have. But if you were looking to redo and improve the sonic quality dramatically, I'd start with the bass recording. If you solo just your bass track, how does it sound all by itself? Does it have the kind of presence, clarity, and tonality you'd want to bring into any mix?

From experience, I'd say one of the hardest turd-polishing efforts is making a bad bass guitar recording sound decent. EQ can only do so much down there. If you had a clean DI bass track recorded as well, I'd go with that alone, which would increase clarity I think.

 

You've got both singing and songwriting talent, and I dig the attitude of the song! It's very much worth the effort to improve!

cheers,

-Tom

[David Sprouse]

So brilliant, you're right, we need more new year songs .    Liked the bluesy take on things.  Can't comment on mix cuz I'm not an  expert.