Mix practise : Crazy For Me ( by Random Somebody )

[soft]

Here's a new song that I have mixed using Presonus Studio One v4.

https://soundcloud.com/james-woo-797284150/crazyforme-by-randomsomebody

The raw drums were a bit lacking. I used Slate Trigger to add some punch to the kick and toms. I feel the vocal is still a bit lacking. Any ideas to making it better?

You can download the raw tracks at http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

 

[IMetherlence]

Cymbals might have been overcut on the top end, thus causing it to have insufficient impact, needs more upper end for that sweet high sweep.
Vocals do not have sufficient reverb and mastering. You need to apply reverb for a wider sound and graphical EQ more aggressively to push your sound out. Specifically the 2.5 kHz and the 4 kHz range are insufficiently pushed out. Using a vintage compressor plugin will also bring out more tone.
Drums sounds very generic, and unfocused in each individual sounds, it requires specific range EQ, as well as a band pass filter. Perhaps further mastering will help bring out more timbre from the instrument.
Trumpet and Guitar are not doubling together properly. Either you set them as the same pan, or opposing pan of similar sounds and EQ. From what I hear, it sounds like they could be played as a double, and should be located on the same pan, but with different focused frequency bands.
Your bass levels are way too soft, even with a oversized subwoofer it still sounds way too inadequate. Try mixing with a subwoofer.
It sounds to me like you just took the mix, raised its level to a non-clipping level and pushed it out, thus the large dynamic contrast during the drums, and the track in general. It may be a good idea to further compress the track and focus the each instrument sounds to specific critical frequency bands. Also, it is also crucial you have a good understanding of Tartini overtones to be able to mix guitars well. The sounds are generally clear but sounds flat and soft as a result of insufficient mastering. Also you will need to apply multi-band compression during the master to bring out more sound on each frequency band and dither the track for noise reduction in wide format DACs.

 

[soft]

Hi IMetherlence

Thanks for the feedback and tips! Will definitely put them to good use.

 

[Jean-Marc Boulier]

Hey,

I like that you put this out there to comment and share your practice. I want to give you some valuable input so I managed to find and download the multitrack and I am currently doing a quick mix myself, in order for me to better understand what you had to deal with. It will also allow you to give credit (or not) to my advice, because obviously if you don't like what I did with the song you shouldn't follow it.

First, I'll mention that in my opinion the recording engineer / producer did a somewhat sloppy job:
* The kick track has been recorded too hot and is distorted all the way through.
* The snare doesn't sound great, it lacks a bit of body and has too much ringing sustain, it should have been tuned properly and maybe use some moongel or something to tame this very obvious harmonic ringing.
* The drums have been edited for timing, but some cuts are a bit too obvious. There's not much we can do about that at this stage.
* The electric guitar tone is very dull, I can't believe no one did something about that at the recording stage. There are some drastic EQ corrections to apply here at the very least.
* The vocals have been edited too and some cuts are quite obvious since they happen during the breaths. Fortunately this is an easy fix. However, the very last line is recorded with a loudspeaker on or something, there is a lot of instrument spill in the vocal track at this point.

I hope I'm not offending anyone, in case you know the artist or producer. I'm just mentioning what I am hearing because I think it is important since we're practicing mixing here. And I'll also say that the vocals are often out of tune, but I noticed that you have corrected the most obvious strayings here.

I'll post my own mix and comments on yours shortly, probably tomorrow.

 

[Jean-Marc Boulier]

Here is my take on this song: https://soundcloud.com/swmusicprod/crazy-for-me-random-somebody

About your mix: I like how you addressed most of the issues I mentioned above, it has a nice clarity. In my opinion it could be improved by making each track stand out more from the others: there is some frequency masking going on, notably in the mid and hi-mid range where a lot is going on between the vocals, guitars, brass and drums.

You did a good job of adding punch to the drums, however I think the kick, snare and toms could be a little less pushed forward for this particular genre, which I think should be driven more by the vocals and guitars. I also think the organ is a bit loud in a constant way all along. Although I'm a keyboard player and Hammond lover myself, I think that it should be automated so that only the interesting parts stand out every once in a while and when it just holding chords it should be tamed in order to make room for the rest.

Lastly, I think the brass section could be enhanced in the highs and more spread out in the stereo field. It would also benefit from using (more) reverb in order to make it sound bigger, and create more depth in the mix.

I realise I might have been a bit mean to the producers in my last post, so I'll also mention that the song has been neatly put together and the musicians are technically very good.

 

[IMetherlence]

Interesting take on the mix, there is quite a bit of difference between both mixes. The main bulk of the track seems to be placed well. Some things I would do differently though.

The guitar sounds too much of a wah imo (Most probably personal taste), I would mix it cleaner but push out eq aggressively to take the mid sound spectrum. A wah sound is too inappropriate for a song of this genre personally. It might be just the record also.
The trumpet sounds can be heard clearly on the left side, but the right trumpet is really soft. Unless they are different trumpets on different sides of a simulated room, I would rather just place them on one side and use a consistent level for both.
The kick punch is much more pronounced, but I just felt that it lacks the mid range impact. I would push more on the 1kHz band, for a punchier sound. Also I would apply a harder compression for a tighter punch.
Vox will definitely get the brunt of the EQ for me, I would prefer it warmer and more articulate.

No offense, your mix is already pretty good in terms of a practice or a dry run, and it may be simply a matter of different ears on different interpretations. I happen to write mostly epic/film soundtracks so there is a vast difference in background.

 

[soft]

Hey Jean-Marc Boulier

Thanks for sharing your mix! Your instrument are coming out really clean. I can hear them nicely and not muddy in the mix. I feel the acoustic guitar (strumming) is pan a little much to the left side.

I have done a few more mix practise and will post them up.