I'm re-mixing stuff - "Away..." Emma Caiman

[Emma]

I've gone back to try and improve on some of my older projects... Would appreciate your feedback.
I didn't label it 'folk accoustic' on account of the robotic backing harmonies


I've re-done the drums and spent quite a bit of time smoothing and shaping... How is it sounding?

[HugoRibeiro.Com]

Cool man! I don't have anything to point out. Sounds good over here.

cheers

[ff_]

Good song and good mix...just having nothing wrong at my ears
Maybe the voice has too much esses...and maybe the drums are played too loud and putted in the mix too low (or it's a compressor issue)

[Emma]

Thanks for taking the time to listen
I have no confidence with drums... it's still a big learning curve, and they feel a bit 'separate' to me, but not really sure if I can slide them any further into the mix..

[Jeremy Morrissy]

Hey Emma, sounding good

I think my main concern would be the drums as well, and I think they sound separate to me too. Have you tried using a universal compressor for the drums and also a universal reverb for the whole mix to glue the drums into the track better? I think the snare wouldn't hurt to have a little bit of parallel compression and a longer reverb tail, there's definitely space in the mix for it.
Were you programming these drums by hand by any chance? I think they are a liiitle bit out of time here and there, but I think that may be because your tracks are not 'gridded'. It's most definitely better that they aren't gridded, however it does make programming drums harder to do (in my opinion). It may just need a little bit more time to complete the drums.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

[Dave March]

Hi Emma,

Nice track. Very pleasant to listen to. In fact it made me feel like stopping what I was doing (mixing) and putting my feet up, but that's fatal and I'd easily lose a couple of hours

I actually like the sound of the drums... it's that dry, lifeless thud we used to hear a lot from Abbey Road in the 60's/70's. The Beatles and in particular John Lennon used it a lot and I love it. The problem is it doesn't sit well in this track and I wish I had the expertise to tell you what to do but you need to fiddle around till it integrates a little more, but don't lose the actual sound and tone.

Not much help I know, but that's my db's worth.

Cheers from an unusually very hot (28C/30C) UK

[Emma]

Thanks for the feedback!
I used a 50/50 thing with the drums - used some grooves and then 'bent' and sliced and diced them to fit... I suspect they may always feel a bit wonky, because I really need the drums right at the beginning to sing with, otherwise they just don't quite sit in there right... I'm getting heaps more confidence with it all though
The first time I started using drums, everyone laughed.. te he, so this is progress!!

I deliberately chose that dry fwappy sound Dave, just kinda liked it in the mix... finally figured out how to change the sounds to suit (duh)..
Still largely in experimental mode but a friend had asked to use part of the song in a movie he's making and I wanted to update it so I didn't cringe too much if I heard it further down the track.

[aj113]

I don't think the drums are bad at all Emma - in fact I think they are quite convincing and suit the song. Except - they seem to be panned right-heavy to my ears.

The main area of concern or me is the vocals. Maybe need to check your tuning a little? Also a bit high in the mix for my liking - I like big vocals but these are a wee bit too prominent. I don't think the reverb is doing them much justice either. Should be a longer reverb with less early reflections I think, that would add to the mysticism of the vocals, and indeed serve to make the vocals more - dare I say it - professional-sounding.

Showing good promise though.

[Emma]

YaY! Thanks aj... progress indeed!
I chuckled at your comments re the vocals.. they have some deliberate weird wafty tuning stuff... it was my first experiment with doubling and using variaudio to create weird harmonies. One thing I am wanting to play with is that delay... but specifically, this mix was for trying to blend in a drum that didn't sound totally ridiculous and I'm guessing I'm finally ontrack with that... Hooray!!

[Emma]

For anyone interested - my first drum attempt can be heard here..: Unfinished - Emma - Away...

[kakeux]

Hi,

It is always a pleasure to listen to your work. I'm still definitely a fan.

The drums seems a bit strange. Not really wrong but sometime the pattern is not following the mood nicely (not always but only on some parts). It's not wrong and it's probably all taste related.

It reminds me that I still have to provide you some drums tracks if you still want to. It kind of went out of my mind