Music Mix from a TV/Film Mixer

[sfxman]

Hi, everyone. Found this site today. Love the concept. So I'm just looking for some opinions on the balance of this mix. I've been mixing my own stuff in the box for years but this is only the second time I've mixed a tracked band...so its a touch foreign.

This was tracked in a friend's sick home studio, basically just for fun. It was two takes (this is take 2) with everyone playing live in separate iso-booths. So I'm not so much concerned with the performance (although these guys are really good), as I am concerned with the mix. Guitar, bass, 2 horns, vocals, percussion. Vocals will be replaced since she was pretty ill, and we used a sub-par mic in a vocal booth that exhibited tremendous bleed from the drums.

Anyway, I was going for punchy and live sounding as much as possible, since I can't stand the current mega-squashing that everything commercial seems to have. Curious if its too punchy or abrasive anywhere. Thanks, all.

-BB

index

[foundexodus]

I love it, I really do, very tight performance.

I think the mix is pretty solid also, my only critique is the shaker seems a tad loud at parts but thats minor. You may also want to bring the bass out just a little bit because it appears to be a solid performance. Sorry there's nothing major to offer but great job!

[sfxman]

Thanks. You're likely right about the bass. That, to me is the hardest thing to get right. Luckily, this guy was good and the guy that tracked it had fantastic mics. I've always read that the secret to a good mix is good tracking. Not that this is an example of a "good"mix, but honestly, it was really easy to work with beacuse there weren't any problems with any of the instruments, aside from the standard dullness.

[brandondrury]

The hi-hat is a tad bright for my tastes, but the recording sounds great. It's got the modern "organic" pop thing...like what the Fugees were doing 10 years ago.

Great job!

Brandon

[sfxman]

Thanks, Brandon. We had miked the hat separately, but I killed it on the mix because the snare mic picked it up so prominently. So in my eq-ing of the snare to brighten it and kill the mud, the hat got inadvertantly bright as well. I tend to overbrighten in general, which is something I need to work on. Need to bring the shaker back down a bit to help out with that. Thanks again for your suggestion.

-Brent

[richiebee]

Very cool.

I find the mix a little overcompressed and agree with Brandon about the hats, and about the shaker. I don't think the bass is too quiet though. In fact, I think it might be a little loud. It sounds very compressed, and I'm not sure if that's a limiter on the mix bus or what.

It could pass as commercial mix in my opinion though. The performance is excellent (even despite the singer being sick), and I think you've done a decent job of mixing it too.

R.

[thesilentdrummer]

wow, great song. I just love the vibe. I think its pretty balanced. Bass seems good to me where it is. Vocals sound great, but I could definately see some improvement in doing some more takes with that.

[guy]

Sounded pretty spot on from where I was sitting...but then I loves me some shaker.
I thought it was a great song, performed well and nice work.

[sfxman]

Thanks for the advice and comments, everyone! I'm going to consider everything and try a few variations.

-B

[docman]

Love the song and the performances. I guess I agree about the shaker (during the breakdown part), and maybe the hi hat, but it still sounds very well done.

By the way, the mix is really loud, but I don't hear any distortion.