Hated love - Magnolius mix

[Magnolius]

To avoid the neurosis of last month I decided to post this one at once It might not be the boldest mix but I did some mutes and stuff. I tried a heavy reverb on the vocals and liked it and that sort of gave the direction for this mix.

Thank you for listening!

[redworks]

good on you for jumping on it. that is one way to not over think it. nice start and build into the 1st verse. some cautious use of automation at points which gives certain elements an interesting position in the mix. the vocal treatment works great. a nice build to the '..smash my face on the floor..' line. ending seals it for me. this is a well done mix.

[Magnolius]

good on you for jumping on it. that is one way to not over think it. nice start and build into the 1st verse. some cautious use of automation at points which gives certain elements an interesting position in the mix. the vocal treatment works great. a nice build to the '..smash my face on the floor..' line. ending seals it for me. this is a well done mix.

Thank you! I used your suggestion to mix in to the mastering chain and that was much easier than I thought it would be I also noticed that there was little difference in the mix balance when I bypassed the mastering plugs so it seems to be a safe way to work even if someone else is going to have a go at the mastering... So thank you for that tip!

[kakeux]

Hi,

This is a good example that "simple" mix can sound good!

As you said this might not be the boldest mix, whatever that means, but it works and it has personality. Vocals sound good, drum and bass combined smoothly. Good points.

I like the bridge you 've created.

I would have turn down a little the backing vox on the 2nd verse.

I think it's a good mix. Some slight adjustments on levels (min solo guitar, background vox) could help though.

Nice work!

[Magnolius]

Hi,

This is a good example that "simple" mix can sound good!

As you said this might not be the boldest mix, whatever that means, but it works and it has personality. Vocals sound good, drum and bass combined smoothly. Good points.

I like the bridge you 've created.

I would have turn down a little the backing vox on the 2nd verse.

I think it's a good mix. Some slight adjustments on levels (min solo guitar, background vox) could help though.

Nice work!

Thank you! Especially glad that you liked it

[redworks]

Thank you! I used your suggestion to mix in to the mastering chain and that was much easier than I thought it would be I also noticed that there was little difference in the mix balance when I bypassed the mastering plugs so it seems to be a safe way to work even if someone else is going to have a go at the mastering... So thank you for that tip!

hey great. not my tip i got it from someone else but i don't remember whom. i am glad it worked out for you. i have been using it myself and was thinking it is working but sometimes i question myself so it is nice to hear you say that it made things easier for you as well.

[TopBobSecret]

Hey Magnolius,
I really liked your mix. It sounded a lot different than the first one I listened to. I'm just browsing trying to get a feel for the tracks. I can't download mine yet as my "music computer" is suddenly not booting.
You had good separation and effects on the instruments and I liked the verby vocals for an overall nice sound.
I also used the "mix to the master plug ins" advice you mentioned this month. Not sure where exactly it came from, either. It seemed to help me as well to get a good level and stuff, but then I made a dumb choice and added some reverb at the end, and apparently too much! So don't do that!!!
Good luck and good work!- TopBob

[Magnolius]

Hey Magnolius,
I really liked your mix. It sounded a lot different than the first one I listened to. I'm just browsing trying to get a feel for the tracks. I can't download mine yet as my "music computer" is suddenly not booting.
You had good separation and effects on the instruments and I liked the verby vocals for an overall nice sound.
I also used the "mix to the master plug ins" advice you mentioned this month. Not sure where exactly it came from, either. It seemed to help me as well to get a good level and stuff, but then I made a dumb choice and added some reverb at the end, and apparently too much! So don't do that!!!
Good luck and good work!- TopBob

Hey, thanks a lot! I have always heard that mixing in to a limiter is a big no no and that you should leave any volume maximazing to the mastering engineer. But it do helps to get an idea of how the mix will react to limiting. I feel there was less difference between the sound of the unlimited mix and the limited mix when I had mixed in to the limiter than when I have tried to master a mix afterwards. It also helped getting a feel for the bigger picture of the song I think. I'm really hopeless when it comes to not over thinking things, spending too much time on details and then making some big balancing mistake instead. So this will be something I will take with med to future mixes.

[ncls]

Wow, that is great.
It seems you went to a not nervous side and it works mostly fine I think.
The overall balance looks great too but I think (I didn't test it) you're a bit low on RMS scale. It doesn't bother for your try.
One thing that is less great is the lead vocals seem to sing louder and they really stand upfront the mix.
For this one, I think a retracking of the vocals can definitively glue all tracks together (I know you can ).

Nice shot, really

[Patrich]

this mix sounds good. nice clarity, especially on the vox, but maybe too nice? almost barbershop at some passages...
maybe bring the vocals down just a little bit?
for me, mixing into mastering plugs can sometimes be a boon, but oftentimes a nightmare, especially with complex material and high track counts.

[Magnolius]

this mix sounds good. nice clarity, especially on the vox, but maybe too nice? almost barbershop at some passages...
maybe bring the vocals down just a little bit?
for me, mixing into mastering plugs can sometimes be a boon, but oftentimes a nightmare, especially with complex material and high track counts.

Thank you for your comments! There are a lot of vocals in the mix, yes, I wanted it to dominate the mix as I felt it was the strongest aspect of the song, but you can have too much of a good thing too...

So caution when mixing in to a limiter then... That's probably true... And this was a rather straight forward mix with few tracks so that might have helped

[LazyE]

like the reverbed drums at the beginning and the mellow guitar, nice work!
vocals sound nice and well balanced.
snare seems maybe a little lud compared to vocal and kick. maybe boost the low end slightly and some mids in the verse.
nice synth sounds! ive now noticed that i totally drowned them out in my mix lol, but to be hnest i think they distract from the song anyway. but you have mixed them well.

overall a nice mix
good luck dude

[fHumble fHingaz]

Nice bright, balanced mix... I love that snare sound - really nicely handled, & the bass is very cool - full, yet clear.

For me, the weaknesses are fairly minor...

The vocals are at a good level solo, but when the harmonies come in, they tend to be just a bit too loud in the overall balance - simple automation would solve that.

The snare is just a tad dominant, but I can understand you wanting to feature it, because it sounds great!

The structure of the ending lost me a bit - for whatever reason, it just didn't seem to flow as well as it could have from the bridge to the end... could be that some of the drum fills could do with some timing fixes, or it might be that your mix choices just accentuated the slight musical deficiencies in those sections.

Still, brilliant job, especially for submitting it in double-quick time.

[Magnolius]

like the reverbed drums at the beginning and the mellow guitar, nice work!
vocals sound nice and well balanced.
snare seems maybe a little lud compared to vocal and kick. maybe boost the low end slightly and some mids in the verse.
nice synth sounds! ive now noticed that i totally drowned them out in my mix lol, but to be hnest i think they distract from the song anyway. but you have mixed them well.

overall a nice mix
good luck dude

Thank you for taking the time to comment! The snare is very prominent in the mix, I agree. I felt the bright verby snare gave the mix some air but I see there are more comments on this so I might have over done it...

[Magnolius]

Nice bright, balanced mix... I love that snare sound - really nicely handled, & the bass is very cool - full, yet clear.

For me, the weaknesses are fairly minor...

The vocals are at a good level solo, but when the harmonies come in, they tend to be just a bit too loud in the overall balance - simple automation would solve that.

The snare is just a tad dominant, but I can understand you wanting to feature it, because it sounds great!

The structure of the ending lost me a bit - for whatever reason, it just didn't seem to flow as well as it could have from the bridge to the end... could be that some of the drum fills could do with some timing fixes, or it might be that your mix choices just accentuated the slight musical deficiencies in those sections.

Still, brilliant job, especially for submitting it in double-quick time.

Thank you! Glad you liked the mix I often struggle with finding the right vocal level and after comparing the track more closely with some others I can hear that it's a bit loud in some parts.

There were some timing issues in the bridge, I tried to solve them by editing the guitars but I think there are more that could have been done there. Maybe it's not only a question of timing but also the levels of the different elements in the mix that contribute to this. Good point.

Thank you for taking the time to comment!

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

Listening on my system,everything sounds great,bright but still with some low end punch and very clean vocals.

Very clean and balanced and nothing stands out in a bad way to me.

Nice mix!

Cheers

[Magnolius]

Listening on my system,everything sounds great,bright but still with some low end punch and very clean vocals.

Very clean and balanced and nothing stands out in a bad way to me.

Nice mix!

Cheers

Thank you! Glad you liked it After hearing your mix just a second ago I feel maybe I should have gotten a little more creative with some of the transitions though. Your mix had some really creative and musical ideas

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

Thank you! Glad you liked it After hearing your mix just a second ago I feel maybe I should have gotten a little more creative with some of the transitions though. Your mix had some really creative and musical ideas

Nah,your mix is good how it is,you done what you felt,exactly what i done.

Were all here to learn,if you have any questions on anything i done,just ask.

To be honest i actually got a little bit sillier than i usually do(ever though i spent half the time on it,i cant imagine what it would of been like if i spent close to a month on it lol!) because i seen this statement said by Brandon

Do something a little bolder, dumber, wronger, righter, or anything-elser.

Remember,which this is a good thing for me to acknowledge as i write this,is that effects and such which i do alot of,don't make the track good at the end of it,its more in the mixing in my opinion.

Just a few of my thoughts,whether you take them or not.

Cheers

[wireman957]

Interesting the way you waited 'til the chorus to bring in the distorted guitar. I think it might have worked better if it had been really crushing when it did come in. I was anticipating this huge tidal wave to hit during the chorus, but it never quite happened. Vocals could probably come down just a bit but they're actually at a pretty good level for the drums, so maybe not. Maybe it's just that disto guitar that needs to do more. Critiquing this month's mix is going to be so subjective! I like all your tones, I like the verbs you've used and the way you've distributed things for the most part. There's one spot right after the bridge where for a couple of seconds the panning on the guitars feels a little awkward to me, but it goes by so fast it's not a major thing for me - the usual listener would probably never notice it.

Good job!

[Stan_Halen]

Nice beginning to the song, and it keeps a consistent vibe throughout. It almost has a slower tempo "lazy" feel to it that I can't really describe. The drums and bass in the intro especially, but really the whole song. Maybe it is your minimizing the amount of tracks/instruments going on, or sparser arrangement (I think). It definitely expresses a different mood so congrats on that! I think the reverb on drums and vocals was handled very well too.

[Magnolius]

Interesting the way you waited 'til the chorus to bring in the distorted guitar. I think it might have worked better if it had been really crushing when it did come in. I was anticipating this huge tidal wave to hit during the chorus, but it never quite happened. Vocals could probably come down just a bit but they're actually at a pretty good level for the drums, so maybe not. Maybe it's just that disto guitar that needs to do more. Critiquing this month's mix is going to be so subjective! I like all your tones, I like the verbs you've used and the way you've distributed things for the most part. There's one spot right after the bridge where for a couple of seconds the panning on the guitars feels a little awkward to me, but it goes by so fast it's not a major thing for me - the usual listener would probably never notice it.

Good job!

Thank you for your comments! I agree that the chorus could need something more. I didn't want the typical heavy guitar chorus so I went for something more ambient but it got a bit lost behind the vocals...

[Magnolius]

Nice beginning to the song, and it keeps a consistent vibe throughout. It almost has a slower tempo "lazy" feel to it that I can't really describe. The drums and bass in the intro especially, but really the whole song. Maybe it is your minimizing the amount of tracks/instruments going on, or sparser arrangement (I think). It definitely expresses a different mood so congrats on that! I think the reverb on drums and vocals was handled very well too.

Thank you! There were so many possible sounds for this track and what elements to highlight really changed the mood of the song. Glad you liked my take on it

[willj]

Ha! that snare was just screaming AlicenChains no excuses for me.

Yeah this is nice man. Just as clear as a bell. Very mellow compared to what ive been mixing so its a nice change.

Very few nit picks. most of anything else bothering me is a little too subective to mention. The lack of instrumentaion is leaving it sound a bit to sparse or open to give it that big "produced" sound that we are workin towards, and then there were some vocal harmony issues that needed addressed. Finally, I love the snare you have goin on, but its just been given a liiittle too much importance for the track when it really isnt defining the song in anyway.

Really nice job here tho man. technically a damn solid mix!

[Magnolius]

Ha! that snare was just screaming AlicenChains no excuses for me.

Yeah this is nice man. Just as clear as a bell. Very mellow compared to what ive been mixing so its a nice change.

Very few nit picks. most of anything else bothering me is a little too subective to mention. The lack of instrumentaion is leaving it sound a bit to sparse or open to give it that big "produced" sound that we are workin towards, and then there were some vocal harmony issues that needed addressed. Finally, I love the snare you have goin on, but its just been given a liiittle too much importance for the track when it really isnt defining the song in anyway.

Really nice job here tho man. technically a damn solid mix!

Thank you for your comments! I guess my take on the song is a little more laid back than some of the other mixes. I just liked the vocals better than the distorted guitars... So I mixed with the mute button. But as you say there's a point when the arrangement is at risk of sounding to thin for a fully produced sound...

[willj]

So I mixed with the mute button.

Ha! That can be super effective.