marvin - Slate August Mix

[marvin]

Hi everyone! I'm new here so be gentle Also I'm from Sweden, so apologies if my English isn't "top of the line".

Been wanting to try my hands on the Slate Cup for a while, and now I had a free evening! Really fun to do, and a very good way to improve one's mixing skills.
My first intention was to not make it sound like a metal band, but as a "ordinary" rock band playing with heavy metal lead guitars. Not sure that's where I ended up, but oh well... Overall nicely recorded tracks. A bit of mixup in the naming of the tom files, I think. I have edited some of the playing goofs (to my ears anyway), but didn't have time to really check for them. I have used only the included samples, no trigging.

Did the mix in headphones only, haven't checked in any speakers so hopefully I'm not way out!

So, please have a listen, and I look forward to your constructive criticism!

cheers,
marvin

[fHumble fHingaz]

Hey Marvin - välkommet! (I hope that's right - if not, blame Google Translate!)

In a word - your mix ROCKS! Listening to it for a second time & loving it - you did this on headphones? You have some mad skills, my friend!

Technically, I have absolutely no criticisms - If I was in the band & you handed in this mix, I would be very happy! This is an extremely tasteful & professional sounding mix.

ok...grasping at straws a bit here... just giving the drums a little extra volume "push" during the choruses might have helped inject a little more excitement.

That's about it really.

5 stars

[marvin]

Thank you so much for your kind words!
Good suggestion, that would absolutely lift the chorus.
I have a pair of Sony MDR-V6, they seem to translate well to speakers (not as good as Google Translate though ). They accentuate the bottom, so that's always difficult to balance right.

Again, thanks for taking the time to listen, and share your opinion.
Really like this concept, that a bunch of people try the same song, and then listen and talk about it, in a constructive manner!

cheers
marvin

[JoshERTW]

Pretty solid man, There may be the slightest bit of masking being introduced by your time based effects around 300-500 hz somewhere which is giving just a hint of 'mud' / masking in competition with the vocals, which seem to be pretty rich in lower frequencies themselves this month - It could be the big bass sound too, which sits just about right for me (also listening in headphones) and may just need a little bit of light EQ massaging. I'm in uber squint mode here - this is a solid mix.

Subjectively I'd like to hear just a bit more of those squealing guitar parts but that's personal preference and won't cost you any stars

Slick job man, this one's a contender

[marvin]

Thanks Josh, appreciate you taking the time to listen and critique!
The bass is big, maybe too big, but it plays a big part in the song I think. Hard to balance in headphones. 3-500 Hz area could probably have gotten more love&attention from me

Had it been more of a heavy metal band, those squealing guitars would have squealed all right but I choose a slightly different angle this time.
Again, huge thanks for your input!

cheers
marvin

[bholst]

Outstanding mix for being done on headphones. I'm jealous at how well you were able to pull that off without double-checking on speakers. Awesome job man! It seems to be translating well on these PC speakers. You definitely nailed the heavier vibe that you were going for. Yours will be a tough mix to beat. Great job!

-holster

[marvin]

Thanks!! Very kind words!
Mixing in headphones is always tricky, seems I got lucky this time
I can recommend my phones, Sony MDR-V6 (not the newer 7506 which are much more ear fatiguing). They do emphasize the bottom a bit, but once you realize that, they're a nice tool. YMMV.

Again, thanks!
marvin

[heygermandude]

Yeah man as stated before, really good mix on headphones. I do enjoy the mix for sure, heavy contender in this competition.

I did want the lead guitars to kinda jump through a bit more, the eq felt right just a bit more in volume for my personal preference. The guitars are sunk in the mix nicely. Though I can hear an effect on them it doesn't sound over whelming.

Good job on it man.

[IMF OnSite Recording]

In order to get the drums to punch through, I would recommend parallel compression on them.. along with some slight limiting on the drum bus to push them forward a bit. The snare could use a little less low mids.

In the chorus I notice more than any other time that the lead guitar riffs FX are kinda pouring over the mix SLIGHTLY more than enough.. I check my FX through my HD 280's because they are good at keeping the fx levels in check, you can fix this just simply my reducing your aux send level. If you have reverbs on each lead.. it's probably best you make a reverb bus and send them all to it, so there isnt multi reverb bleedover going on. As far as the guitar lead EQ goes, I high passed each one alittle differently.. and low passed enough to get rid of some buziness. upping the 8k area after doing this will let them peirce out alittle better as well... but having that low\hi passing done on each track will help separate them the best.

I would say high pass everything other than the bass and kick around 80hz in order to reserve that space for those two elements. Some compression on the bass will help those low oomfs not pop out here and there.

Overall this is a well put together mix, great job!

[Radukku]

Welcome to the forum Marvin! (btw how's ABBA doing?......hey they are a national treasure in Sweden aren't they?)
Killer mix my friend to start with!
I mix on the phones entirely as well so I could say I have a clue how tricky it is but you nailed it right start to finish! Everything is THERE and flows exactly where, when and just as much as it has to...
I could be nit picking about a couple of thing but that would really be a waste of your time...Like fHfH said I would be very happy with this as is!
Excellent work and thank you for sharing it with us!
Just curious...Are your Sonys open or closed?

[m24p]

Sounds great! I don't really hear any faults with this except maybe the bass guitar. At times I think it protrudes from the mix a bit too much. Did you do a formant shift or pitch shift down on the snare? It has quite a bit of big body to it, sounds awesome.

[drummer67]

Nice mix doing this just on headphones man. If I had anything to pick at it would be the drums could be a bit louder in the mix. IMO, I think the snare is a bit too low end sounding, could use some more mid-hi-end crack too it. I think the toms could use a bit less low energy and much more of the attack crack around 2k ish. The bass gtr is out in front a bit but if the drums were up a few db then it would be fine.

With all that said a dam good job on this with headphones man.

[bobbybovine]

Hi there marvin. Welcome to the forum and the contest. Great mix. after listening to your mix a lot my only comments are on your kick and bass. The bass too me seems to overpower the mix a touch, and your kick is lacking some meat to it, almost like it is moving a lot of air, I wonder if boosting more at approx 70hz and high passing above 50hz would help that. The kick bass relationship is a bit off to my ear, if you didn't use a compressor on just the drums and bass I would suggest you try it as it can really keep those 2 elements working together niceley. Other than that everything else sounds great to me. Very nice work!

[Ewout]

Hey Marvin, welcome! I really like this mix but it could "open up"a bit more. Also the drums indeed could use some parallel compression.

Cheers,

Ewout

[cptfiasco]

I am seeing this rating as justified, the only thing that is pulling me away from really getting into the song is the acoustic git levels you have after the choruses, where the lead thingys come in.The acoustic gits distracted my grooving, if they were down a bit this would be a contending commercial track...very very minor things though, good luck

[redworks]

well treated mix. i think that you could have afforded to add a little more dynamics to it. having the elec guitars poke through in the chorus when he is not singing might have done it. they feel like they are hiding a bit.

[willj]

Hey Marv! yeah this is good man. Really has nice balance and just about the right touch of everything. not a lot of added trickery, but just a pretty basic mix , and well handled in all areas. compressors are firing ever so lightly. Maybe the drums could have been backed off just a tad and a sample would have went a loong way with this mix, but still a quality job all in all. Welcome to the show bro!

[The-Zeronaut]

The bass guitar could be more "controlled"
the mix seems a little dark on my monitors

[danmanisa]

Welcome mate! Welcome to the comp/forum!

Typing as I listen and yet to read comments. Great job so far, especially if you just used headphones. Everything is balanced really well and there is a fantastic spread across the width of the mix, especially your drums and vocal delay. The bass and kick are working well, yet i would personally like to hear a little more attack or aggression in the bass guitar (that's because i am a bass player though!). That would help it punch through a little as it seems to be a little too rounded (like it was played on really old strings) for me. The bass level (in terms of lows) feels fine, so don't go cutting there.
The snare does not quite feel as consistent and precise as the rest of your mix. Many have commented that it was impossible to work with. I found it hard but persevered. Yours feels close but not quite a complete part of the kit. I have listened through three times and I can't quite put my finger on it. It may be the reverb you used, maybe the snare needs more compression, or parallel compression perhaps, or maybe it is an eq thing. I really can't tell why it is close but not quite working. Hell, it could be the snare itself!!

Overall, one awesome mix here with only some minor and personal preferences coming to mind. Welcome again, I think you'll become a valuable member!

[ncls]

Really great job. I can't give you ideas to enhance your mix because it sounds so good to me and mine seems really awful now
I hope you'll enter other months too to bring us such a great job like that.

[wireman957]

Hey, Marvin, welcome to the competition! You did an excellent job for mixing only on phones, man!! Listening through my monitors, though, I feel like the mix is missing a little bit of air and sounds oh, so slightly muffled as if you were compensating for whatever little bit of high-end hype your phones might produce. Also, according to the RTA i have available when listening to mixes tells me that your low end is fairly heavy around 120-140Hz which might be why the bass seems a bit dominant. Again that could be compensation for the low end reproduced by your phones.

I'm hearing just a little "boxiness" from the toms on occasion and I also think I'm hearing a bit of pumping from the 2-buss compressor/limiter during the choruses. Not much of any of these though, and if I wasn't listening critically I'd probably never really notice so neither of these is really a deal breaker here.

All that being said, I think your headphones are probably more accurate than mine, and you obviously have a great ear, doing this well with only phones. Your balances are great, the vocals sound spot-on, and the guitars are nice and thick without covering things up.

A very solid job, and once again, welcome!

[marvin]

Hey all, thanks for your **** welcome!

And thanks for great responses! Been away for a while, thus this late reply.

many very good pointers, thanks! Will listen to my mix again with these comments in mind, and surely learn a lot from it.

An RTA can be great to check for the really low frequencies (and other things). Normally I would have double-checked with mine.
A little "trick" I often use when dealing with electric guitars is to put a de-esser on them, around 4k. That way it's possible to keep the guitars screaming without piercing eardrums by mistake Although I wasn't going for really really screaming guitars on this mix, it's a nice technique I think.

My Sony headphones are closed. MDR-V6, pretty easy to get used to. At the moment it's all I have to listen on, as I have all my gear in our bedroom. Not really room for my Genelec 1031A there... but I'll work something out

Again, thanks!

cheers
Marvin

[marvin]

Did you do a formant shift or pitch shift down on the snare? It has quite a bit of big body to it, sounds awesome.

Hmm I did something as I thought it was lacking a bit of body. have to check when I get back home, but possibly some kind of bass maximizer actually...

cheers
marvin

[Mr.White]

Really nice job, great heavy bass, guitars sounds good but for me they can be wider , vocals are nicely sited on the mix with nice reverb. How long did You mix it ?