Mike Renick Band - Fire Inside (Mix by Ralf_T)

[Ralf_T]

I know it's time ... to stop working on this song, otherwise I will find myself tinker with it for another two weeks adding 1 db here, taking away 1 db there ...

Thanks to the Mike Renick Band for sharing those tracks. I really like this song, the chorus is very energetic and catchy. I hope I have done this song justice. At least I am about 83% happy with my mix.

To me those tracks sounded very well recorded basically, although there are a couple of quirks. The bass track comp to my ears consisted of some 15 different parts that have been pasted without crossfading. I wish I had an assistant doing that donkey editing work for me

The overhead tracks also gave me a hard time in the begining; there was that annoying drift to the hi hat side. Time aligning both tracks, flipping the phase on the hi hat track and bringing down the level of the ride track to about -14.1 db solved this issue for me. I did not not spend any time on timing corrections, although this would be worthy of in order to support the groove of the song.

Soundwise I was more after a "classic rock" vibe with w a r m (Why is this word bannend from the forum? It is always censored automatically ...) overdriven guitars rather than heavily distorted metal style guitars. It is not that I do not like metal style guitars, it is just that I feel that they are not appropriate for this particular song.

I really enjoyed mixing this song, and I hope you can hear that ...

[fHumble fHingaz]

(Why is this word bannend from the forum? It is always censored automatically ...)

Law #1 - W A R M is BANNED!

...ok, now that we have that out of the way - onto the mix...

Disclaimer: I'm suffering a really bad flu at the moment, & it's affecting my hearing... but I think my brain can compensate.

Excellent mix! Everything sounds really well balanced & meshes together nicely- The mix seems to have a lovely balance in the top end - nice & bright, yet not fatiguing at all.

A couple of things could be improved:

The toms seem to be lacking "body" - they have plenty of attack, but no real sustain & "meat" to them... I would have thought that the top tom mics could have provided the attack, & the bottom mics could provide the meat & sustain of the tone. You may have already done this, but I would suggest treating the top & bottom tom mics with very different compression settings, so that the character of each respective part of the instrument can be brought out. Adding a little sustain to the bottom tom via plate reverb is an option too.

The bass sounds a bit low in the mix - The bass really carries a lot of "dynamic responsibility" in this particular arrangement - the way it cuts in & out really has an impact on the way the song builds & reaches it's peaks, so giving it the right amount of prominence can really make a big difference to the level of excitement. Additionally, the fullness of the bass really holds the mix together.

Top job!

[JoshERTW]

Nice job on the acoustic guitar - it sounds great in the really dense parts and fits in nicely in the lighter parts. Great balance, clarity and overall tonal choices. Placement/balance of the guitars is one of the best so far. That solo is very "Iron Maiden" which gets you an extra star from me.

The only things I would suggest are maybe bringing up the overheads a wee bit, and the toms could use a bit more volume/meat as well.

I had to listen twice to find something to complain about - Solid work!

[Ralf_T]

Thank you guys for your reviews. You easily revealed two of the weak spots of my mix: the bass and the toms. I was not happy with the bass and the tom sound either. I am always having problems making them sound good. So, before I start my next mix, I will have to spend a fair amount of time getting a grip on that Regarding the overheads: yeah, I could have brought them up a tiny bit, but I ended up liking them the way they are. But listening back to my mix I feel I could have featured that nice driving hi hat pattern in the verses more.

Josh, I was not aware of the solo being very "Iron Maiden". I was a big fan of them back in the early Eighties, so this is a nice compliment ...

[heygermandude]

I think the separation in the elements is very nicely done. Of course, the toms thing is something I would agree with. In terms of the bass I don't think its really a weak point in the mix. Sure, its not super prominent in this particular mix, but I think it fits in nicely the way you did it. Thats exactly how I would have done it.

Naturally, all this is subjective between posters.. but good job man.

[Radukku]

Wilkommen Ralf!
...es ist fein deutsch Freunde hier zu sehen! (NOT using google translation)
Pardon my rusty German...haven't used it in a long time...
like the aussie friend here said, the word w**m is banned on this site!...a long and funny story! Brandon even took the trouble to make stickers with 'Go w*** yourself !'...I got a couple of them...
Anyway...I like the gelled feeling of your mix There's an optimal balance between the bass, drums and guitars (electric ones that is...)
I personally found the gritty acoustics would add something different to the whole idea...although I can hear it maybe you hi passed a bit too much especially in the verses where the acoustic sounds a tad too thin and the grittiness gets a bit subdued under the electric attack.../(but that's just a personal opinion... )
Very interesting what fHfH said about treating the toms as well...he would 'hear' better than me even with his ears plugged!
All together a solid work!
Thank you for sharing it with us and chip in more often!

[brotastic]

I agree with the comments on the bass and the toms. I think in general the drums are in the back ground. I would like to hear them more up front. I think you did an excellent job mixing the melody guitars. It was the right amount of each of the harmonies. Way better than what I did. I agree with Radakku about the hi passed guitars....unless you were going for more of a percussive thing with them. I think with a little body to them they add to the song. I think overall it was well glued together.

[IMF OnSite Recording]

Starting off it sounds kinda tinny, could be how you Eqed the guitar, I wouldnt pump up the highs too much... Getting past that, I think the panning on the leads were well done, and the rhythm guitar is solid. The vocals are focused as well. The only thing is possibly compressing the acoustic and letting off the highs a bit.

This isnt a "heavy" drum mix, but it doesnt have to be; you gave it a good feel overall - like when brandon said along the lines of "Dave Mathews". You did a good job at getting everything together without having to crank it all so it flows well. Good job!

[Ewout]

Hey Ralf, cool mix you got here. I like how You went for the classic rock style, it works good. Great work on the acoustic guitars! Also your high end works very well.

Cheers,

Ewout

[The-Zeronaut]

very good mix
the drums are too "in the back" of the mix compared to the bass and acoustic guitars
i feel that the acoustic guitars are "eating" too much space during the verses (some eq/comp automation maybe?)

[michaelspek]

the W-word banned? maybe because w a r m is not cool?
anyway, about your mix, I agree that the bass could use some work, it's loud enough, but for me (maybe because i'm a bass-player) lacks definition.
you could try to add some mid/hi-mids, or mix in a duplicate of the track, overdriven and hi- and lo-passed (I only use the 400-1000Hz range).
I find that this way it fits in with the guitars better, instead of doing something on his own, down there.
On the other (hi) end of the spectrum, your extreme hi-passing of cymbals and acoustics, kind of separated them from the rest of the band.
a little gentler on the hpf (or a gentler slope) would glue things together, and add even more energy to the mix.

[Mixursound]

Hey Ralph, It took me a bit to get the toms sounding right in my mix too, I just found it better to get the Toms sounding good by them selves so they were cohesive(if thats the right word). then i would get the drum mix working together. and then leave them till got the rest of the mix near to a place i wanted it to be and then did the final drum tweaks in the mix to sound right in the mix. You can tweak them solo'd and have them sounding good but once back in the mix may not sound good, so always tweak in the mix. remember, No one hears them solo'd.

[danmanisa]

Hey Ralf, Welcome to the comp and don't forget to give yourself 5 stars for your own mix if you have not done so already!

Typing as I listen and yet to read comments. Things are sounding pretty nice so far. I have an infernal distaste for the acoustic guitars in any part other than the chorus (an almost all mixes I've heard, not just yours ), so I'll leave it there and say no more on that very personal and subjective matter. I will say, however, they sound great in your chorus, just the way I'd imagine they could complement the song!
Drums sound great, in fact your overheads and cymbals may just be the best I've heard by some distance (starting to forget given the number of mixes I've heard but still!!!)
Overall, there is nothing that is at fault in the mix. there are a couple of areas that could be improved. The bass seems to drop away in parts and sounds very distant. The low end is present yet there is very little in regards to attack. Try running the bass through a bus with some distortion or overdrive and blend as needed to get that attack coming through, especially if you are concerned that the low end will swamp your mix f you raise it any more. Also, you toms feel a little on the weak side in regards to the bottom end. I have heard far too many mixes that have had them too bass heavy and smeared several parts of the mix (esp those long tom rolls), but perhaps yours have been high passed a little too much.

That said these are easily fixed and the vast majority of your mix is absolutely spot on! Awesome job!