Too Late to Change

[TonyB]

The object was to keep it raw and simple. All real instruments; no flashy guitar or fiddle solos. Only sample help was bringing up a drumagog kick underneath the two kick mics. Minimal dynamics processing...little vocal compression and reverb and some EQing on the tracks where appropriate.

Thought I'd put it up while I take a break from it for a few days and come back to it. Still keeping it simple though.

[Added updated mix -

Apr 19 original
Apr 28 updated (left it alone for a week and came back to it) ]

[Cailyn]

I'm not much of a country fan but this is good. The guitars are a shade too loud and the vocals need to come up some because they're a bit lost in the music but the vocal treatment is just right. Nice job.

[davidpaulzimmer]

I thought the end could have been stronger and the intro was a little long. I think one pass through the chord progression would have been enough. The intro needs something more melodic rather than just those chord arpeggios.

[TonyB]

Points noted as I go back in this weekend to finish the mix.

Thanks to all!

[paul999]

nice clear mix! The guitar volume and vox volume are really a matter of taste at these levels. If you pull back the guitar volumes the kick will start to stab through the mix too much so then you will have to pull the beater mic back. I would turn up the male vox slightly.

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by paul999

nice clear mix! The guitar volume and vox volume are really a matter of taste at these levels. If you pull back the guitar volumes the kick will start to stab through the mix too much so then you will have to pull the beater mic back. I would turn up the male vox slightly.

Thanks. I left it alone for a few days and just came back to it this morning.

The vocalist, who plays the guitars in here as well, asked me to turn up the guitars a little. Well I did, but after re-listening to it; yes, they're a hair strong in the mix.

Agree, on the kick. It's like the "whack a mole" game..... bring one element back into the mix and another one rears its ugly head!

It's one thing I learned though... tweaking one element (i.e., guitar in this example) affects the other elements (i.e., kick, bass, etc0 in the mix.

[paul999]

Very very good point. I find this one very tough when dealing with clients. Trying to explain that some elements need to be a little further back in the mix to give it depth. There is always the could I have a little more this and or more that.

I found in your mix the the guitars where dark enough that the kick could be more punchy. You really walked the line on your kick and it never crossed over into too punchy for my taste. The loudness and darkness of the guitars was the glue that I found everything stuck to.

[Crazy8lp]

nice track! I love the back and forth between the male and female vocalist. Since my technical skills are not my strength, i will advise only on the composition of the song.. agreed w/ above that intro is too long... could be cut in half

[TonyB]

I posted an update.

I left it alone for a week to "retrain" my ears.

Thanks for the input.

Yes, the intro is still long, but that requires re-recording or some very PITA editing.


[Added updated mix -

Apr 19 original
Apr 28 updated

Both versions are in the OP above.

[paul999]

Nice job! Way better than mix one. Everything just sits better.

The one thing I feel distracted by in this mix is when it goes from his voice to hers. I like the treatment of the voices separately but in the same song his sounds thick and hers sounds thin. It is very tough to mix a raw edgy singer and a pristine angelic voice. Honestly I thought this was achieved better in the first mix. I do think there is room to wet her voice up a little and you could pull some delay back on him. Again nice work.