Those with good ears, please have a listen to this mix/master...

simeon

simeon

Axe-Master
first a preamble...

i've been working on some songs with a good friend of mine from school. we've known each other for about 30 years and have been in bands together and written songs over the years and about 5 years ago, we decided to do some really good versions of 4 of his tunes. well life happened, so we were only able to work on them bit by bit, but we're now getting close to finishing them! i'm still waiting for vocals for three of them, but i reckon this one is pretty much done. please have a listen and let me know what you think about the mix and the mastering. i probably lost objectivity on these about 4 years ago, so i'd really appreciate a fresh perspective! i'll leave this up for a few days and then take it down, as i would really like to present all four tunes as a set when they're completed.

this one's a ballad, but we also have a neo-classical 11 minute 70's rock inspired opus, a NWOBHM anthem with a twist and a completely and wonderfully overblown extravaganza with church organ, choir, orchestra and deep purple references, which sounds incredible.

(new version posted below)

honesty is good...helps me out :)
 
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Hi simeon, I think this track is good to go for my ears. Very well mastered. Almost sounds like your good friend is the one and only Pete Townsend; very similar voices.
 
You've helped all of us a lot, so here goes:
For the mix, what I liked was that the full band *finally* come in at full volume...I was eager to
have more or something NEW spark up or change up, until the band fully came in. Even something subtle
to hint its going to happen.

My song ears got a little bored with the vocalist...all the same tone, timbre, notes, etc.
Maybe he could "break out" alittle or add backing, fx or harmony later in the song. Overal the vox struck me
as mundane and flat (not tone-wise tho).

This just dawned on me: listen to just the vocals isolated all the way through - is IT awesome, on its own? Is each piece awesome on its own?? The piano is, and proly the rest too.

I did like it. It starts & ends w/ the soft piano / synth. I imagine, for my tastes, full power BLOW OUT at the end
to give the softer intro & outro more impact. Either full power or more power blow out...just a thought.

The song & arrangement is almost at its completion!
 
Mainly cause It lacks of high frequencies. You can compare it to some reference rock tracks and hear what I mean.
I listen to it on 8240A I also have Yamaha MSP3, so monitoring is not an issue here :)
 
thank you sir. the vocal was actually intended only as a guide, but i thought it was kinda nice, so i kept it. he may decide to do another one and if he does, i'll mention that he needs to add a bit more variety. i'm waiting for feedback from him on the latest mixes, so i'll see what he says then.
 
Simeon, if you could you send me a little piece of this track unmastered, I can check its spectrum balance, and give you wider review :)
 
Detch said:
Simeon, if you could you send me a little piece of this track unmastered, I can check its spectrum balance, and give you wider review :)
Click to expand...

it's pretty muddy unmastered. i added a little boost at 12k and a tiny boost at about 2k to brighten it a little. i think i may need to add more 12k...
 
the snare definitely needs more top end. i think the vocal may be too loud, generally. it also needs more bottom end overall and more "shine" on the top.
 
simeon said:
this one's a ballad, but we also have a neo-classical 11 minute 70's rock inspired opus, a NWOBHM anthem with a twist and a completely and wonderfully overblown extravaganza with church organ, choir, orchestra and deep purple references, which sounds incredible.
Click to expand...

Simeon - overall the arrangement of the song and performance sounds good. The only things that I would change a hint are:
- The shelfing of the drums in the mix. It sounds "conjoined" or overly compressed in the instrumental mix
- The shelfing of the vocals in the same manner, it almost seems like it is in the same spectrum of the instruments

What I listen for is the audio spacing in the instruments and vocals of a song. If you compare this to "Hey You" by PF which is an entirely different song but somewhat of a dark ballad, the drums are "below" and the vocals are "above" the instrumentation (for additional perspective). I suppose it's the difference in the recording styles as well, but just an example of the sonic separation of instruments.
 
The song and arrangement evolve nicely. Kinda grows on you.
I like the organ and strings. And the Uni-vibe which adds to the, eh, vibe.

I agree that there's a lack of top end / sparkle.

At first I though I heard some clipping in the lead vocal track but I didn't hear it 2nd time.

Maybe some air could be created by more EQ-ing (high- and low-passing) of the instruments.
Guitars and piano seem to be fight for space.

I'm not that fond of the piano sound. Especially those couple of single notes without sustain in the intro.
Maybe add a bit of chorus or panning....
 
thanks for all the advice chaps. working on a fresh version now, taking all your suggestions into account. thanks again!
 
Nice song, arrangement and performances. Good mix but I agree with some of the feedback above, especially that it could use some top end. Comparing to a reference mix is always good (your ears get used to your mix). Logic has a Match EQ that works well for comparing your mix to a reference.

Also, I think the vocal gets lost in a few places, especially at the end. So, I'd work on bringing him up and making sure the vocal stays above the music - I always listen to the end of words, "flame" is a good one in this song.

I think the vocal could use a boost around 2.5k and a cut around 560Hz. There is also something going on with the K's in "keeper" around 4.5k - needs a De-K-er?. The kick gets a little loud at its fundamental (65Hz?) and the snare has a little too much body (160Hz?).

I heard a few edits - for example 3:50 seems like a drum edit (cymbal lost on left side). I also heard something rustling at 0:45-0:46 - if that is in the vocal track I'd trim it down to just the singing parts so there is no additional noise in that quiet segment.

I think the ending should just be a fade from 06:25 or so - and, 6:00 is long - but I'm sure you realize that.

I played around a bit in Ozone and tried to add some top end and pulled some strings to get the vocal a bit more out front. I may have pushed things too far, but here's the result:

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/fractalz/Keeper_Master_1-fractalz.wav

Edit: also, as a master, this seems to have some headrooom to spare, I pushed it a bit further in the WAV above.
 
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Better! I like it!

I hear the vocal coming in/out as I suggested, but now I can really hear the background noise coming in/out too. Strange, it seems the hiss is louder in the left channel. Do you hear that too? If you can't get rid of the noise, it may be better to ride (automate) the level on that track to bring the hiss down when he's not singing, but in a more musical way than just muting segments. Depends on how much time you want to invest in that vocal track issue.

The harmony around 4:30 could come out. I'm hearing it better now, but it is pretty low. I sounds like it is just on the right. If it is just one track, I'd do a ghost (haas) to the other side to balance it.

The 'K' at 5:58 is jumping out. May need a spot treatment there. There may be others.

The drums at the end are still jarring and don't seem to fit the arc of the song.

Sounds really good overall.
 
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