How is the mix on this acoustic number?

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IntoTheRoughIntoTheRough Frets: 52
edited April 2021 in Studio & Recording
This is an old tune of mine I recorded. I use SubmitHub and one of the curators said "Really nice guitar style and sound but not totally sure about the mix as a whole unfortunately. "

I was a little vexed by this as there isn't much "mix" to speak of! But all feedback is good feedback

It's only a private track on SoundCloud at the mo as it goes "live" on Spotify later this week

https://soundcloud.com/john-byrne-117035719/elroys-theme/s-mLTGbEdrf8e
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Comments

  • Moved this to Studio & Recording as I'm not plugging it!
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  • Worked well on an ipad and I could hear everything fine with my Shure IEMs.

    Critics can rarely play.   He/she may have misused the word and It was not a style they like.  I don’t know SubmitHub and what experience qualifies a ‘curator.’

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  • BahHumbugBahHumbug Frets: 349
    Just listened on iPad speakers, then with headphones.  It’s better with headphones.  *its just personal taste*, but the guitar tones are a bit too piezo-y - bright and nasal.  The ‘lead guitar’ gets quite overbearing in a couple of spots and the guitars seem to be fighting each other rather than complimenting each other at those times.

    That said, it’s easy to be a critic and tone tastes are very personal.  F’rinstance I love Adrian Legg’s music, but I dont like his idea of good tone.

    Quite a nice piece of music btw.
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  • That's great feedback and also sadly confirms what I thought - especially on the piezo-ness. That is with an IR sitting on top of the DIed sound too.

    Thanks.
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    I really like the idea, but Yeah agree with the harshness of the lead riffs...def had to back off the volume at that point.., would have also ;liked some low end on those lower notes to add some Ooomph...Ive found Waves Lo Air is cool for that...

    I think I would tame some of that delay ( is it delay on the left ?)...and also tweak some reverbs with pre delay, Nice piece though, well done ;-) 


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  • spark240 said:
    I really like the idea, but Yeah agree with the harshness of the lead riffs...def had to back off the volume at that point.., would have also ;liked some low end on those lower notes to add some Ooomph...Ive found Waves Lo Air is cool for that...

    I think I would tame some of that delay ( is it delay on the left ?)...and also tweak some reverbs with pre delay, Nice piece though, well done ;-) 
    Cool, thanks. I have that plugin! It's weird how obvious these issues are now but when mixing it I just could not hear. And I often check a song in the morning first thing when my ears aren't tired! Funny old game.
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  • KasalicKasalic Frets: 12
    edited April 2021
    Didn’t want to listen and run, but I agree on the brightness. With AirPods Pro on it was a bit harsh and lacking in low end, also noticed a distracting sound on the left of the mix which as spark240 said might be a delay, but it had me trying to work out what it was rather than listening to the track.

     Nice arrangement and playing though, would be interested to hear if you do I remix/remaster


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  • camfcamf Frets: 1190
    Not a lot more to say than I agree with tge feedback above. A bit bright, edging towards shrill in parts, but very fixable. Good work! 
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  • camf said:
    Not a lot more to say than I agree with tge feedback above. A bit bright, edging towards shrill in parts, but very fixable. Good work! 
    Thanks! It's really useful because I use the same setup for other acoustic pieces which are even more dynamic e.g. almost flamenco in style. That one is REALLY shrill but obviously I could hear it much more easily as it has so much more attack.

    Back to the DAWing board!
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  • StuckfastStuckfast Frets: 2393
    Agreed that the guitar is too biting in the upper mids. Not what I'd call bright as such, probably somewhere around 1.5 to 2 kHz, but sweep an EQ and you'll find it. This is a good use case for a dynamic EQ or multiband compressor, so that you can push down those frequencies only where needed.

    I'm on the fence about the delay. It helps to fill out the sound but it's also a bit distracting.
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  • Stuckfast said:
    Agreed that the guitar is too biting in the upper mids. Not what I'd call bright as such, probably somewhere around 1.5 to 2 kHz, but sweep an EQ and you'll find it. This is a good use case for a dynamic EQ or multiband compressor, so that you can push down those frequencies only where needed.

    I'm on the fence about the delay. It helps to fill out the sound but it's also a bit distracting.
    Thanks! Yeah I tend to filter comments from people into boxes of "definitely needs to be addressed" and "is subjective". That's not to say subjective comments are any less valuable - it's just they need to be addressed differently.

    I worked on another track and cut out some of the upper mids as you have suggested above and it does seem to have made it less tiring on the ear. So I think I'm on the right track but being mostly deaf in one ear does not help matters!
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    Sounds good to me although I agree the guitar tonis quite marmite. Main comment I would ahve is that when the guitar gets louder / more intense the drums dont come with it and push the drums even further back in the mix. 
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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