Does this happen to you?

[Vuts]

It does happen to me a lot!!

i ll try to make it as clear as possible with the english that i know - so....

I m mixing something ok? and then i put all the elements of the mix in a level that they sound good to me, but then there are some parts (small gt licks, backing vocals or various sounds) that noone else can hear them but me - and that s because i know they are there. if i put them higher in the mix they deffinately annoy me but again if a leave them in a low level people miss them

How do you deal with this??

 

[Matt Crooks]

EQ them differently, don't change the levels. Cut/boost the different parts so that there's more room for them in the sound spectrum without having to make them louder.

 

[~BURNY~]

It is related to the "cocktail party effect".
Check this:
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1144856

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

Try re-arraranging your arrangements. Try moving volume up/low on some parts, moving some instruments to an octave lower or higher, check if some instrument isn't overusing the frequency range of your licks or backing vox or another instrument (drums, bass, keys, whatever). Cut what is not needed, boost what is needed.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I've found that the better way to check if something is ok is not to listen to it

 

[black sugar]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you're listening on reference monitors, little details are going to jump out at you a lot more than they will on consumer grade speakers.

What might be annoying to you on your monitors might be barely noticeable in the car or on a boombox.

It's always nice to have some crappy soundblaster speakers or something around to help you make those kinds of decisions while mixing.

But yeah, I also tend to bury subtle detail parts more than I should, just because I know they're there.

 

[~BURNY~]

Auratones maybe.

 

[black sugar]

Haha, yeah Auratones! (Horrortones)

Quiet, man -- you're driving up the prices on eBay:

http://search.ebay.com/auratone_W0QQsojsZ1QQfromZR40


Can you believe that shit?


The Radio Shack Minimus 7's are supposed to be "good" bad reference speakers, too. Dirt cheap on eBay, and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a bitchen Realistic amp to go with them.

Hey, these Minimus 7's are HEAVY METAL speakers!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Realistic-Minim...ryZ14991QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Dushan S]

It does happen to me a lot!!

i ll try to make it as clear as possible with the english that i know - so....

I m mixing something ok? and then i put all the elements of the mix in a level that they sound good to me, but then there are some parts (small gt licks, backing vocals or various sounds) that noone else can hear them but me - and that s because i know they are there. if i put them higher in the mix they deffinately annoy me but again if a leave them in a low level people miss them

How do you deal with this??

When this happens most of the time something is wrong with the sounds themselves. I have found that when Instruments are well recorded and played in the first place, actually I need to work to make things "glue" together, so that instruments do not sound too separated.
Often problem can be also caused by badly arranged song, with main instruments clashing already, leaving no place for little details. If you have to EQ heavily to make mix transparent, than maybe something is wrong with the instruments themselves...A you probably already know, you can't fix everything in the mix

 

[Exsanguis]

My advice? Automate everything. Even tiny fader moves can really make those little details jump out without appearing random or sudden. I can't think of a single one of my mixes where nearly every fader moves(including the master).