How's This Alt-Rock Mix?

[Frak]

Hey guys,

Just finished demoing out my band's EP to for pre-production and I'm feeling pretty happy with the mixes.
Since we'll be mixing and mastering the EP ourselves, I was looking for some feedback on the mixes of these demos.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21735317/Ramona/A Quick Fix.mp3

Thanks!

 

[MondoLikeMetal]

Pretty tight execution of all instruments. Good song ... just think it could use a little harmony vox sprinkled in over some parts. The mix sounds good, but I'm on headphones, so....

 

[Frak]

Pretty tight execution of all instruments. Good song ... just think it could use a little harmony vox sprinkled in over some parts. The mix sounds good, but I'm on headphones, so....

Thanks man. Agreed on the harmonies. I'll probably sit with the vocalist and work some out. It would be a cool tool to emphasize the chorus that much more.

 

[Paulsh90]

Like MondoLikeMetal said, the instruments sound really tight. I would make some slight changes to vocals though. Some harmonies/backing vocals over the chorus would definitely add more to it i reckon. They also sound a bit dry and muffled at times? Maybe try cutting some low mids/adding some highs, then also add some more delay and reverb. Overall a really solid mix, sounds good.

 

[MondoLikeMetal]

You COULD bring in the vocalist again, but if you had something like Melodyne, you just make your own harmony part. What I do is put the original vox track into melodyne singletrack editor, and, with the help of a keyboard, come up with a harmony. For realism, I select all, and run a timing deviation algorithm, then adjust the timbre of each note. If you don't have Melodyne, they offer a trail version free for 30 days. BTW, this is also how I do my vox doubles.

 

[Frak]

Like MondoLikeMetal said, the instruments sound really tight. I would make some slight changes to vocals though. Some harmonies/backing vocals over the chorus would definitely add more to it i reckon. They also sound a bit dry and muffled at times? Maybe try cutting some low mids/adding some highs, then also add some more delay and reverb. Overall a really solid mix, sounds good.

Thanks man.
With the dry-sounding vocals, I agree. I just picked up Valhalla Vintage Reverb, so this is a good chance for me to have a play around with that.
I was also thinking of maybe putting in some slap delay on either side, to widen and wet it a bit (no innuendo intended).

You COULD bring in the vocalist again, but if you had something like Melodyne, you just make your own harmony part. What I do is put the original vox track into melodyne singletrack editor, and, with the help of a keyboard, come up with a harmony. For realism, I select all, and run a timing deviation algorithm, then adjust the timbre of each note. If you don't have Melodyne, they offer a trail version free for 30 days. BTW, this is also how I do my vox doubles.

I do have Melodyne, but something about this guy's vocals just sound really strange when I change the pitch too drastically.
The formant starts to sound all weird, and I can't even fix it with the melodyne formant tool.

He comes over pretty often for band practice and the like, so I'm sure he won't have an issue just tracking some parts.

 

[rcosta93]

The mix sounds pretty good, but as already mentioned, the vocals need to be brought up to the front, and remove some of the "mud" because they sound a bit muffled. Otherwise, it's a very nice mix, good job And there's something about the guitars that's lacking, but i dont know how to explain it. maybe more bit, punch, that's the word?

 

[Frak]

The mix sounds pretty good, but as already mentioned, the vocals need to be brought up to the front, and remove some of the "mud" because they sound a bit muffled. Otherwise, it's a very nice mix, good job And there's something about the guitars that's lacking, but i dont know how to explain it. maybe more bit, punch, that's the word?

Thanks man,
Yeah, the vocals were recorded with an SM58, and the guitars are all amp sims.
However, the actual EP will be reamped through an EVH 5153, and the vocals will be tracked with an SM7b