Question:
I am working on a collaboration between an artist from Ontario, Ca and myself. This has been a purely internet based collab. I did the retrofitted drum part for this song and we are using just the song track and just a stereo mix of the drum track to mix with. We communicate through e-mail only. He listens to revisions of the drum mixs I send him and then tells me how it is working on his end. I make revisions in my studio based on what I am hearing from him.
We think we got it at this point
In my opinion the whole mix is dry. I'm not sure of what he has planned for mastering the tracks at this point. Then again, we tend to overdue reverbs and FX's in general. Maybe he has a nice handle on balance.
What do you think?
Answer:
First off, this really sounds great! The quality of the musicianship is stellar, which of course makes everything else easier.
I think the drums in this are, again, too loud (except I think the kick is right where it should be in the mix). I think the reverb and fx are fine where they're at. I'd pump up the electric guitars, and I guess add more upper mids/treble to them to add more presence. I think I'd also take out the stick clicks at the beginning. The guitars get really hidden behind the drums at the very end.
Answer:
I'd say...AWESOME MIX!
But the drums do need to come down a bit like Jon said.
Answer:
It wasn't a bad mix by any means, but it feels like it was mixed for a different genre -- if that makes any sense.
Answer:
Hey guys thanks,
I agree the drums are too high. This was a tough mix for me with the drums. Very challenging to do two seperate mixes and bring them together, but according to your feeback so far, it is nice to know that it can be done and that you can get professional results.
Soap: Yes, I agree that this mix is definently more alternative genre than what I am even use to. Not as trashy as alternative, but drier and flatter sounding.
Thanks for the koodos on the mucisianship. This is what we ended up with for musicians:
Ryan: Writer, guitars, vocals (Ontario, Canada)
Trojka: Bass guitar (Amsterdam, Holland)
Myself: Vancouver, WA.
All parts were done in different studios. It is cool being a musician in this age of technology. I'll keep you posted on the latest mixes.
Thanks again,
Tommy
Answer:
I agree with what's been said. Kick is where I like to hear it. The rest of the drums sound like they're mixed well as far as their volume in relation to each other, just too loud overall as has been said. I think the drums could benefit from a very very light bit of reverb to make them sound like they breathe more. They don't sound so natural (or more electronic) without a bit of reverb. Any compression on the vocals? They don't have much punch to them to me, but then again the vocal doesn't have much of a dynamic to it. Always stays the same sort of level except for around 1:45 to 2:00 and random places til the end. The end of the song sounds like everything else was faded out and the drums weren't. If the whole "band" is going to finish the song like it sounds like was intended then that other stuff would need to stay the same, if not even come up. Very cool, especially with the way you guys accomplished it so far apart like you did.