Are You Lonely

[CosmicDolphin]

Mark, Any tips?

Well...about 20 years of practice helps 

Your eq's & FX sound fine, but after a few ( hundred  ) listens I'd say it sounded a little ' hollow '...muddy wouldn't be the word I'd use....lot's of space in your mix, maybe too much.

Maybe put the Sonar Bundle up on your FTP and I can take a look to compare.

One thing I noticed is later in the song , you didn't ride the guitars up , as they seem to be pushed back in the mix.

I did more fader rides on this than nearly all the other collabs put together 

Nick's sounds much better than previously to me ..like you say there are a few spots where the kick seems to poke through...We can blame Todd for kicking it too hard, but I made sure to fade that part down quite a bit to keep it level.

 Though I do like your overall drum soud Nick, so please reveal how to get that kinda sound, it's not one I seem to be able to get.  More American/Smooth sounding...think I grew up listening to different kinda drums....so I'd like to be able to do both.

CD
 
PS     - Dave you're a much better mixer than I am a guitarist 

PPS   - And Nick can do both very well

PPPS - Never heard him sing though, or write lyrics, or paint a picture 

Guess we all have our unique talents guys - Keep it up.     

[Studioplayer]

Well I've been flipping through the mixes and both you guys are much clearer than me. Too hollow is probably a better word. In yours CD I noticed the drums are buried in the mix though. Todd does a killer transition just before the lead and I can barely hear it in yours. I think they could come out more. Not sure if you agree with that.  Nicks drums are really forward. I'll have to listen tonight in the studio and see how it all sounds. I like this though. What a better way for me to learn than to see other mixes from both you guys who do it all the time. It gives me a really good comparison to work from. I'll keep practicing. 

Dave

[CosmicDolphin]

In yours CD I noticed the drums are buried in the mix though. Todd does a killer transition just before the lead and I can barely hear it in yours. I think they could come out more. Not sure if you agree with that. 

Dave

Yeah..I tried to keep in consistant with songs I've been listening to lately....Nick does have them very up front in comparison

I think I've faded the other instuments up more than the drums as the song progresses, and not so much the drums, and I tried not to add too much compression to them, I hear they get a little ' sunk ' later on in the track.

I was still only about 88.75 % happy with it 

CD

[NickT]

I don't sing well but can paint (art major) and write lyrics.

My drum mixes are the result of trying to make our songs cross over to sound as pro as we can get. What i mean by that is that drums are the hardest things to get to sound pro out of all the things we play with. One of the things that got me writing again was finding drums on demand as a way to make my demo's sound "pro studio".

I also mixed in J. Halls IMP projects at Prosoundweb.com. Had the man himself crtique my mixes. I start all my mixes with the drums and build around them. I found an EQ chart that is a great starting point for each drum. I comp The tracks and send them to a drums master. I also use a drum buss where I comp the whole drum mix and blend it back with the original until I get the punch i need.

I use a lot of subtractive EQ in my mixes. I will also add a high shelf EQ when I think things are dull.

I feel the modern mix is drum and kick heavy "more click than thud" but also add in the low stuff to keep it full.

Long conversations with Cary about toms and snares.

I didn't use any samples in this mix but I don't rule them out if I need them.

I was about 90% ok with my mix. I could probably make another pass if I had the time.

As far as the kick, I went in and actually did a 3db cut on the high level hits before I hit it with the comp and limiters.

Hope that helps a little.

Nick

[Studioplayer]

I use a lot of subtractive EQ in my mixes. I will also add a high shelf EQ when I think things are dull.

By taking out the extreme highs helps in dullness? 

Maybe we should have an on going mix thread one of these days. It would help to understand some of the issues in a mix. 

[NickT]

Shouldn't run those two thoughts.

I meant a high shelf boost.

Nick

[Pleasuredome]

Thanks to everyone for the coments.

Yeah, it was a total (very sad) coincidence regarding your mum Dave and extreme condolences bro.

My conclusion is that I play with 100% heart and a variable %age of head as needed (the head part being limited only by my experience)

I think the same is true for all the people associated with music and the scale just slides on the %ages depending on what we are trying to do (e.g. I think you will be using a lot more head knowledge when mixing Nick compared to when you are writing a guitar part).

And I always get a little nervous when posting deep things like this in case there is a negative side I haven't thought of (problem of not being able to fully explain via the said word), I am saying you guys are all brilliant and a great forum to be involved with and create in

All is good and all is real

Returning from vacation shortly and we can get back to more of the same

Incidentally thanks Ray, your Heart cover is absolutely awesome man and I'm looking forward to hearing that fully completed

I'm also looking forward to hearing these mixes, but that'll have to wait until I get back home since the network connection keeps dropping

[Pleasuredome]

Got the mixes guys, ALL IS GOOD AND ALL IS VERY REAL

All that exist between them are differences, that's all

[CosmicDolphin]

I also mixed in J. Halls IMP projects at Prosoundweb.com. Had the man himself crtique my mixes. I start all my mixes with the drums and build around them. I found an EQ chart that is a great starting point for each drum.

Nick

What's IMP projects ?...do you have a link to the EQ chart ?

You're right about the drums being the hardest to get a pro sound for...we should be able to get a great sound from Todd's gear.

CD

[Thunder]

 maybe you guys could try a mix with my drum stereo mix,build around that,or i could send a mix off each buss
like kick, snare, toms ,rooms,that have been ran through my outboard gear.total of 4 tracks dry no effects.and rooms panned at 10 & 2 for that punch,kick pan 12 snare pan 12.

[Studioplayer]

Todd, I totally forgot to put up some seps for you. I'll get to it today. 

Dave

[NickT]

maybe you guys could try a mix with my drum stereo mix,build around that,or i could send a mix off each buss
like kick, snare, toms ,rooms,that have been ran through my outboard gear.total of 4 tracks dry no effects.and rooms panned at 10 & 2 for that punch,kick pan 12 snare pan 12.

Todd,

I thought your drums were great to work with. I like the way I mixed them! 

Nick

[Thunder]

maybe you guys could try a mix with my drum stereo mix,build around that,or i could send a mix off each buss
like kick, snare, toms ,rooms,that have been ran through my outboard gear.total of 4 tracks dry no effects.and rooms panned at 10 & 2 for that punch,kick pan 12 snare pan 12.

Todd,

I thought your drums were great to work with. I like the way I mixed them! 

Nick

Hey Nick i like the way ya mix my drums bro ,i was just thinking of another angle to look at if ya all wanted to try thats all bro.you guys are all doing a cracking job at mixing the drums.

[Sternen]

I am sorry I missed this one being built during my latest hiatus. 

Bloody smoking chart guys!

This one is going on my mp3 player as I type this!

[Pleasuredome]

Thanks Sternen, it's one of my best I reckon!!