Alright, gents! I’ll preface my commentary by first answering some of the questions that came up during the mix week. The band is actually my band, 3 Pill Morning. The song is a song that’s not going to be on our album (for which this was actually a self-produced demo/pre-production track) called, if you hadn’t already guessed by the chorus, “Can’t Wait.” If anyone has any specific questions regarding tracking or anything else, I’ll happily answer them.
That all said...let’s get on to the reviews!!
J Hall - I like where the drums fit in your mix, but all the delay is killing me. I know you’ve submitted a somewhat unfinished mix, so I can understand some of that, but it’s really distracting in the verses, where the vocal rhythms are tighter.
mcsnare - I’m really impressed. The definition you have going on is killer, esp, in the guitars. Did you cut out some of the doubles? I know you moved the arpeggiated 3rd guitar to the left in the chorus, and I didn’t hear the goony surf “digga digga digga” in the second pre-chorus, but I’m really interested in how you edited the guitar tracks a little more specifically. Also...drum wise...those samples are niiice. In a lot of ways, they remind me of the drums on the first Audioslave album...they’re really up front and defined...they’re not like nu-metal punchy, but more like an older-school kinda flat but crankin sort of sound...I don’t know how quite to describe it, but I like it.
HLabb - That is one SERIOUSLY fat sounding snare. I don’t know if you beefed it up with a sample (other than the triggered snare I included) or not, but to get that sort of thump out of a 5x13 vented acrylic snare is pretty sweet. It feels like the kick and snare kinda chew on each other in terms of compression. I like the edit in the second verse. Some of the vocal harmonies can come up a little bit. The izotope vinyl on the piano is a cool touch. WOAH! Interesting re-use of the “choral” stuff. That’s a pretty dense harmony for a rock track. Nice work overall...everything feels a little crunchy, and other than the pumping between the snare and kick, I like the mix in general.
SoulFire - Howdy, midrange! Those guitars sound a bit like we used practice amps intstead of 4x12’s. The drum break into the first chorus is a cool idea, but it feels like it’s a little “dropped in” on everything. There seems to be a lot of midrange content missing from the vocals that makes intelligibility difficult. The drums sound like they could all use a bit more snap in the top end.
J-Texas - Wow...sparse right off the top. And crunchy. You didn’t like jeff’s mic for his vocals in the verse? Interesting take...man...it’s WAY lo-fi compared to what I’ve heard so far. Not sure that I’m digging that particular aspect, but I do like the balances and the separation...everything feels really organic and garage, which is just not something I usually associate with this band. But that’s cool...I definitely think there’s some room for garage in the sound...the breakdown vocals are interesting, as I know I leaned really heavily on the group vocals, and there’s scarcely any in yours...what’s funny is the arrangement you laid out is basically the arrangement we used live. Are you stalking us?
macbraddy - interesting re-cut on the intro...I liked the vocal treatment on the first line...after that it felt a bit played out. The drums punch well...but that low-fi vocal feels really distracting when paired against this big poppy backing track. That just kills the mix for me, man. The rest of the mix feels solid, but that just tips the balances in an awkward way. I like the flange at the end of the second chorus. That’s a cool touch. But really...the vocals don’t feel like they sit with the rest of the track for the WHOLE track.
This is what I got for now...I have to run out before guitarget closes and pick up a power conditioner and rack drawer for my new bass rig...I'll pick up some more tonight and some more tomorrow and see where we end up!