Dubai

Another cut from the Quick and Dirty submitted for some feedback, particularly in terms of the mix.

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posted by waxboy (3 comments total)

First off, I enjoyed the song greatly--there's a great Doors sans organ vibe to it. Here come my thoughts on the mix, though, since that's what you're looking for

For one thing, almost everything needs to come up in the mix--the vocals overpower everything. You might distort the vox a bit, and run some eq over the bass (needs more treble). The drums sound alright, though a bit muddy and subdued. The whole drum mix needs more treble--a crisper sound, with the exception of the guitar, which could stand some more on the lower end.

This isn't mix related, but I think it needs a fiery harmonica solo. The best example I can give for what I mean is (if you can get hold of it), Robyn Hitchcock's "NASA Clapping." I can hear that kind of vehement, violent, irreverent harmonica blast working well in this song.

Once again, liked the track, but you asked for feedback, and I presumed you meant full critique. I hope it's useful.
posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 12:04 AM on August 12, 2009

I'll bite. (Thanks for the kind words about my tune.)

I have to agree with the above. The vocal is too loud relative to the band. Also too much reverb. The band sounds cloudy and far away. The excitement of the performance isn't coming through.
I would start by taking out the vocal and re-mixing the band so it is biting and in-your-face. Then I would take out the band and get a clear vocal sound. Then I would add the vocal to the band. Only at that point would I add judicious amounts of reverb to the vocal to try and get it in a similar acoustic space as the band.

As for musical content, it could use a really psychotic solo of some sort. Harmonica, electric violin, motorcycle, breaking glass.

Keep at it.
posted by Jode at 9:39 AM on August 12, 2009

Agree with the Doors refs. And with LOOM's comment about more treble - except that the way to do that is counter-intuitive: don't add treble, cut the low-mids and low EQ on the master but not before you've had a crack at what I'm suggesting below. Tweaking high-mids and highs will just fuck things up even more at this stage. You need to roll about 5-10dB off the vocal - don't add any more high-end until you hear what that sounds like. You need to target a cut on the kick drum somehwere below 100Hz - it's way too big and flabby and is splashing all over the mix. You'll need to find the frequency that's causing the problem, and then home in on it and cut it down. I'd also recommend that you pan the guitars and the kit a little more widely - it all sounds a bit mono, and this won't help if you want to get some separation and clarity into the mix. I wouldn't recommend anything else at the mo - see what it sounds like if you do that lot. If that sounds cool, I'd recommend a bit of compression on the master as a finishing touch - just enough to tighten the sound up and raise overall volume. If that doesn't work - gawd 'elp yer lad.... I'd look at a re-recording.
posted by MajorDundee at 1:58 PM on August 12, 2009