Hi all, I appreciate the feedback you gave me on my last mix. I'd like some help with this other track that I've been working on. It's a bit of a mess, but I like the song and I think the recording has potential. How might I improve this mix?

 

i don't know why, but some parts of the song remember me of November Rain from Guns N Roses ...

 

Tis i again.

Very nice song. There are few things that come to mind:

-The transition between the first chorus and the first verse is too long and the exchange between these sections is a bit too dramatic. Shortening the part that i will refer as "post chorus" because no one can stop me from doing so, will make you percieve the transition more as between the chorus-verse, istead of post chorus-verse, kind of what happens after the the second chorus. Check this out, might be useful in the future:

A few things to try: You could put wide guitars on the verses instead of all centered. Might require some re-recording or copy paste shenanigans. If you need the contrast for the guitars between sections, a change in reverb and/or EQ should do the trick while also improving the transitions. Alternatively, you could kill the backing vocals at the very begining of the first verse, again to smoothen up the transition. Alternatively 2, don't go for full-center drums on the verse, keep them wide enough but with less reverb, or use a smaller reverb than in the chorus.

-At 3:10, one fo the birds on the left dies. Also it would be cool to have a bit more ambience on the outro, maybe a bit of wind on trees sounds on the background or something else to paint a better outdoor picture, istead of just birds. A touch of stereo room reverb for the guitar and birds would work too, if you're going for a more interior image, kind of like if you were playing on a room with an open window.

 

sounds good. not to messy.

i try not to critique creative decisions, they are your business.

nice depth but maybe everything is milling around in the background a bit too much. nothing is asserting itself much in a front to back sense. you have to crank it a bit to get impact, with the way people listen these days its not ideal. experiment with mids and high mids to bring a bit more definition and character, maybe levels as well. a thing to try is monitor a low levels and bring things out. this sometimes brings up other problems, which is why a lot people just sort of let things hang around in the background. the challenge is inspirational sparkle and definition -- not harshness. i like the smoothness at louder levels, don't mess with the smoothness. be bold, assertively make your statement. punch us in the face (metaphorically), kick over that flower pot you have always hated. you have nothing to lose.

there are some little things like controlling dynamics in some exposed parts. i like the rawness, but some people will clock them as mistakes. this will especially become more apparent if you choose to bring things out more.

not a mixer BTW, so take what i say with a grain of salt. worked with some good ones though.