Wow - you found it, you might want to try a different limiter, I recommend this one: Brainworx - BX Limiter (Limiter)
www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/bx_limiter.html and https://brainworx.audio/products/brainworx/bx-limiter.html

Brainworx bx_limiter Tips and Hacks | AlexProMix.com

Oxford - Inflator v3: Louder mixes without the issues associated with compressors www.sonnox.com/plugin/oxford-inflator-v3
Review: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/sonnox-inflator-review/

Inflator The Loudness Monster

 

Last edited: Mar 24, 2022

Just a few more quick thoughts - at what point do you become aware of the problem? Is there an earlier point in the mix when it's not a problem? Whatever you're doing inbetween these two stages is where the problem lies (possibly ).

Also, do you do a (pseudo) mastering stage? Can you fix the problem by eq-ing the whole mix? If the tonal balance is a bit off maybe try muting groups to see if that sheds any light on the problem.

At what point do you fit the guitars into the mix? I'm no expert but something I've noticed is that the process tends to be drums, bass, vocal, then guitars (fitted in around what's already there). A bit sad for us guitarists!

Cheers!

 

To me, the distorted guitar is too prominent in the lower mid range and the upper mids are too soft.
This way, the guitar is muddening with everything else in the song.
BTW the guitar in the intro is out of tune, that's quite obvious.

Nice song though!

 

It is not adviseable to always search for leaking in the frequency spectrum and "making room" for something (especially in rock) even though everyone is stating something like this.
To me the midrange "looks" fine to be honest.

But I would really try to configure the guitar to be a bit less bass-heavy in general because the high pass already shows that there are some major problems with the tone.

 

Some ppl call it "mud" frequencies.
Because they "muddy" the mix when not dynamic and clean enough.


It is the mirror of high mids presence 3.5 - 5 kHz, but in the low mid region : it is the "low presence", the body.
BUT at the same time, those freqs are FIRST bass notes harmonics.

You get your kick, low toms, bass ... FIRST harmonics in this region (not fundamentals of course)
That's why they are REALLY hard to mix : it is the biggest conflict region, even worse than kick/bass

Even vocals want a place in this region
EVERYTHING wants low mids to get a "body" presence

My only simple advice : keep low mids DYNAMIC, to "punch" through the mix, not muddy it

 

How to mix in stereo... without sucking in mono (part 3)

 

So I've taken a couple advices, figured a lot of stuff that was going wrong out on my own too. here is an updated version of my mix I finally found some time to make a revision if anyone wants to check out the difference. It's still not perfect (but what mix is) anyways, thanks for the help people!

 

Maybe you have the opportunity to give it to a professional mixer who will then make a usable song out of it.
Such a good song and such a bad mix. (Criticism has to be).
Another open question: Do you play or sing yourself or do you mix it for a band?

 

Yes, this is better. In my opinion only the vocals need to be reduced a bit now.
Maybe 1 or 2db. Really just a basic volume thing.

I do not see anything bad from there besides that the vocals should be composed as accords sometimes in the refrain. But this is a different topic.

Sometimes people overdo and overthink stuff. But very often one does not need more than 6-10 plugins in the whole mixing (not production) project with very simple configurations to be honest.

 

Last edited: Mar 24, 2022

Thanks a lot. I Honestly think that the mix sounds good compared to mixes of songs in the same genre that I have referenced, I am pretty pleased with it now that I have figured out the initial problem which started this thread.. I don't know why you think its "such a bad mix" but music is subjective I suppose?

And yes, I am the singer and songwriter and guitar player and bassist, it's all my original music.

I'm curious, what kind of music do you prefer, or do you particularly mix? Do you have any mixes you've done I can check out?

 

Thanks a lot. Yeah being the singer/songwriter I can tend to emphasize my vocals over everything else, something I have to catch myself on often.

For vocals I usually just have EQ, Compression, Saturation, and slight reverb/delay. I learned some time ago that more isn't better when it comes to processing tracks. Less is 99% of the time better in my experience, the more plugins you add = the more problems you add.

 

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Last edited: Mar 25, 2022

This is a great thread. I like the advice you've been given so far. But more importantly I like your final mix example. It is indeed much better than the first one. I don't mix rock music much, but I listen to a fair bit of it. If you had told me a pro mixed this I would believe it.

Everything is taste. Everyone's not gonna like it, but at the very least it's presentable and balanced. I like your singing a lot too.


What might set it over the top, if possible, is more bold arrangement and automation. Now that everything is balanced, maybe have some fun with REALLY accenting those transitions. Maybe go through and find a really important word or sentence and drop everything but that, drench it in reverb or slap delay with high feedback, and make it really stick. Maybe give a certain part some high pass filter and distortion treatment.

These are all ideas, not advice, so please take with a grain of salt. It honestly sounds good to me. If I had mixed this I'd be happy with it.

 

Hi, I had a listen to the revised mix and have a few comments. I'm no expert and it's just my opinion so make of it what you will.

First thing is that I find the guitar arpeggios at the start are a bit uneven - especially the third note of the second pattern (around 10s). The note is quite exposed but sounds a bit weak. Also, the part becomes noticeably quieter when the bass/vocal enter. I would manually level this.

Second thing is that the heavy guitars don't sound right (tonally). To my ear, they sound a bit "honky" which makes them sound small when I think they should sound huge! Have you looked at Bob Marlette's Mixing Modern Rock? It's over on the sister site. It has a great section on mixing heavy guitars.

Third thing is that I agree with one of the other comments that the vocal is sticking out a bit too much. Maybe mastering could fix that but better if it were fixed in the mix.

The vocal sounds great!

Cheers!

 

If you think the mix is ok for you, then it's ok. Of course music is subjective. I think it's great what you can and do. A real musician.
I listen to a lot of music from all areas, hence the criticism. You can apply to the radio or to a record company with your songs. They will tell you if the quality is good enough or not.

I am a sound designer and have made 200 soundsets, with over 1.2 million user downloads, here is my website:

Sonic Sirius - Synthesizer Soundsets
Freeware Soundsets for Software and Hardware Synthesizer
http://ohlenbostelhelge.magix.net/public/

 

Cheers, this one sounds way better than the original.