[Acidline] Choices

[MFXxx]

https://soundcloud.com/mystafx/choices-mysta-fx

Been a while since posting hope some people like it...still got some ideas I want to implement ... who is ever satisfied!

First track I've felt comfortable posting using the x0xb0x (yes had it over a year!)
Virus on the bass, Zebra on the strings, Hive on the 80's vibe sequence, some random samples from a pack (cheating here...not the Mrs), Maschine on the drums (all goldbaby samples, my favourite).
Some excalibur on the xoxbox, echoboy on vocals, touch of B2C for reverb, VMR goodies on the strips and MJUC on the group buses with some nebula favs for the mixdown...still learning !!!

Enjoy and feel free to contribute if you have 5 minutes of your live to spare

[layzer]

cool sounds, good composition however the mix sounds weird. the whole thing seems to lack midrange frequency presence.

[Frantz]

I agree with layzer. The mix sounds weird as if there is a high pass filter over everything.

[MFXxx]

Hmm interesting. Appreciate your ears.. I think I know what's happened one of two things. Will need to check what's on the master. I've over compensated as initially mix was too low end and trimmed it back whilst not paying too much attention to the top.

[MFXxx]

delete

[MFXxx]

Silly error, had the EQ in cubase setup incorrectly on some parts and not reset on mixdown. Hopefully fixed it.

[MFXxx]

Reworked this a little. Hoping issues address. Guys thanks, you were spot on eq was omitted in a couple of stems in Cubase!!
Ended up rewoking a little, feel it's better ...

[Frantz]

It still sounds weird - very trebly with some sub-bass.

You are not required to EQ everything just because you can. In fact, you may be better off using EQ only when needed to address an issue.

[layzer]

still missing that midrange. i suspect whatever you monitor with be it phones or speakers,
they are over accentuating the mids... therefore you are cutting them way down to compensate.

i recommend you either use an outboard EQ or the system EQ on the soundcard(if it has one)
to calibrate the monitoring device to a flat response.

here is a freq analysis of a busy section of your current mix..
the thin red line is the average, the yellow line is the ideal.

see how steeply cut the mids are? as frantz said, this can be corrected
by boosting the volume of the mid-range instruments in the mix along with
some mastering EQ fine adjustments if needed.

[MFXxx]

I understand what you're saying. Just out of interest if you have time. Are any other of the spotlight tracks ie lost in a wave or harry sunrise etc suffering the same. Don't expect you to listen to them all. I'm curious as I am wondering if it's the source material of this particular track or a particular plugin I've been trying out on the group channels along with cubase stock strip and eq. Or is it somply My perception of the sounds
think om going back to the initial source and restart from there
I do 3 stage mixdowns;
Creation midi audio raw
Mix down to group channels
Group channels to final mix down stem
Mixdown stem master
I really should be able to get this right.
I really appreciate your help.
In regards to mixing environment... same as the spotlight tracks I've mentioned hence curiosity.
Thanks guys I appreciate your help on this one. Thought I had it kicked in this one and proved incorrect. All good learning tech.

[MFXxx]

One other thought looking at the analyser.
Is it a case of mixing levels je reduce the low end ie kick and sub along with the top end of the drums to balance the mix of from what you guys are sayings it's more of a tonal balance.
Ie drum volumes are right but overall blend of mix is lacking rather than individual parts?

[recursive one]

I wouldn't say really criminally unbalanced, but the bass region is too muddy, also it seems that you've gone over the top with all these compression/saturation thingies.

The sound design and the arrangement are pretty nice, the song has the right vibe.

[layzer]

Are any other of the spotlight tracks ie lost in a wave or harry sunrise etc suffering the same.

yes, but to a lesser extent. all 3 have over the top high and sub bass energy going on.

harry sunrise is the closest to sounding "even" but has a little too much sizzle.

np. glad to be of help

[MFXxx]

Have wondering on several points :
Older ears, so overcompensating on the high end and on a technical level, sat drive in VCC.
Acoustic environment...it's definitely not the best I know this.
What I call bad mix pseudo reference. Listen to a sound too many times of a period, it becomes normal. You are my set of ears outside my normal world.

I've gone back to the root audio stems listened through with analyzer and applied some air eq on each channel.
Done the same for the group busses and a touch on the master.
Reduced the sub, cleaned the snare as I felt it was a lttle boxy and tightened the kick, lowered the bass and taken some high/low end of the drum buss, more natural eq curve.

The biggest challenge with the mid range is some parts of the track there's a lot of low end bassline and x0xb0x presence which in pther parts is thinned out with the drums running behind. There's also a few nuances I like between the bass, acidline and plucks that are hard to maintain with mid adjustment. Hope I've got some improvement and not bodged it up totally. Feels and sounds better to me but you the audience are the judges and the feedback is all good. Oh and see what you think of the new few bars of intro.

One last up for now...if not successful on this mix. I'll take away the feedback and evolve on the next.
@Layzer thanks for taking the time to listen in on the mixes, really appreciated.

Thanks again.

New version uploaded as of now...thanks for listening in

[layzer]

ok, by only using a parametric EQ this is the best i could do to level it out. how does it sound to you?
https://soundcloud.com/layzerkvr/test

and the freq analysis looks like this: