Megadeth Cover - Could you evaluate my mix?

[Drew Stephenson]

Very much not my genre but for me the whole mid-channel needs to come up in comparison to the sides. Feels like I've got a pair of guitarists 10 feet away but the rest of the band are 10 yards away.
Aside from that it's very clean, lots of separation and nice wide spacing of the instruments.

[Aaron Straley]

Great playing and singing here. Its obvious you put some time and effort onto this. I listened to yours and the original. The mixes are a bit different, if thats intentional or not? Thanks for sharing... I know a few Megadeth songs and this one is new to me.

[Aaron Straley]

Yes but its the same in every other way. To me, the vocals and guitar are sitting better in the mix on the original. I can hear the vocal better and the guitars are back a little more. I was originally curious if you used the original as a reference when mixing/mastering.

Also curious, it sounds close to the same speed as the original. Do you know if there is any difference there or not?

[James Perrett]

I'd agree with Drew that there is a hole in the middle of the stereo image. I would normally expect to hear a rock solid vocal and snare in the middle but they are a bit indistinct. If you have used a stereo processor to widen things then it is probably worth dialling it back a bit.

Otherwise the sounds, the vocals and the mix are pretty good.

[RichardT]

It's a great sound and very authentic for the genre! I agree with the preceding comments - the only thing I'd add is that the kick drum could also be a bit clearer - you could use (or dial up) a transient processor to help with that.

And the video looks very professional too.

[James Perrett]

Strange though that the snare actually is in center, as well as vocals and bass.

Yes, they are in the middle but, to use a photography analogy, they are out of focus. On my monitors a good mix has a pin sharp stereo image where you can imagine the singer right in front of you. On your mix the singer is floating around somewhere in the middle distance.

On the other hand, the bass is right there in the middle where it should be.

[James Perrett]

I've been mixing for a year now, so still learning a lot. Any advice to bring the vocals forward?

I would think about taking some of the reverb off or replacing it with delay instead of reverb and then increasing the level of the vocals by a couple of dB. It would also possibly be worth narrowing the stereo spread of the vocal reverb.

The same goes for the snare.

The other suggestion that I would make is to ensure that you can actually hear what you are doing. Acoustic room treatment is essential if you are using monitors but, if you can't treat your room, use a good pair of headphones. Listen to lots of other peoples' mixes through your system too.

[RichardT]

That's a great result for someone who's been mixing for a year, I'm very impressed.

There are lots of things you could do. I'm assuming you're happy with the comping and tuning.

There are two main things you can do - adjust the sound of other instruments and adjust the sound of the vocals themselves. You probably won't need to do all of these things, but they might be worth considering.

In regards to other instruments, it's likely the guitars are robbing the vocal of presence, so experiment with EQ cuts or level changes on the guitars to reduce this - if you have plugins that show the frequency makeup of the signal on each channel you'll be able to see what's going on.

Another thing you can do is to use side-chaining to dip the level of the guitars using the vocals as side-chain input.

You may also be able to cut some frequencies from the drums and bass at vocal frequencies without affecting their sound noticeably in the mix.

Likewise, have a look at the stereo width of the guitars with a view to possibly reducing it, and see if anything has a bit too much reverb or delay. To my ears, the drums seem to have a bit too much room sound, but that's a matter of taste.

Regarding the vocal itself, obviously you can experiment with the overall level, but you can also increase the compression you have on it, or try adding a second compressor, and after that you may need to resort to automating the volume to get the effect you want.

In terms of tone, you can experiment with EQ changes on the vocal. It might help to HP the vocal to cut out lower frequencies which are getting lost anyway. Boosting high frequencies can sometimes bring a track forward, but use with care as it can create harshness.

Again, you can look at the stereo width of the vocal signal and reduce it if it increases clarity.

Reverbs and delays are key to getting clarity - try reducing the levels of the sends, or go for a shorter reverb time / smaller sized room, or drop the level of the reverb during a phrase and bring it up at the end. Have a look into 'pre-delay' and how it can affect depth, and experiment by reducing the width of reverbs. If you're used to using reverb, experiment with delays instead.

It's possible you might need to 'mult' the vocal track to create different tracks each containing part of the performance so that you can apply different treatments to different parts of the performance.

[Drew Stephenson]

I generally use an additional reverb on the vocal, but then I'll use the vocal signal to trigger a ducker on that vocal so that the reverb is reduced when the vocal is present but then comes up again as the vocal line tails off. This gives the impression of more reverb without muddying things.

[Drew Stephenson]

There's a recent thread here with plenty of suggestions on different reverbs for different jobs: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... hp?t=82256

[James Perrett]

I hear lots of reverbs and delays, and the vocals sound so powerful.

Except that there probably aren't that many reverbs and delays being used. There's obviously a general reverb that is being used on lots of things and a slapback delay on the vocals but probably not many individual effects on each instrument. Apart from the usual 80s non linear reverb on the snare (which may actually be a triggered noise sample), the drums are fairly dry with just a hint of ambience.

[James Perrett]

Can't argue much with you Mr Perrett. Read about you and you are in this business since the 80's! It's great to hear from people with such long experience!

- thanks, but I'm always learning. I just happen to have had the chance to listen to quite a few 80s multitracks over the last couple of years and play around re-creating some reasonably well known mixes.