SOUND ON SOUND

[Feanor]

Hi there!

New to the forum and looking for some help since I'm new to mixing. I'm looking for some feedback of this quick sample of an instrumental cover I'm recording/mixing. What are your first impressions, does it sound muddy, abrasive, sterile, or anything else that comes to mind.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e_Q7bN ... sp=sharing

Thank you!

[Smellthevalve]

Well metal is not my taste in music but IMO sounds like the right balance, i can hear enough of the theme tune (without it being too obvious) amongst thevother stuff.

[Feanor]

I definitely understand that it’s not everyone’s preference in music! Appreciate your comment and glad that there’s nothing horribly wrong with it.
With the strings and multiple guitars, I’m having great difficulty with EQ and volume leveling to get everything to have the right amount of presence.
Maybe I could try different panning?

[Dave B]

I'd disagree about hearing the theme. The main thing that I hear (on cheap speakers) is the constant 1/8th note arpeggios, with the theme being under those. I'd re-balance that first.

[blinddrew]

I think I agree with Dave about the arpeggios being a bit too dominant at the moment. You've also got quite a lot of low frequency content in your sides signal. Trimming some of this out might give a tighter low end as well as giving you a bit more space to carve out the midrange for the different guitar and string parts.

[Feanor]

Thank you both for the helpful feedback. Listening on smaller speakers, I hear exactly what you mean, with the theme being lost behind the centered arpeggios. I think the low mids are too prominent on the centered guitar, and it's taking up too much space in the mix.

Also, great tip to reduce the low end in the far panned instruments. That already helped significantly.

Thanks everyone!