Possibly get some feedback on my mix down?

[GBJ ProductionZ]

Been producing for 4 years now and I have a friend who says my mixes do not

sound radio ready. He cannot define or pinpoint what he thinks is missing but

he constantly says that it does not sound radio ready. Can I get a little feedback

from some virgin ears out there and indicate how does the mix sound to you. Thanks for the help.

https://soundcloud.com/grenajr/show-and-tell-ijsmooth

[ImNotDedYet]

I don't listen to much hip hop/R & B these days, so I'm not sure really what that genre typically sounds like.

The mix sounded fine to me, but the one thing I noticed was the vocals seemed to dry. They could be jazzed up subtly, but that subtle change can make a world of difference. Check out mixbustv, pensadosplace and prorecordingrevolution on youtube for some pointers.

[fishmonkey]

the vocals are the weakest point. in most of the track they are a bit thin, in some spots too distorted, in some places way too loud. where the vocals are panned during the arrangement doesn't make much sense to me either.

a track like that could use more presence and warmth in the vocal recording and treatment. reference against some Frank Ocean, for example...

[GBJ ProductionZ]

I appreciate the feedback guys.....so vocals needs improvement. However lets says for other songs I have done,
I have created great vocal tonality and I have received the same critique "not radio ready". To be fair check out
this latest song because it has the best representation of my work lately.

https://soundcloud.com/grenajr

[fishmonkey]

sorry, not really hearing "great vocal tonality" there either. in particular, that panned left vocal is really harsh. in fact i find the whole mix is harsh in the high end, and there isn't much low end at all. maybe the system you are mixing on is bass heavy, which is causing you to hype the high end too much to compensate?

do you reference your mixes on other playback systems?

and do you reference against professionally produced tracks? btw, when you are comparing tracks it's very important to level-match them first.

i had a quick listen to a few of your other tracks, they all have a similar vocal recording sound, which isn't very good. sounds like you are recording through a telephone or something. where and how do you record your vocals?

[GBJ ProductionZ]

I have been mixing on headphones.....maybe that is leading to the bass heavy response, causing me to hype the high end too much to compensate. And I do not reference which could also be a reason why. I have Yamaha studio monitors but because my family is always around, I cannot mix on them due to the loudness.

Good stuff....I love it, big time help. Now when you say "in fact i find the whole mix is harsh in the high end, and there isn't much low end at all" Are you saying that the whole mix is crap? Is there any good tonality that can be found in the mix? Like I said earlier I only have been mixing for 4 years. Are there any tips or tricks you use to make your vocals stand out, to get that professional polish? Talk to me please. I need all the help I can get.

As far as recording, I have a home studio. I use 90% of the time my bluebird mic with my ISA ONE PREAMP. It is a pretty solid setup. OF course room treatment is necessary but for now, what I have should be sufficient. Help me out please!!

I work so hard to create great songs and write great lyrics and I have a couple of good vocalists, So I need to get to the bottom of what is wrong with my craft of mixing.

[Martin Gifford]

My opinion:

Your songs have the right vibes and ingredients for the genre.

Too much highs.

Vocal sounds like a home recording - not being able to take a lung-full of air and belt it out. Need a better recording location for the vocals, although a good engineer might be able to fix what's there already. Also, vocals too loud in places and the widening effects are excessive.

[GBJ ProductionZ]

GOOD STUFF AND VERY USEFUL INFO THANKS MARTIN!

Any others out there???

[ImNotDedYet]

Why do you have to mix loud? I never mix loud - I mix at very comfortable levels, maybe even too soft and only on occasion take the levels up or down for a quick check.

You should IMO always reference professionally done stuff against yours, but I think it becomes all the more important when you're mixing on non-ideal speakers/monitors, which you are if you're always on headphones. If there are issues with widening techniques on certain elements, which others have noticed - it could also be due to mixing on headphones.

Another thing that really helps me is keeping versions of my mix...original mix - get volume levels and panning down, mix with EQs - primarily cuts and maybe some tweaks to levels and panning, adding compression and/or bussing certain items, adding reverbs, etc. then comparing what I currently have to my last mix - making sure I haven't removed something that sounds better or taken some energy down, etc. Once I get close to where I think the mix is good, that's when I reference other professionally done songs.

[GBJ ProductionZ]

Most appreciative for the feedback. It is hard to take that I am far off from where I want to be. After all most of mixing is having the right balance, application of EQ & Compression, and using delays or reverbs to spice things up. Could I really be that far off?? But you guys have given me alot to think about.....

[Martin Gifford]

It is hard to take that I am far off from where I want to be. After all most of mixing is having the right balance, application of EQ & Compression, and using delays or reverbs to spice things up. Could I really be that far off??

Unlike EDM, your genre has a lot of subtleties and the tracks have a lot of complexity. It's probably too ambitious for anyone to write the songs, sing the songs, arrange the songs, then mix the songs all by themselves.

[fishmonkey]

here are some good resources:

http://www.groove3.com/str/RB-master-series-II.html

http://www.rethinkmixing.com/sp/30980-order

http://rethinkvocals.com/

http://productionadvice.co.uk/about/

http://thewombforums.com/

[GBJ ProductionZ]

Let's take that thought right there and explore it martin. It is too ambitious for anyone to write the songs, sing the songs, arrange the songs, then mix the songs all by themselves. Is that not what motown did back in the 60's and 70's. I know I am not on the level of Motown or any of it's producers. What I am saying though is I am not ready to write myself off from doing all of those things. I love writing lyrics, arranging, recording, and mixing. Not ready to give that up yet.

[beats me]

Let's take that thought right there and explore it martin. It is too ambitious for anyone to write the songs, sing the songs, arrange the songs, then mix the songs all by themselves. Is that not what motown did back in the 60's and 70's. I know I am not on the level of Motown or any of it's producers. What I am saying though is I am not ready to write myself off from doing all of those things. I love writing lyrics, arranging, recording, and mixing. Not ready to give that up yet.

I’ll bite. Without doing any research I’m confident in saying that, no, no artist at Motown in the 60’s and 70’s did the entire process entirely themselves. Maybe writing and arranging the songs, but there’s no way it was just one person for the recording, mixing and engineering. That probably wasn’t even physically possible. Think of where gear was back then.

We’ve reached a point where the mixing is almost more important than the song, and unfortunately for many artists who just want to write and compose, the mixing and engineering aspect isn’t fun or inspiring. Just good enough for their ears could possibly be the main reason people aren’t listening to their music.

[GBJ ProductionZ]

Beats Me- Listen to this song and tell me what's wrong with it. It was well written, well arranged, decently recorded and adequately mixed LOL

https://soundcloud.com/grenajr/starting-over-ijsmooth