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Is the vocal loud enough in the mix? I appreciate all feedback on this.

Imaginary You (DiFalco/ Schick:
http://schicksville.com/Imaginary%20You%20-%20Dec%202020%20Mix.wav

Remix: http://schicksville.com/Imaginary%20You%20-%20Dec%2029-2020.wav

John

Mostly, yes, I think. When she belts it, definitely.
When she drops the volume in her delivery, it might get lost. At the end of Lines and in some passages she lowers the volume.
The drone qualities of the arrangement makes it easy for a vocal note to blend and be hidden.

John. It’s loud enough, but at times it’s just not as front and center. If you can back off some of the instruments reverb I think you can clear up some of this. What's muddying the mix is all the ethereal atmosheric reverb criss-crossing the track

Vocalist is great. Fantastic for this song, It’s such a quiet song you can hear every note of her voice and the sparse arrangement is unforgiving.

You’re gonna need to apply some tuning to her voice. There are several parts that stick out to me. Eample is when we’re holding “hands” is pretty notable...The “emphatically” line too

She needs you straighten out a few stray notes for her...

Lovely vocal recording my friend

To my ear the overall mix needs to be "brightened" a bit, and for a female vox the tone is quite "bassy"... There's plenty of volume but the tone is wrong, needs more presence

I think it might be cause the vocals have alot of compression on them, and yeah the vocal could use some bass roll off.

Its always hard to fit a vocal in a mix when the music has so much atmosphere. Its like a dry tight vocal is the only way to make it stand out . but it sounds as if she's singing in her room with the track.

Main problem is the cloudiness. Roll off some bass, add some high end and inch off the compression.....then you might really have a problem!!!!!

John,

This is a beautiful performance in all respects. Vocals are eq'd very well. I think an automation track on the vocal could tweak the volume levels in a few places--no big deal and easy to adjust. I don't think you want too much compression on this vocal performance as the singer needs to follow the dramatic ebb and flow of this music. I do also think some wider panning on the different string tracks would allow the vocalist having the center more to herself. Also look at some volume peaks with the strings in a couple of places.

Wonderful! Love her vocal tone, and the music is sweet.

steady-eddie

Thanks everyone! I'll be keeping all these ideas in mind when I mix today. One of the main problems is that the bed track (piano & strings) were done 15+ years ago (on my old workstation). I can't separate the piano & strings. Also the vocalist didn't have a lot of recording experience.. Some of the bed track leaked into the vocal track. I added the violin & Fr horn track yesterday. I do have editing control over them. So it will be a challenge to get this to broadcat quality. Thanks again!

Best, John

Your mélodies are always beautiful... but complexe...
Suggestion: try a simple melody that will stay in our mind, all day long.

Have fun!

Thanks guy! Although I think most the simple melodies have already been discovered.

Best, John

Here's the remix using many of the above info: http://schicksville.com/Imaginary%20You%20-%20Dec%2029-2020.wav

Thanks, John

John it seems the problem is with the source, what sounded like compression now sounds to me that the recording itself was off. Sounds like something was placed in front of the singer or just that they Mic was not great. Sounds boxed in

It is improved, but I don't think it will improve drastically.

Its a good track, get a fiverr girl to sing it!

Thanks Fde! Cal & I are satisfied with this mix. Btw, there wasn't and isn't compression on anything on this track. The only thing I'd ever consider compression on is drums & percussion.

John

Sounds beautiful to me

Imho..
You put her in a small listening room in a chair a few feet away from me. For this kind of song....I like where she is and I like where the music is.
At about 2:36 the mix seems to rise up around her and compete a little bit. And I heard that because I'm listening "critically" for the purpose of responding..not just listening.

John...you know much better than me...that a mixer will usually arrive at the sweet spot and then go passed it looking for perfection.
I think that you are where you need to be.

As they say about EQ...dont move it much, if at all.

No compression? Good singer.

Lovely song.


Marty

Hey John,

I only listened to the remix, where I think the vocalist is too loud. The orchestral swells tend to be drown out. How about a compressor/limiter over the stereo out which should balance things nicely.

cheers, niteshift

Still sounds "Boxy" to me... 300/500 range is too saturated and not enough crisp highs to give it "air"... Perhaps what you need is another reference, something to clear the palette so to speak. Try some Whitney Houston

I wouldn't mind giving it a shot...

You're a rocker. You rockers like "bite."

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback. Cal & I are happy with it. This thread was a big help. I will add... In songs, I believe the vocal should be well on top, and all the words heard , like Doris Day songs. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...0AB1ABA8&view=detail&FORM=VRAASM Have no trouble hearing these words.

Best, John

My only concern now is when will I get my ears back?

Oh, I'm sorry. Every one can have their ears back now.

John

That Doris Day recording is actually a perfect example, she doesn't sound "boxy" at all