Putting "Life" Into A Mix?

[rmccam]

Hi Everyone,

I am mixing my first track that was created solely with soft synths/virtual instruments (except the vocals - thank God!), but it just sounds lifeless. It may just be that I'm used to hearing real players but... I don't know... it just needs something. All of the instrumentation was played (not drawn to a grid), so the track sits okay but the mix just isn't going that extra mile - you know what I mean?

Any suggestions??

Thanks!!

[jeremyroberts]

but the mix just isn't going that extra mile - you know what I mean?


Please don't take this the wrong way, but, "no".

If you're not using acoustic musicians, then your samples must be flawless. Your loop choices must feel great for the song. Your performances must be real and from an organic place. The nature of the instrument doesn't mater if the part works.

Remember, if the rough mix sucks, the real mix will be a mix that sucks, but better sounding.

Some of us have been doing virtual orchestras for 20 years... and I'm just starting to feel that I can say I'm reasonably good at it... but your orchestration must compenstae for your samples. Not the other way around.

Identify the weak link and fix it. Keep chipping away until it sucks less.

Sometimes, you need an acoustic musician to fool the listener...

[rmccam]

Hi Jeremy,

I appreciate your honesty. I don't want to say that it sucks because it doesn't but I'm not hearing everything that I'm looking for. I've been engineering for 10 years (which is no where near 20 but it something), and I only recently started mixing completely in the box, and as I said, just started using virtual instruments. I guess there's just alot of change that I'm still trying to adapt to.

I was just looking for advice... Thanks for what you gave me. If you can pass on any more of your 20 years of experience in doing this stuff I'm all ears!

[will the moor]

rechambering the tracks might help. real air and microphones is a swell thing. you didn't really say what sort of music it is. trying to fake it or doing something electronic?

[jeremyroberts]

I only recently started mixing completely in the box, and as I said, just started using virtual instruments. I guess there's just alot of change that I'm still trying to adapt to.


Ryan,

As Will asked, what kind of music are you doing here?

At what stage of the process do you feel your mix falls short?

Can't blame the tools, since there are countless records being made ITB, with virtual insts/samplers/hardware.

Identify what your stuff is missing, then fix it.

[Tiago Silva]

This kind of "Life"? (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/4b-Adam.jpg)

[georgia]

Add some acoustical instruments... An underlying acoustic guitar, some percussion played with real items ( shaker, a pair of drum sticks, jimbe(sp), some misc acoustic trap kit stuff, a live cello or violin adding to synth versions....Very little real acoustic items can go a long way in making a mix feel more organic. But the guys are right... if you havent focused on each and every sound during the tracking.. they'll all add up to flat, no feel tracks...

Break your mix down. Just listen to each track, what's good and what's not right? is it the performace or the synth patch? Is their "room" or "Air" in the mix? Is there a place for each instrumnet, or are the tracks competing for frequency and attention?

cheers
geo