In a recent thread Diki mentioned his dislike for demos that favored the RH lead over the backing. I agree and also confess to doing that for quite awhile. As I have become more focused on creating a balanced recording I pay much more attention to this. It is so easy to push the RH volume up, even unconsciously. In my case I write and record my own material and want it to be as pro sounding as it can be. I am not a pro recording engineer so I am learning as I go. Mixing and balancing is difficult and I spend as much time doing it as I do writing and recording the work. Still not there yet but getting closer and I am much better than when I started. Here is a recent work I completed. It has an interesting backing and I wanted it to be heard throughout the work regardless of the lead so I spent a lot of time on the part volumes.

Joe

https://www.box.com/s/dwplh25ot2zdglfoq01l

Just got a chance to give a listen Joe .....WTG!
nice job thanx for sharing you work!!!

Thanks. I was beginning to think there wasn't much interest as no one replied. Some info: I use a Tyros 3 for the Flute, Trumpet and Sax leads. Everything else is from the Motif XF. I play and record live. No Sequencing so getting the mix balance right has to be done before recording.

Joe

Nice Joe...

Would you mind if I offered a critique? The first thing that jumps out at me is that, for some reason, the mix appears to be panned off to the left a bit.. The pad and the solos seem to be coming from the center a bit more, but levels between L & R sides looks to be off by several db. Take care to center your mix! Maybe it's just the Motif parts?

Next, I'd roll off just a little of the low mids on that snare sound. It's a bit tubby, IMO. Or maybe even try selecting a different snare that doesn't dominate the mix quite so much. And, while I am happy that, like me, you are concerned about overly emphasizing the RH, I'd say that the piano COULD come up a bit. Or even better, try playing that melody in octaves, or even better, double octaves. That would help it pop nicely!

You say you don't use a sequencer, and put all this down live, but, even if just for training purposes, there's one very big advantage to using the sequencer... It gives you the opportunity to adjust things afterwards, experiment with part volumes to dial everything in precisely, and then look at how much you moved each part, and try to look for trends. Do you tend to always need to bring the piano up? Do you always need to bring the sax down? Useful information to know when you are making Performances, as you can dial those adjustments in BEFORE you play, and give yourself a better chance of getting it right the first time!

But a nice moody tune... perhaps the drums could be more acoustic (brushes or mallets, maybe?) to blend with it?

I'm glad you are hearing this RH dominance on arranger stuff. But there's a need for caution in going too far the other way, too.

Diki:

Thanks for the critique. I always welcome any comments or advice I can get especially from those, like yourself. who also play. I will listen again and consider your suggestions. As I noted the "art" of mixing and balancing is quite a learning process for me. As to sequencing, I have not done it on the Motif. I know there are advantages to having access to the MIDI post recording. On the Tyros I do have the ability to record live to MIDI and did that to allow post recording balancing. Unfortunately the Motif does not allow that. On the Motif you have to Sequence each track or tracks to get a MIDI result that you can mix and I do not like to lay down track by track.

As to panning, I have the wind leads close to the center (L10 and R10) with the Guitar Arp further to the Right (R15). The Right hand Piano is (5)and Left is (L5). Drums much further to the Left (L20). I agree I could have separated or widened the Stereo spread more. That is something I now also focus on but not too wide where it sounds un-natural. I try to place each voice in its own space

Again, thanks for listening and commenting. It is appreciated.

Joe

I'd suggest always have your drums dead center. Other than much older jazz recordings, drums have always been centered (as they usually are on stage!)

Thanks, I will try that. I have been placing them on the Left.

Absolutely. Especially as most drum kits are configured to expect that by having the kick drum center and toms and cymbals panned left and right to simulate their position in a real drum kit.

One of the reasons that pop drums started to get centered is that they contain a large percentage of the total volume of the track. On vinyl recordings, very nasty thing started happening to the needle if most of the power was on one side of the groove only!

Jazz drums didn't originally (especially in small combo and swing bands) have anywhere near this prominence in the mix, so putting them to the side (where they were often placed physically in big bands) wasn't an issue so much. But as soon as even jazz drummers started to be a more prominent part of the mix (fusion and onwards), front and center became the standard there, too.

Nowadays, even though digital makes this entirely moot, we still cling to the convention of drums being centered. Mind you, you CAN place the drums off center, but only if you place something equally as powerful on the other side, to balance the soundfield. But it's very rare.

Diki:

I centered the drums on the composition I am working on now and it was an improvement. Thanks again for the tip.

Joe