Well you have a lot of different sonic textures in there. I'm not crazy about the style in which you are producing, but I recognize that it has its place... perhaps with film soundtrack or commercial production music bed or something similar. I suppose it's cool in a trippy / mind-screw kinda way, but, personally speaking, I put away the Lysergic Acid Diethylamide and the Herbal Enhancement/Perception Altering Vegetation years ago, along with my Lava Lamp and Day-Glo posters. So it's not "reaching" me like it possibly would have around 1977. ;)

With the exception of the vocal, it all seems to be very "random" in nature, with a lot of effect, although no one single effect really reached out and grabbed me - as effects are normally intended to do.

It's also very wet. You have a lot of reverb on this mix... now, whether this was added by you at the track level, or if it was a part of the original samples you used, only you would know. There's not much "definition" to anything, it all kinda runs together, and at times, one sound wipes another one out in terms of clarity and definition.

That's the problem with FX "overuse"... if you use too much of it, then after awhile, it loses its intended effect, and it all starts to sound the same, as if the whole song becomes one big effect.

Again, I'm really not the guy to listen to on this... because it's just not my thing... there are no similarities to compositions I write or recordings I do myself, nor with the clients that I produce... so my experience as to how this should be mixed is completely subjective.

Only IMHO of course.

d/

Problem is I wasn't particularly fond of the vocals. So, that's where I overused fx mostly.
You nailed that. I will try to be more provident next time.
Thanks for you greatly appreciated comments, Donny!

"Problem is I wasn't particularly fond of the vocals. So, that's where I overused fx mostly."

If you find yourself using FX to "cover up" flaws in the performances, then that's a pretty good indicator that you should probably go back and re-track another performance take to make it better.

FX overuse is not a hard thing to do. In fact, it's common. Depending on the song, a little can go a very long way. And, if there are certain effects built into your synth patches as well, then there is that much more effect to have to consider and deal with.

In regard to reverb, it's not just only about how much you use, but the type you use, and....how many different types you use, too. If your synth patches have built in reverb, and you are also using reverb on vocals, percussion, etc., you can run into trouble with phasing issues, because some of those reverbs don't always work and play well together when used at the same time. For example, if you are using a synth patch that has a substantial amount of Hall Reverb built into it, and then you add a Plate -type reverb to a vocal, while adding a Chamber verb to another track, things can start to become messy and undefined pretty quickly.

I've previously likened reverb to soy sauce, in that a little bit can season your food just right, but there's that " fine line" that you can cross with it, where it just starts to run all over your plate, wiping out the taste of the food, so that all you can taste is the soy.

Unfortunately, there's no real rule of thumb - at least none that I'm aware of - no process or formula that works every single time in every scenario in terms of mixing verbs; you just have to use your ears.

You may want to listen to other commercially released music in a similar style to yours as a reference, and analyze it... break it down. Listen for what the tracks are doing together, any particular effect, and what the levels of those various effects are.

Just be careful when using them. An effect is an audio sweetener. To what degree depends on you and what you want to accomplish. There are dramatic effects, the equivalent to an awesome CGI effect you would see in a movie, like a space ship exploding... and then there are the subtle effects that set a general mood... similar to a smokey alley in a scene from something Film Noire'.

But, if your entire song turns out to be one long space ship exploding, or a continual line of smokey alleys one after the other, you will lose the effect and "awe" factor that they can be intended to provide.

Pick and choose your effects carefully. Make sure that what you are adding is really needed, and not just because you have them available. You may have hundreds of VST or RTAS effects in your DAW library.
That doesn't mean you have to use them all, and certainly not at the same time. ;)

IMHO of course.

:)

d./

Donny, you point me to the big problem here. I make everything from the ground up.
Whereas in "pro" production there are many ears involved in the process (producer, rec eng., mixer, master eng.).

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!
DP75

suggestion: if youre going to add effects to change your vox, setup the chain and perform "through" it rather than adding after.
generally speaking your performance will be better if you are tracking with the effect in place because youll cater your performance to the effect rather than fitting it in after.

also, its common to hate your own voice. try either pretending its someone else, or recruit a trusted friend to help you mix yourself

Thank you Josh!
DP75

I agree with Josh. If you have planned ahead to be using a certain chain to create a specific vocal sound then it can help to setup that chain and perform through it. Usually I'm very. "NO! GET IT RIGHT AT SOURCE. THE END!" But in this particular context, that kinda is the source, in the same way as a certain pre-planned synth sound would be. I enjoyed listening to this. I do think Donny has a point with the effects. I have a lot of time for Donny as he is very forward and honest with what he says and I have started to associate him with interesting and on-point advice. If you pick your moments then they are more likely to be remembered but this is definitely not a "Bad mix". I thought it was a good listen even though it's not a familiar style to me. And with that said I don't think I can be hugely of use and I am respectful enough to know when someone else's opinion is probably going to be more valid haha. Good work man. Keep on mixin ;D

Thank you Voiceofallanger for sharing your ideas. Appreciate that!
DP75 ;)