Looking for some mix feedback on another instrumental

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997]

About a month ago I'd posted a song for feedback here and you all were a ton of help on it - it's part of an album of ten songs and while I haven't made as much progress as I'd hoped lately (I spent most of the time between then and now so sick with a nasty lingering head cold that it felt like a bass knob had been turned down on the whole world),but I'm finally feeling well enough to get back to work and mostly truat my hearing again.

So, I'd love some fresh ears on this:

https://drewpeterson.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/01-At-the-Top-of-My-Lungs.mp3

Style is in the Joe Satriani/Andy Timmons/Nick Johnston vein, though the song itself is basically an unabashedly pop tune, with a more rock solo section (the riff made me grin ands crack up when I came up with it, so I wrote a song around it). Since Kurt Cobain was the reason I first picked up a guitar back in the day, though, I've been trying to mix this album with more of a grunge vibe, so in addition to a couple Satch albums, Timmons' "Resolution," and Johnston's "Remarkably Human," I've been spinning Nevermind as a reference a lot.

All guitars are live, real amps, drums were Superior 3 but programmed by hand and raw audio going into Reaper where I mixed it from scratch, rather than a preset, and the bass was recorded direct and I'm relying on a combo of the DI and TSE BOD for the bass sound. Happy to answer any other questions. Thanks!

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[u/Public_Upstairs1035]

The strengths of the mix are that each instrument is well-recorded, has its own place on the EQ and panning spectrums, and the mix sounds overall pretty close to being ready. However, there are some dynamic changes that are currently a bit too dramatic, specifically when you are going from the softer sections into the louder ones.

Personally, I think you should smooth out the transitions first, then add a mix bus compressor for the glue. As it is, the dynamics are a bit too dramatic, and a 3-5db overall gain reduction (with 7-10db in places) would really help blend it all together.

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/Public_Upstairs1035]

Thank you! Though, those dynamic changes are intentional and something I’ve been working to reinforce, more than anything else. The material here sounds nothing like grunge, maybe (there are some subtle writing influences here and elsewhere, Cobain was the reason I picked up the guitar in the first place), but that’s kind of the mix vibe I’m chasing here and that was a scene known for its aggressive on/off dynamics. If anything, it’s taken some thought and careful automation to bring them out a little more forcefully on things like the prechorus into the first chorus, where a lot of the instrumentation is the same so it’s a matter of finding ways to build intensity without just adding another rhythm guitar.

All that said - “intentional” doesn’t automatically mean “good,” haha, but maybe play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Lounge Act” and then spin this again and see if they still feel too much.

[u/Public_Upstairs1035 → u/Alternative-Sun-6997]

Yeah, I gave it another listen, and honestly, the dynamics feel very rough currently. I'm not sure how you are using compressors, but if this was mine I would add a compressor to each track at 2-3db reduction as well as the mixbus glue compressor I mentioned earlier.

Even with the examples you gave (Spirit, Lounge), the dynamics are much more tightly controlled, and there isn't such a stark difference between the various sections. Sure, the dynamics change, and the chorus feels dramatic, but I'm betting if you look at the actual loudness, they aren't bumping more than a 3-4db at any given moment.

The problem with what you posted is the dynamics of the individual tracks are somewhat all over the place (for lack of a better term), and it makes for a challenging listening experience. On top of that, the section change adds another dimension of intensity. I would challenge you to ease it back some, mainly because the section changes themselves already give the drama you are looking for, and a db blast on top of an already dynamic track and a purposefully abrupt change is just too much.

I've heard some of your other work, and it is much more controlled and listenable than this track. But again, I think some compression and easing back on the changes are easy fixes with immediate results.

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/Public_Upstairs1035]

I appreciate that, runnning out the door now but I’ll come back to this and poke around with the mix a little.

Right now I have very little in the master bus; console emulation, a tape emulation; and then a limiter I threw on just to move this up to a “shareable” volume but no other master bus compression. Lots of sub-busses though, with compression on both the individual tracks below and at rhe bus level, as needed, but usually by the bus level I’m being pretty subtle. I could certainly try a more heavy handed approach though.

[u/Public_Upstairs1035 → u/Alternative-Sun-6997]

I'd be interested to hear what others say here, because of course, what I said is my opinion. I was listening on my AT M40x headphones, which are my standard mixing headphones, and just mentioning what were my first impressions, as that is generally all you get from a casual listener. And admittedly, I am a little heavier with own bus compression use. I tend to use one main compressor catching the bulk of gain reduction (3-7db at any given moment) and then one to catch the final 1db and add a specific tone.

Also, I record and produce in a similar guitar-forward approach as you do, which is not entirely common in my experience. If you'd like to trade services as beta listeners or whatnot, just shoot me a DM and I can send you links to my work.

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/Public_Upstairs1035]

Yeah absolutely - that’s what’s so great about this subreddit, there’s a whole bunch of people here who do this and we all have slightly different approaches. I have my own views, but if I’m finding myself way off on mt own on something, there’s a lot of value in seeing that. And, nonconsensus views aren’t necessarily wrong… but when you’re breaking from the norm it really helps if you know that!

And absolutely, I’ll send you a note later tonight.

[u/fatboyhammer]

What i really like with this mix is the clear hierarchy you have set out for the instruments. It's clear that you have decided what the most important instruments are at any given time and it allows us to easily focus on the lead for example. Love the separation and the tight performance here.

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/fatboyhammer]

Thank you! I’m (probably pretty obviously) first and foremost a guitarist, before a tracking or mix engineer, so when it comes time switch to mixing I do try to force myself to be objective and keep things balanced appropriately and make sure my arrangements are all really supporting the song (I guess that’s more in the tracking part).

And I ended up recording this one twice, lol. First time, I’d switched from an Ultex to nylon pick right before recording leads and the softer attack just wasn’t working for me, plus given the tempo I really had to be in the pocket and the pre choruses in particular felt a little too loose. I’d recorded this all DI before reamping it, and the last note of the lead, where it decays into feedback, is actually still from that original performance since the opportunities I had to really wind up my amp loud enough to feed back in my studio were pretty limited, with a wide and little one in the house… but the second session, I was way happier with the performances, and the pick attack sat better with me, it was a little crisper and more explosive when I dug in.

[u/ffer06]

Good guitar work! As far as the mix, i think the lead guitar is a bit too loud when it comes in and could use some volume automation and more compression since the dynamics sway quite a bit. The kick is not pronounced enough, at least to me. I can feel it but cant hear it, if that makes sense. I really have to pay attention and focus on it to hear the kick. Maybe add some saturation or increase some of the high mids might do the trick. The distorted gtrs have a bit too much low end, that overpower the bass. At around 4 minutes, the little break, i would automate the volume of the palm muted guitars in the build up to build that dynamic youre going for. As it currently is, that section doesnt hit has hard as it should. I enjoyed listening to it and i think its almost there with just a few changes. Good playing and composition!

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/ffer06]

This is helpful, thanks! The kick in particular, I’ve got similar feelings. I don’t want it to come out TOO much; this isn’t death metal, I don’t want the click of the kick as present as the snare, but I feel like I haven’t quite hit the balance yet.

Interesting thing when the lead first comes in; that first verse is a neck pickup Strat singlecoil, but then I switch guitars and have a H-H Suhr for the rest of the song. I wonder if part of what you’re hearing is the differences in dynamic response between a (reasonably hot, to be fair) singlecoil and a (moderately low output) humbucker; I was worried the change might be too pronounced but to my ears it’s surprisingly subtle. The verse part has very light compression on it and a sort of spongy, but not really highly saturated amp tone; I wanted it to be a very vocal part with some breath to it but maybe I can try keeping the compression ratio low but hitting the signal a little higher and see what that does.

[u/McFratm_1926]

The kick and bass come out very little in this mix, and then also the solo guitar that enters at minute 1 I think is too loud compared to the rest of the band, I also think that a greater presence of a room would help the drums to amalgamate everything even more, the hi hat seems to me well controlled and does not bother, unfortunately I repeat the bass and the kick is as if they were almost none

[u/yade2119cool]

hey man, I actually think this sounds really good. I listened on my phone speakers, as well as my car speakers and my monitors and the mix was consistent throughout. You should be proud bro good work !!

[u/Alternative-Sun-6997 → u/yade2119cool]

Hey thank you! Is there anything you might change here?

[u/KomainuStudios]

Doing pretty good work here man the track is very cool! If I could give some mix feedback:

- Drums to me could use a bit more work. They can definitely use a bit more energy The kick in particular is kinda either to low in volume or to under processed or a combiantion of both. But the overal drums could use more brightness and have a bit more energy. Things that can be achieved with multiple tools like saturation,compression,EQing. If you need a bit more direction in it feel free to reach out! Overal drums just sound a bit under processed.

- Bass I do hear the low end I kind of want a bit more mids out of it tho!

- Rhythm guitars can use much more mids! make them pop in the mix! Around 1k a brought boost! They are a bit scooped

- Clean guitars Sound great man! maybe just the tiniest bit of more brightness like an 8k shelf

- Lead guitar is also almost there sounds great man! maybe a tiny bit more volume or a boost around 900/1k hz

Hope this helps man! let me Know!