[Official Message] Winter single "Zutto... / Last minute / Walk" 2014.12.24 in stores III

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by Kacku

I know Last minute's mixing has already been talked to death, but I want to bring that back one more time to add my own specific complaint. (Disclaimer: I have no mixing-related technical or terminological know-how, this is all just how the song sounds and feels to me.) What most kills the song for me is that the mixing sounds so flat and undynamic, it completely fails at making the songs quieter and louder parts distincly different. It feels like there's a set level of sound throughout the whole song, it always sounds stuffed full even when it's just Ayu's voice and a piano. I may not agree with all the Memorial address comparisions (this just doesn’t remind me of MA, though there are many similarities), but that song is a great frame of reference here: when Memorial is only carried by Ayu's voice and piano, it sounds quieter, it sounds like there's some "air" in the song with the slight echoing etc., and when the guitars kick in, the song gets LOUDER and sounds fuller. They seem to be going for the same thing with this song, but I feel like the mixing completely fails at contrasting the different stages of the song, which just makes it SUPER FRUSTRATING to listen to.

I think this is funny because I had the exact opposite problem with progress's mixing lol. It's always pissed me off that I can't listen to that song without adjusting the volume five times. My problem with the mixing on Last minute is that the backing vocals overpower EVERYTHING. Plus the vocals sound like they were recorded on a $3 laptop mic...

It's a shame because mixing/mastering/overall technical production alone can really break a song for me (...lookin' @ Tell me why) and I find it ridiculous that professionals can put out sub-par products like this and not HEAR BETTER. I mean if you have masses of fans pointing out mixing issues, that's a pretty big red flag that you should really get your shit together as a working professional, especially if you're working for a high-caliber musician like Ayumi Hamasaki.