Thought it would be fun to start a Mix Practice threads for discussing mixing and how much it can change a track. I'm trying to get back into mixing after a long hiatus so I'm going through a bunch of practice multi-tracks I've gathered over the years. I'll try to do at least one practice mix per week.
Here's Ghost-Note from Telefunken's youtube channel where they kindly provide multitracks of their performances. Excellent place to practice mixing. This track in particular is a great place to start as it contains so few tracks. It doesn't overwhelm you unlike some other multi tracks I have gathering dust here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4d1Di8ti8g
The idea:
I decided not to mimic the original mix, it's intimate and soulful setting. Instead I decided to make this a soulless funk fusion jazz kind of thing, drenched in reverb. Something you'd probably hear at AES or NAMM when listening to PMC or ATC showing off their latest speakers in a dedicated class room for nerds.![:hihi:]( "HiHi")
The mix:
Ghost-Note "Ja-make-ya Dance", soulless corporate mix - bM (Google Drive, mp3 11mb)
My work method:
Step 0: get basic levels set without any FX added yet. Good opportunity to learn about the track and make some plans while doing it.
Step 1: was to find a bunch of reverbs that can do the big 00's fusion sound, setting everything in a large stage like space.
Step 2: try to get the drums to smack and sound like samples, though no sample triggers were used, just the original provided multitracks.
Step 3: try to figure out the panning. I don't feel like I nailed this one. I have no idea how to pan these things to get it all balanced and nice. I always feel like it's very difficult with so few sources. Maybe I should have panned things around a bit more wildly and perhaps even experiment with auto panning or chorus or micro pitch shifting. I don't know.
Step 4: grinding it out with a decent pre-mix using Console 1 so that each track felt production ready. The sax was especially difficult to get into decent shape. Same goes for that damn snare drum. It had ridiculous amounts of ringing which isn't allowed in soulless corporate funk jazz fusion. It needs to be short and snappy.
Step 5: to do a whole bunch of automation to get the track to grow in intensity (subtle automation of various reverb send levels, tiny EQ rides and volume rides of course)
Step 6: render the mix and take a break.
Step 7: quick mastering (some EQ balancing, some compression and limiting)
Self Critique, listening now a few hours later:
- Snare is still not "correct" and probably a bit too low in the mix.
- Mix still feels crowded, probably due to how I insisted on keeping the percussion overheads so wide. Drums + percussion in general are taking up too much space and confuses the groove. Basic kick + snare should be more driving and more present (though kick itself I'm happy with).
- Bass could have used some chorus or some other form of widening. Could perhaps have been a bit bigger too, like with more emphasis towards 50 to 70Hz. Give it some girth.
- Panning decisions are not optimal. It feels kind of random.
- I should have helped the baked in delay of the flute at the end of the intro. It just cuts out for no reason.. but I was lazy and left it as it is.
- Probably should have mixed this using Slate VSX but was lazy and did it on my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro instead as they are so damn comfortable. I know them well enough to get a decent mix done though. Still, would have got better results with VSX for sure.
That's it. Any comments or your own adventures with this song are all welcome! Let's practice mixing.
Cheers!
bM
Here's Ghost-Note from Telefunken's youtube channel where they kindly provide multitracks of their performances. Excellent place to practice mixing. This track in particular is a great place to start as it contains so few tracks. It doesn't overwhelm you unlike some other multi tracks I have gathering dust here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4d1Di8ti8g
The idea:
I decided not to mimic the original mix, it's intimate and soulful setting. Instead I decided to make this a soulless funk fusion jazz kind of thing, drenched in reverb. Something you'd probably hear at AES or NAMM when listening to PMC or ATC showing off their latest speakers in a dedicated class room for nerds.
The mix:
Ghost-Note "Ja-make-ya Dance", soulless corporate mix - bM (Google Drive, mp3 11mb)
My work method:
Step 0: get basic levels set without any FX added yet. Good opportunity to learn about the track and make some plans while doing it.
Step 1: was to find a bunch of reverbs that can do the big 00's fusion sound, setting everything in a large stage like space.
Step 2: try to get the drums to smack and sound like samples, though no sample triggers were used, just the original provided multitracks.
Step 3: try to figure out the panning. I don't feel like I nailed this one. I have no idea how to pan these things to get it all balanced and nice. I always feel like it's very difficult with so few sources. Maybe I should have panned things around a bit more wildly and perhaps even experiment with auto panning or chorus or micro pitch shifting. I don't know.
Step 4: grinding it out with a decent pre-mix using Console 1 so that each track felt production ready. The sax was especially difficult to get into decent shape. Same goes for that damn snare drum. It had ridiculous amounts of ringing which isn't allowed in soulless corporate funk jazz fusion. It needs to be short and snappy.
Step 5: to do a whole bunch of automation to get the track to grow in intensity (subtle automation of various reverb send levels, tiny EQ rides and volume rides of course)
Step 6: render the mix and take a break.
Step 7: quick mastering (some EQ balancing, some compression and limiting)
Self Critique, listening now a few hours later:
- Snare is still not "correct" and probably a bit too low in the mix.
- Mix still feels crowded, probably due to how I insisted on keeping the percussion overheads so wide. Drums + percussion in general are taking up too much space and confuses the groove. Basic kick + snare should be more driving and more present (though kick itself I'm happy with).
- Bass could have used some chorus or some other form of widening. Could perhaps have been a bit bigger too, like with more emphasis towards 50 to 70Hz. Give it some girth.
- Panning decisions are not optimal. It feels kind of random.
- I should have helped the baked in delay of the flute at the end of the intro. It just cuts out for no reason.. but I was lazy and left it as it is.
- Probably should have mixed this using Slate VSX but was lazy and did it on my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro instead as they are so damn comfortable. I know them well enough to get a decent mix done though. Still, would have got better results with VSX for sure.
That's it. Any comments or your own adventures with this song are all welcome! Let's practice mixing.
Cheers!
bM
Statistics: Posted by bmanic — Mon Jun 10, 2024 9:52 pm — Replies 0 — Views 17