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True Love Will Find You in the End
Hi Dana!
Here’s a mix of the song you coached me on during our consultation call!
Would love any follow-up thoughts you might have…
I needed it done quickly for a label(!) so I hired a local mixer who would a) let me in the studio with him to learn and go at it together and, as luck would have it, b) because he just so happened to have purchased the original Studer console that Daniel Johnston recorded his track on (that I sampled) #whoa.
I feel we got it close except… the bass sounds too driving to my ears in the mid-range and not present enough on small speakers. (Method: He created a pitched-up octave duplicate of the sublab bass and added some distortion to both sublabs (low and high). The bass showed up cranked on the Adams, decent in the Avalons, but barely perceivable in the iphone (which I noticed when I got home for a phone listen).
Trying what you taught me, I then sent him test mixes of the sublab stem (low stem only) with Saturn drive turned up and it seemed to do the trick – perceptible on the iphone, low sub content identical. So hoping that works for the next mix sesh but curious if you hear the same thing.
Other than that, we’re gonna aim to get the kick knocking a little more like Getto Boys and chorus lead vocal a little gooier in the chorus with doubles.
Ps: I also took your sage advice and brought out the gang vocals considerably and I love it! Huge improvement. #bold
Many thanks for creating this forum and sharing your insights. Amazing.
Jeremy
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6 Replies
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I’d be interested in hearing if the bass is closer to where you want it to be if that hat is less prominent. I feel like I can hear the bass at a somewhat agreeable place in the spaces between the hat hits. Maybe turn it down 3-4 db and see how it all blends?
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Yeah, the hat does feel hot, esp in chorus 2. Will try that as well. Thanks!
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Sick, man!! And yeah, saw ur IG post about the orig console – that’s some “stars align” stuff right there ✨. Really sounding good. My initial thoughts when I listened yesterday were:
- crank dat bass! I bet the ol’ Saturn trick helped. AND … I know I said I almost never “sidechain”, but … one of the only times I will sidechain is to get an exaggerated bombastic effect where the bass and/or entire track move out of the way of the kick. Could sound cool on this song. Pre-fader send from the kick into the key input of a compressor set super aggressively — ratio way up and threshold way down to start, so it’s super obnoxious. This’ll help you determine the best grooviest attack and release settings. Then once u have it the way u want, adjust the ratio and/or threshold to get the desired amount of “sidechain effect”.
Snare could crack more or be louderI also referenced a track that I think it reminded me of, and might be fun for u to crosscheck against – more for vibe and volume and balance than for low end wallop.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0Z7b5GlC70FAES1YduhhqQ?si=f38cc0c1d4c149a6
- crank dat bass! I bet the ol’ Saturn trick helped. AND … I know I said I almost never “sidechain”, but … one of the only times I will sidechain is to get an exaggerated bombastic effect where the bass and/or entire track move out of the way of the kick. Could sound cool on this song. Pre-fader send from the kick into the key input of a compressor set super aggressively — ratio way up and threshold way down to start, so it’s super obnoxious. This’ll help you determine the best grooviest attack and release settings. Then once u have it the way u want, adjust the ratio and/or threshold to get the desired amount of “sidechain effect”.
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Right?! I’m a sucker for the stars-aligning woo-woo stuff.
Epic… thanks for the feedback and kind words.
I’m trying the sidechain on another track I’m producing today after reading this. will also give it a go next mix session. I think I get it… whether it be Saturn saturation nastiness or sidechain super pump, I’m starting to really absorb your point about going super over the top with the effect and then dialing it in to taste. I guess we want bold ingredients and then just putting in a touch for the right flavor pop.
Will see about making that snare crackalack!
Huge thank YOU, Dana!
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PS: That’s a fun reference and totally in the vibe!
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That’s it man – I always push these tools to their limits to really hear what they’re capable of!
I saw a video once that referenced a photo editing tip whereby you find perfect exposure or contrast etc by pushing the boundaries of each parameter to the extremes in either direction, rocking back and forth, 100% over-exposed to 100% under-exposed, back and forth over and over in smaller and smaller increments until the correct exposure reveals itself out of the extremes and into a balanced and pleasing exposure setting.
It’s a great trick I’ve used ever since in both photography and music in order to a) determine the entire usable “range” of a given tool/plugin/hardware/etc, and b) to not turn into one of those social media wankers who tries to sell me a new eq by demonstrating a 1db boost I can’t even hear on my cell phone. [Cut to me screaming in my bathroom at the person on my phone: “c’mon you weenie! Show me what that thing can really do!!!! 🙄”]
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