Member Dana Nielsen
MemberForum Replies Created
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David! I love this query so much! And yeah, Kevin Parker is a badass. Honestly, I didn’t even realize he was behind those new Dua Lipa songs – what a cool pairing of peeps!
I also really dig how you put together this playlist chronologically. So fun to hear his sound thru the years. Definitely a common style thread throughout (boom-bap hip hop inspired beats mixed with 70s ELO-style psych pop mixed with 80s synth pop and new wave … mixed with disco basslines and his signature ethereal vocal textures … at least, that’s my knee-jerk summary/description).
I feel like you can also hear the evolution of the sonics or presentation (aka mixing) of his sound throughout the years as well. More popularity, bigger budgets, fancier mixers? Or perhaps he mixes his own stuff .. I can’t recall but will dive into those details for sure (🤔 if only f#$*ing Spotify would share those album credits with us I wouldn’t have to leave their platform to find basic recording info)
My guess is, to get those sounds, he’s choosing instruments (and the treatment of those instruments – selection and tuning of drums for example) that are specific to the eras of recorded music that he most admires, and then continues to refine that era/mood-driven approach through the choice of microphones and recording techniques, including post-processing and mixing.
I love producing recordings that are an homage to a certain era. Here’s one that comes to mind from a hilarious soundtrack I produced/recorded/mixed for the zany Spanish language Will Ferrell film Casa de mi Padre. While recording and mixing the song ‘Luv Butts’ I was referencing my vinyl copy of the Grease soundtrack – specifically the Frankie Valli title track.
I’ve added that song and a few others to a quick “Sounds of an Era” playlist that features songs I mixed to sound like a certain era. Love My People is a track I treated to sound like 60s funk soul samples even tho it’s all live players together in a studio circa 2015. Yo No Se is an homage to vintage Cuban jazz records. For 123 I was referencing Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’. (FUN FACT: all but the Pom Poms and Grease songs also feature several of our fellow Protégés co-producing and/or performing! 🤯)
In each of those cases I studied the EQ, panning, and saturation profiles of their given inspired era – from the instruments, how they’re mic’ed, the room they’re in, how they’re “blown up” on their way into pro tools via overdriven preamp or compressor, and then lots of filtering, EQ’ing, and shredding to taste during the mix to get the record to sound like my favorite references.
I have a feeling that’s exactly what Mr. Parker does too … following that ‘favorite record’ sound in his heart, in his ear, and shaping it into existence by any means necessary, analog or digital.
Ok, I’ve blathered on long enough, and I realize I didn’t give any specific suggestions specific to the tracks in your awesome playlist. Perhaps more later! And I look fwd to hearing what others here think!! 🤓
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Ok just listened in the studio – it’s massive and amazing! Here are my slightly revised thoughts:
- Percussion: didn’t strike me as much “out of perspective” as they had during my previous headphone listen. That said, I might try rolling off a bit of the top end on the percussion to smooth it out. A lot of times I reach for Decapitator to do this cause I can quickly filter the top or bottom AND add a touch of saturation while I’m at it.
- Choir: same as before … love it, want more of it, but also dig it where it’s at if it’s supposed to be more “felt” than heard.
SO good man!!
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Oh MAN!! What a lush, gorgeous, emotive, electro-organic, ring-modulated, tribal-techno-orchestro TREAT! Massive and haunting and beautiful. 👏
I’m on my trusty headphones at the moment and can’t wait to crank this in the studio. Perhaps the studio listen will inspire additional thoughts or ideas, but for now here are the only things that caught my ear:
- When the percussion entered – good lordt I almost spit out my coffee! What a fun surprise that was to hear the perc and choir elements join the party toward the end. For the perc, I felt like it could benefit from some big ambience/verb to help the perspective. What I mean is… the rest of the ensemble is living in this enormous, vast, expansive mountain range of a sound stage; but then the percussion comes storming in and it feels right up close to my face, full of detail and presence and a “dryness” for lack of a better word, that makes it feel disconnected from the rest of the ensemble. Perhaps that was your intent – and if so, cool! But my natural instinct was “I want these drums to maintain all their power and low end while also being drenched in a bit of that “grand canyon verb” that the rest of the synth orchestra is living in!” I guess I kinda imagine it emanating (loudly, powerfully) from behind the orchestra, like in a traditional stage setting. But again, totally viable to break from that tradition too, so just my first impressions.
- The choir chant might be perfect where it is, level-wise, but it’s such an awesome emotional sound I’m so curious if it could be louder!!!!
FABULOUS work, homey! Wow. Can’t wait to see whatever film this is, hear the rest of the cues, and point at the TV while shouting excitedly at my family who are watching other things on their own separate devices, “THAT’S MY FRIEND @Nate WHO DID THE MUSIC! I KNOW HIM!”
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Love hearing this progress, Patrick! I really dig the round/deep warmth of the bass. And your vocal sounds great – nice work! I think the strummed acoustic in the chorus is nice. It could become a supplemental texture while a different instrument is featured for the choruses like a keyboard as u mentioned – that could be cool. If you kept the strumming in there, supporting the keyboard, it might a) keep from feeling like “what happened to the guitar?” and b) provide that nice ‘shaker’-sounding percussive energy a strummed acoustic can offer.
Such a sweet song and performance! Really gives me Pete Yorn / Chris Martin vibes 🙌
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Just listened on my studio speakers – “phat wobbles” for sure! Dude, it sounds killer! Fantastic work.
If it were for a record I’d prob say you could master it harder – hit it with the ol’ Pro-L2 more aggressively. But … being that this is for sync purposes, I think it’s perfect where it’s at. Any music editor is gonna turn the music way down anyway (even when featured) for broadcast spec. And if you master it loud like a record, it’ll prob be at the expense of that booty-ful low end you’ve got going on (sheesh!! super thick! 💜). So, all that to say, I think it sounds great and strikes a great balance between “album mastering” and “broadcast mastering” if that makes any sense.
Keep the hits comin!! ⚡️🤘
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Oh, and the track itself is awesome! Love it!!
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Royyyyyy! Love this! And love @shimmerisland‘s insights too. I’m listening in late-night laptop mode so I’ll save any technical thoughts till I’ve had a chance to crank this in the studio. But love it musically, and totally dug the half-time vibe switcharoo around 40 seconds. Head bobbin’! So many cool gear shifts and new bits of ear candy throughout the track, too, keeping me wowed and engaged as a listener! Which … of course, is no surprise coming from you, you sync GEM! 💎🤘
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Yooo! Ur en fuego, homey! Love that. 🔥 Gives me “hey mickey” vibes, meets Peter Bjorn & John, and lots of other great influences too.
I just gave a listen on my laptop (recent model MBP) and it sounds vast and “partytime!” I’ll have a real listen in the studio tomorrow (err, later today at this point) and follow up with any ideas.
Here’s one for now:
- The telephone bgvs stood out as a little loud, tho that could have been accentuated by my laptop speakers. Also might be fun to swap the telephone for something more unexpected/fresh … maybe push them in the opposite direction with some sort of woofy grimy dark saturation instead? Little more Strokes, little less Beatles, perhaps — Just a thought! Telephone bvs felt a bit “expected” to me, and those bgvs might be an easy opportunity for something slightly more “experimental” if ur feeling cray. 😵💫 ⚡️ 🤘
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What a great overview video, thanks for this, Paul! I own Ozone but haven’t used it in quite a while. This nice lil vid has me excited to give the imager a whirl again. Very cool tool.
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Mix Protagonist lolol
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😂😂 descriptive, intuitive, technical, helpful and hilarious as always, @-PT ! 🏅 I’d love to hear what this mix sounds like with a couple two tree “deebs” more top end!
* deebs = dB, i.e. decibels
* couple two tree = Chicagoan for ‘two or three’, or ‘a few’ -
Heck yeah, brother!! Can’t wait to hear more! 💜
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Haha – 1am I’m just getting started … lol. Thanks so much, @Nate!!
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Ayyyyye! So glad u dug it, man!
Bezos vs. Waves LOLOL! Yeah that IM Pusher is a bit of a sleeper – i never hear it mentioned ever, anywhere, haha, but it’s a handy lil’ tool I’ve gotten a lot of use out of over the years.
And the SoundRadix stuff is very good. Historically, I like to sort out all that phase stuff by ear using the UAD Little Labs IBP so I can sweep around and find what I like. But since getting the SR Auto-align plugin I’ve used it a lot for a quick and easy fix.
Also, there are many times I don’t need to phase align the Trigger and Kick tracks. Sometimes the 180º flips within the plugin do the trick. But depending on the samples, sometimes the phase is in between 0º and 180º and some heftier tools are needed, as was the case in this instance.
I would keep vocals out of the pump chain … unless it sounds cool having them pumpin’ with the track, then leave ’em in! No rules! (well, maybe one rule: you don’t want the kick bussed to the pump aux input when it is the source of the sidechain key input… otherwise you’d be working against yourself) 😉
Keep up the great work!! ⚡️