Member Dana Nielsen
MemberForum Replies Created
-
@Bigchrizzle!! Awesome song and track, man – love the title too. Great work and thanks for sharing!!
The main thing on my mind while listening (aside from what a fun banger this is) was a curiosity if the lead vocal could breathe a bit more on the top end, could the whole track be mastered a bit brighter? I love the knock of the kick, but is it deep enough? Stuff like that. I tried to think of a good reference track for you and this is the first thing that popped into my head, based on the tempo and similar clap-snare. I think if you listen to this as a reference and A/B it to your current mix, you’ll know exactly what to do in a few relatively easy, broad strokes.
Lemme know if this helps, man (and no worries if not haha). ☺️
PS – If u don’t have Tidal this link should still open a landing page where u can choose your preferred service, which is a smart new feature of theirs, “YEAH!” (in Lil Jon voice). I adore Tidal because they list full album credits. What a concept….
tidal.com
USHER - Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris)
Listen to Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris) on TIDAL
-
Heck yeah, David!! Ya beat me to it! I downloaded the free version the other day and can’t wait to check it out. Have you tried them yet?
-
This is awesome, Paul! Sounds great, and what a fun happy tune! Without the sounds of a live audience you made this soundcheck sound like a record made in a badass 100-yr old “recording studio” – love it! Thanks so much for sharing the audio and pic of your “office”. haha. Amazing what you’re pulling off with Ozone and a 2-track! ⚡️
-
So gorgeous, Jesse – musically and visually – as always, my man!
Few musings that come to mind:
- beautiful, enchanting, mildly haunting.
- the mood and similar-ish beautiful/haunting chords and melody remind me of a song from my childhood that’s always transfixed me: the chorus from “Calling You” from the 80s indie film “Bagdad Cafe”.
- yes! whistling is tricky to record for all the reasons you mentioned. Same deal with flutes. When mic’ing flutes and whistles I often opt for more of an overhead mic position so that the mic is still close to the sound source but the mic capsule isn’t getting bombarded with wind. If resonances and overtones are harsh you might also try mic’ing a bit off-axis (not pointing directly at the mouth or mouthpiece), or try a darker mic in general like a ribbon. I love using ribbon mics on brassy or overtone-rich sounds cause they kinda smooth a lot of that stuff out.
Keep crushing it man! And thanks for sharing your audio-visual journey with us here!!
-
What an amazing mastering experiment! I bet that was super fun to hear all those options. The variety of “flavors” or styles you get back from different mastering engineers who’ve all been given the same stereo file is always so fun to hear — especially when you as producer or artist or mixer, etc, are so deeply connected to- and invested in- the current sound of that source file.
And then on top of the obvious sonic differences from each mastering engineer, you must also consider the workflow, communications, etiquette, deliverables, quality control, and personality of those you’re considering.
I always remind myself that there are many people who do what I do and do it reeeeally well, especially in a competitive, creative, entertainment-hub like L.A. So I do my best to ensure that the operations and personal interactions side of my business is as good as can be. Cause sometimes (read: often!) that can be one more benefit that tips the scale in your favor. (i.e. “well, engineers A and B both delivered incredible sounding work I’d be happy with forever. But engineer B was a lot more fun to work with and communicated everything clearly. Let’s go with B!”)
-
What is this “willpower” you speak of? … I’ve heard of that but don’t really know what it is. 🤔😂
-
Ooh, this is such an awesome endorsement and explanation man thanks! And love that you shared your fav room models too – makes me want to check those out!
Every time I try the headphone-room-model thing (or car or earbud etc) I always get an odd vibe, like it just doesn’t feel “right” to me or particularly useful — or maybe I just kinda love the unadulterated sound of tiny speaker cones strapped mere millimeters away from my eardrums 🤷🏻♂️ — BUT … all that said, I have not ever heard the Slate version! So I’m definitely keen to try it when the opportunity presents itself. I’ve heard good things from lots of folks about the Slate headphones system, including you, so I’m sure they’re badass.
-
Lookin fwd to hearing this when back in the studio – thanks Paul for your insights and experiments! Wayyyyy more fun than taxes, indeed!!!
-
My pleasure, homey!! So glad you’re here and sharing and chimin’ in!
-
Oh damn, the show itself! That’s awesome 🙌
-
Jesse! Hope u won’t mind me copy/pasting my response from our sidebar text, and the awesome youtube rendition you did with Amy Cerveni too so that others can check it out – and damn, wasn’t expecting those pipes of yours too! 😲
That’s wild man – i love that u too have a connection w that song. I saw that movie many times as a kid when it came out, and while as an adult I don’t remember the movie at all, but I remember vividly the first time I heard that song as a kid in the film – i was spellbound!!! I couldn’t get enough of it. And of course there was no Spotify back in the 80s, so the only way i could hear the song again was on VHS lol. – Dana
-
Ayooo! Poppin in here to remind folks that de-esser plugins aren’t the only way to control sibilance. There are some other manual ways I turn to, which often yield cleaner results than software/hardware de-esser devices, that I mentioned in another recent thread here. These manual options in conjunction with your static de-esser plugin setting might be just the simple fix you need to iron out those last few remaining pesky S’s. FWIW!
-
Awesome, Pete – glad to help! Look fwd to hearing more! And, like @-PT , I dig the lyrics!
-
Heck yeah, man! 💜
-
Nice, Pete! Big strides here! Good move putting the de-esser before compressor – that does tend to help so you’re not working against yourself (trying to reduce sibilance after it’s been boosted by the compressor). Sometimes I even try a little de-essing before AND after compression if needed. That said, though, if I reach for a second de-esser, chances are I’ll opt to manually reduce sibilance via clip gain or melodyne amplitude tool. Anyway … just food for thought. There are no rules! And what you’ve got going on now is a big improvement!
Here are a few additional quick thoughts:
- the hi hat that enters around 1:30 and stays in the rest of the song feels a bit loud to me
- the whole track could get some louder “mastering”. See this post for some tips.
- extra credit / optional: the timings of various drum/perc elements as well as doubled vocal consonants feel pretty loose, which is totally fine as a stylistic choice(!), but for my ear those things pulled me out of the song trance a bit. For example, some of the hat patterns or drum programming feels like it could benefit from some quantizing. And some of the drum hits (like 2 kick sounds hitting at the same time) and vocal consonances (like 2 or 3 vocal stacks, T’s and S’s especially) aren’t lined up with eachother, which creates a lot of “flam-y” moments throughout the track. I’m not necessarily suggesting 100% quantization if that’s not your vibe. And if you want to maintain a looser more natural feel, you could always do this type of alignment manually, without the use of quantizing plugins or DAW operations. Or you could just be like, “Naw, Dana, I like it loose, brah!” and that’s cool too! Just offering my first impressions to take or leave as u see fit!
🤘
mixprotege.com
Limiter/Mastering Question - Please advise
Dearest Mix Geniuses!I have a question that I’m hoping you all can help me understand more clearly.It is my understanding that it is generally good…