Member Dana Nielsen
MemberForum Replies Created
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Sounding sick, @JLEW ! The couple things that come to my mind are:
- some of the bass notes feel louder than others, at least on my system. Like the Eb note resonates much louder than the other notes. Sometimes I do a fair amount of bass automation or note-by-note leveling (drawn automation or clip gain) to ensure that the lower/deeper notes remain as audible/loud as the bass notes in the higher register, and that the higher notes don’t get unnecessarily loud simply due to their higher pitch. Make sense? If your bass synth is an audio file (as opposed to midi triggering a virtual synth) you can often see, visually, the louder and softer notes.
- The kick feels left-of-center and – despite my recent “creative panning” post 😂 – I feel like this sort of “dance kick” deserves to be in the center.
- You might try, as an experiment, mixing a version with the guitar muted 😳. I know, I know, .. the guitar is the star of the show! But it might be cool to try the “Mute the Drums” Mix Power Tip but on the guitar, just to see what kind of creative mixing adventure that leads you on, letting go of the lead instrument and just crafting a wild dramatic ride with the supporting instruments as if there were no guitar at all. Then of course … fit the guitar back into your new instrumental to taste.
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Wound up making a quick lil vid today on the topic… chime in with any thoughts!
https://mixprotege.com/2023/09/14/brainworx-bx_clipper/
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Sounding great man! 👏 Can’t wait to hear the mastered version when it’s ready 🔊🤘
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Yo! I mostly use harmonic distortion tools (console plugins, tape plugins, some distortion plugins, etc) and haven’t really messed w the clipping plugins on the market but have been curious. Are those what you’re talking about? Any you’ve found usefull?
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@Garry , @dolph , @Chappy , and @EvB … I’m curious: any of u using “clipping” plugins in your mixing? Anything worth checking out? I had my eye on this Boz Little Clipper for a minute, but never pulled the trigger. Also just noticing Brainworks makes one that I bet is included in my Mega Bundle thingy with them. Maybe I’ll give that one a try first.
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Yeah Jon! Really great job! Your friend sounds awesome – real Chris Cornell vibes 🤘. Mix-wise here are a few quick thoughts:
- The guitar gets very compressed and a bit distorted during the choruses – sounds like there may be a limiter on the guitar or the mix that’s working too hard during the choruses?
- [This note is directly related to the above note] The verses sound amazing and loud and clear but when the choruses hit and the mix wants to get louder, there’s nowhere left to go, headroom-wise, limiter-wise. The result is that your “big” moments like the choruses actually start to feel “smaller”, relative to the nice loud verses. Try the “Find the Drama” tip from my 5 Mix Power Tips freebie in the Shop menu. i.e. work on the last (loudest) chorus, get that sounding huge and clear and powerful and just the way you want it, and then work the mix backwards (using automation as needed, and/or arrangement changes .. like how you’re making great use of vocal doubles and guitar doubles for the chorus) making sure verses feel quieter or less intense than the choruses. I spend a lot of time working on transitions between sections, making sure the mix really “blooms” into a chorus from a verse, getting louder with no noticeable distortion or limiter artifacts ( … unless of course you want distortion or artifacts, which, for some styles of music, is just what the Dr. ordered!)
- Might be nice to add one more subtle element (backbeat tamb hits?) to the final chorus or choruses, just to introduce some new piece of ear candy to keep the listener engaged.
All easy stuff tho man! You’ve done a great job and are in the home stretch!
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Heck yeah, homey! So glad to help and LOVE hearing your amazing progress!!
PS – I added a few more ideas to the original post, as I wasn’t done writing when I accidentally hit “post” haha -
Yeah man! The phone will sum that wide mix to mono for the most part, which is fine. I’m constantly referencing the tiny side-speakers in my studio, pushed together in mono, as I mentioned in this thread from a few weeks ago – check that one out, u might dig!
mixprotege.com
Finding clarity in chaos - Mixing - MIX PROTÉGÉ
Finding clarity in chaos - Mixing - MIX PROTÉGÉ
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Jesse!!!!! I can’t wait to listen to this properly in my studio in the morning! Was a busy day here w sessions. And @Jon_Plett thanks so much for weighing in with those great suggestions!
@JLEW …. take that panning guidance you received in the past and throw it IMMEDIATELY in the garbage! 🗑️ And then light it on 🔥 just to be sure it’s gone for good! hahaha. For real tho – panning is such an amazing source of expression in mixing. I haven’t even listened to your piece yet, but can safely advise you to roam freely about the stereo field with your creative choices. There is definitely a time and place to keep focal elements centered (lead vocal, bass instruments, kick, snare, etc.), but even those rules were meant to be broken when it feels right.
Legend has it, the fully-sweepable pan knobs we know today weren’t even a THING when stereo mixing first hit the music scene in the late 1950s. Mixing consoles of the day had buttons on each channel – one to send the signal to the Left speaker, one to send it to the Right; and by engaging both buttons you could send the signal to both speakers, i.e. Center. So, in essence, you had three choices: hard left, hard right, or right up the middle! I think back to some of my favorite stereo records of the 50s and 60s and how wild (and courageous!) it seems that the drums are all on the right speaker 😲 and the bass and piano are completely isolated on the left speaker 😮🧐 … what once seemed to me like “odd” or “brave” panning choices were really just engineers of that time having fun experimenting with the “brave new world” of stereo mixing, playfully utilizing these TWO brand new buttons on their consoles! Crazy, right?!
So… don’t be afraid to be brave. Be odd, too, if ya like. And above all else … have FUN!
P.S. – This Wikipedia article is pretty fascinating.
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Hahaha – same here! ✂
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Right? So handy and fun controlling transients, preserving mix headroom, and adding “loudness” and vibe all with one tool and a few knobs!
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Right on, Jon, thanks for ur insight on the Boz! Gonna check that out!
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ok gonna check those out thanks @Michael !
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Right on man! Nice detective work on the RX, too. Love the tamb addition. lead vocal feels — dare I say — a bit bright and a bit loud and/or dry. Generally I’m all about a clarity and volume in a lead vocal! But I kept wondering, “what would this sound like w less top end on the vocal and the vocal tucked in a bit more, esp during the choruses and bridge where the gtrs want to rock out?” Maybe lead voc down and bgvs and guitars up in the big sections? Or actually, come to think of it, u could poss leave the lead voc where it’s at and just boost the guitars and bgvs during the choruses so they “rise up” 😉 to the level of the vocal. Coming together man!
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Damn, man, that’s you singing?? Awesome! Thought that was your friend/client. 👏
And very cool analogy within the film editing world – I’ve never heard of that one – fascinating, thanks for sharing! Keep up the great work, and hope u enjoy the “5MPT”! ⚡️⚡️