Dana,

Thank you for the late night ramble. Keen observations as we have come to expect here.

I had in fact, thrown a 48dB/oct high pass filter across my L/R buss as the first process in my mastering chain. My ears said 51 Hz was the spot to park the filter and do no damage. I trust my calibrated headphones. I then took that mastered file…

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Geez, it’s been quiet around here lately. I’ll throw up a question that plagued me last night. I’m mastering a song for my son’s band and ran across an issue to figure out.

We have a 48K, 24 bit, wav file at -8LUFS with a -1dB True Peak value. When I opened up the mastered file in RX11 I could see a bunch of energy between10 and 20 Hz that I…

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Bar,

Curious. Did you listen to both my re-dos?

My “re-do” technique is multifaceted and predictable these days, and because I mostly don’t make my own music I rely on the musings of the MP fam and the generosity of many an opening act at the historic State Theatre in Ithaca, NY where I reside at FOH. Two-track recordings that move me…

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Dana,

I’m wondering if you have any experience with the seemingly new ( I just got the email today) Virtual Monitoring software addition to Sonarworks Sound ID? Your smiling face shows up on their list of luminaries and I’m hoping you were a beta tester and had some insight.

For those scratching your head … the folks…

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Here’s my updated version of your updated version.

That’s your snare sound for sure!

Hey Bar,

This is a cool little tune. You’ve succeeded in creating energy with the guitars. Really good energy at that. like Dire Straits playing NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Because the song builds up a head of steam, its gonna require automation of levels or a very active set of hands on a console to keep the musical balance appropriate. ie, a…

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Dana,

Jonatha Brooke vibes!! I should have recognized that hopping up to falsetto vocal flavor having mixed a week of shows in Europe with her and the band in ’07. Way different vibe for those shows.

@-PT

MIchael,

I agree. The performance has all the feels. It has warts and P-pops but it’s a compelling rendition and capture of the singer-songwriter’s gender journey in front of an enthusiastic audience despite being the evening’s opening artist.

I make a habit of two track live recordings of talent, (with their permission of course) to…

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I purposefully offered no insight to what or who this is to see if the music alone elicited a similar response to what I had in the moment.

PT

Jesse,

Yes, I’m trying to convey the use of two different instances of the phone audio. One for the ambience of being live in the woods listening to the music so it doesn’t come across bone dry. (Who have I become?) If that stereo phone track needs a little EQ to help it talk with the music better, so be it.…

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Jesse,

P-$ here.

“I’m a white man, a white man in black socks.

I wear grey shorts; tank tops and dreadlocks.”

No, I’m sorry. I think you wanted the other one…

Regarding your question. Yes, I was suggesting you use the phone mic as an ingredient in your mix of close miced parts. Something to give ambience and support…

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@Dana

What a great deep dive. I will echo the big thanks for your effort and letting us in on your process.

Jesse, The last 5 minutes of the music led me into a calm and beautiful sleepy time and its just noon my time.

@-PT

Jesse,

You’ve definitely opened a can of worms thinking about managing different arrival times, huh?

Your initial though of pushing earlier arrival times back in time (guitar amp/ vibes mics) to coincide with the latest arriving one (phone mics) is logical. It’s how we manage delay tower speakers at festival. Hold (delay) the signal feeding…

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Jesse,

Although I couldn’t spot it, I’m guessing the phone was somewhere on the “desk” on the stand. I was just checking it was visually in front of the band.

As you compare wave forms of the stereo vibe mics and your stereo phone recording we clearly see that the phone recording, which is further away from the noise source, the vibes,…

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Jesse,
I have a question for you first. Did this clap emanate from the vibe players playing position? Or maybe where you were playing from.

PT

Jesse,

Yes, do send me the stems, this could be fun and please include the drums. I’m considering drowning them in heroin, lowering the volume, and then slathering them in reverb. I could almost hear it as I listened to your piece again. You never know …

Like the other day when I was outside being a…

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@JLew

Where you been Mix-P friend?

I’m diggin’ the calming tempo, the warm tones, the atmospherics, and even the verb 🙂 Mix wise, I’m thinking two things to make it more vibe-y. One, the percussion feels rigid and canned. Almost like its fighting the guitar/Kb swell that rolls through. I think a vibe-y, half-time, quieter, sedate…

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Bar,

This is moody and pretty already. I was hoping @JBear would suddenly appear vocally and take it further.

Dana,

Thank you. I learned something here today. I had previously used my unmasker/ducking tool across an ALL instrument subgroup made of a summation of all the individual instrument subgroups. Creating multiple sends off the ducker channel, in this case a lead vocal, to feed multiple duckee subgroups, is definitely wiser and…

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Speaking of VO ducking, it sounds like you’re dropping the full bandwidth of the track to allow the $ VO $ to have the full spotlight. I wonder if there’s a viable alternative under some circumstances.

Is it unheard of to duck only the overlapping freqs of the Voice and music to allow the groove to carry on with a new “lead singer” if…

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Dana,

So I’m curious. Did you just hand over your work to the ad agency and cash the check? Did they fit the copy into your vocal arrangement and just duck the ditty when the voice talent needs the spotlight? I’d guess that.

@-PT

Nate,

It’s a room alright. Perhaps that room needs a little acoustic dampening to control the resonant 500 Hz area to keep the focus on the actual vocal performance Does the sound of a crackling fire in the fireplace add to your intent?

@-PT

Nate,

attached is your dry vocal with a different sounding verb to hopefully illustrate my point

Nate,

I love that you included the downloadable stand alone dry vocal, the saturated vocal, and the souped up version. That makes the detective-work a lot easier. The non reverberated ones sound clean and great. There’s a beautiful warmth to your voice and it works very well in this musically stripped down piece of hopefulness…

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Dana,

Wow, a video response is so cool. Quick, to the point, immediate reactions without the overthinking that can occur in written responses. Other educators might charge money for that sort of high-def video / highly-intelligible wisdom. Not suggesting that, just saying thx for that effort.

@-PT

May the mahalos be with you too.

@-PT

Ordained minister in the Universal Life Church for 50+ years

Historically, it’s accurate. There was a VP debate with those words spoken and yes, I utilized a sub-harmonic synthesis on Barry’s spoken words. Paraphrasing and diversion are such effective ingredients in my secret sauce (thank you Nate) for storytelling.

@-PT

Nate,

Welcome back. Glad to hear the muse was visiting.

I only dug into House of Love before offering up this an observation or two. I’m in the good habit of listening first and then digging out the tools from the toolbox to verify if my technical instincts are correct. That allows me to listen musically/emotionally first. (Good God man,…

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Short, gets right to the point, FunkyAF.

They’re back !?

Bar, I’m glad to hear you back with your soft and mysterious sounding songs. The distorted vocal is subtle, captures my attention, and is way cool to my ear. Subtle but interesting support from a bassist who isn’t concerned about holding down the “One” and playing straight changes coupled with a…

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Dana, Thank you for detailed response. That was well said, concise, and indicative of some of the gems you spit on the MIXLAB zoom sessions. @-PT

Phoebe,

Your stylistic choice for the slightly distorted and split vocals supports the song better than does a main center vocal as I suggested. That’s a polite way to say the singer sounds appropriately off center. Following that path, I put the M/S EQ across your track and gave just the SIDES a +2 dB high shelf (Baxandall shaped…

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Phoebes,

I’m thinking you have another mix possibility in you for this super-poppy (comin-in-hot-at- (-9LUFS) love song.

I read your critique and then listened. My first impression was that no, you’re not lacking air in the intro KB/ BS/SYNTH line. But then the vocal appears and it can’t compete (frequency bandwidth wise) with the music.…

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Dana,

No, you’re not crazy, and in the words of Waylon Jennings, even if you were it would keep you from going insane. What you accurately heard was a single acoustic guitar pickup feeding both a DI output AND through an SM57 on a guitar amp. Panned them to spread them out but not completely. Had I done that I could have effectively…

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Phoebe,

v2 of my voodoo.

Great job on your loudness level! I had to work to make it nearly as loud.

@-PT

Phoebe,

Welcome.

I agree with my colleague from NY who suggests the vocal is getting a little lost during louder passages. If the spotlight is on the singer, and it should be, let’s keep her prominent and easily accessible for the audience / listeners.

You mention finding a space for the vocal and ask if it needs more FX to make…

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Jesse my man,

You did such an efficient and succinct job describing my technique that I would ask your input on an acronym that failed miserably in my old neighborhood.

L, (left of R) (right of L), R.

It was a trick for panning a signal with delay rather than amplitude. Better for…

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Patrick,

I recall after your first posted piano piece and saying how I reacted. The unbridled joy just bubbling through your playing was contagious.

Now you’re back with an absolutely disarming, tender vocal performance. I’m not sure if this is a fatherly prayer for a kid (like @JLew ‘s recent offering) or perhaps, a dream visit from…

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Joe,

This is a gorgeous gem of oh-so-tasty pickin’. I can’t believe I didn’t comment/praise it earlier.

Your song was stuck in my head yesterday as I took a Memorial Day ride on my scooter. It’s a good toe-tapping riding companion!

-@PT

Once again, a two-track off the console with a little AI mastering assist and a good dose of attitude for your listening pleasure.

From last Tuesday’s guest artists … a most curious finger picking duo.

@-PT

I’m glad it moved you too! Drums are powerful and primal.

I had a blast mixing the show at the time, revisiting the recording 20 years later and then doing some mild mastering voodoo. My peak Samurai sorcery, (TM @dana) took place in a different venue, post-event celebration.

The US Womens’ synchronized swimming team stopped by the club…

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