Bash, I beg you: Head In The Sand

Yep, I can definitely see the value. Would also be very helpful in using reference tracks, clearly. Thanks again!

OK, Iā€™m back with one more rev, V5 in the OP. I went into every track and found where the ~150-Hz buildup was coming from, and it was mostly the bass and main rhythm guitar, but also some in the acoustic guitar. Brought the subs up just a hair as well, and releveled to suit the new EQ settings.

I also added a reverb send just for the drums and blended some of that in to give the kit a bit more space in the sound without resorting to AD2ā€™s room mics. I didnā€™t get into the sidechaining thing though, itā€™s a very subtle effect.

Now the SPAN spectrum has humps and bumps moving around constantly rather than a swell at about 150 that barely moved. In a/b this version is very noticeably clearer in the low-mid range, and I learned a lot about what to listen for and how to listen for it in that area. Might even have leveled up here. :grin: Adrian @AJ113, thanks again for holding my feet to the fire on this. Iā€™m pretty happy with how it sounds now.

Cheers! :beers: :performing_arts: :musical_score:

Boom!

Now thatā€™s rock and roll!

Check out that kick drum man, itā€™s knocking me out.

Youā€™ve gotta be pleased with that Dave? Right? Itā€™s totally rockinā€™ man.

Indeed Adrian, Iā€™m delighted. Didnā€™t want to go too over the top in my post about it, you know, playing it cool and all that. :sunglasses: Thanks again!!

Just a quick comment on my behalf, I really like the song, and the style particularly, old school all the way :slight_smile:
Comments above summarize the mixing approach for the most part, but even before mixing, there is one process that will instantly make your mix sound better, without the use of a single plugin. That process is editing. As @redworks mentioned it, pay very much attention to timing issues, because no matter how well and polished you mix ends up at the end, if the timing is all over the place, it wonā€™t sound professional. I heard you edited and time aligned various sections, but still, there are other areas in the song that need more attention to detail in this regard. The other thing Iā€™d like to mention is the mix is very mono - centric, it could really benefit from spreading the instruments across the stereo field, say the acoustic guitar could go more to the right side to counter balance the electric guitar on the left, and the drums could be more spacious as well (pan the hats and toms, send the whole drum kit to a stereo drum reverb and pan it wide).
Other that that great song, just keep up doing the great work :slight_smile:
Happy mixing,

Zsolt

1 Like

I spend about three times longer editing than I do mixing as a rule. I would have mentioned editing myself but Dave had already said that he specifically wanted the track to sound imperfect. I have never understood this philosophy myself, but I can respect it in others nevertheless. For me, if there is a way of getting any track sounding better, Iā€™ll do it.

After I have spent a certain duration of time editing a track, there comes a point when it all starts to fall into place. Suddenly, where once there was shite, now there is juicy goodness. I hate doing it, but I love the results.

2 Likes

Indeed Zsolt @VirtechStudios, I made the deliberate choice for this particular tune to be ragged and somewhat disjointed, because that goes with the mood Iā€™m trying to convey.

And this is the only time I have done that deliberately; the rest of the time I do strive to have my timing perfect (and I often fail at first, getting great help from this bunch to fix it).

Many thanks for taking the time to give a detailed listen!! :ear:

1 Like

@Chordwainer Indeed, if that is your mixing and artistic point of view, than I say go for it. At the end of the day, you as a mixing engineer are not being hired for your skills (anybody with a slight amount of talent and hard work can achieve good skills), you are hired for your taste, to bring that something else to the track (and Iā€™m not referring to a new compressor plugin :), so if you feel that this track will benefit from the raggedness, then I say leave it like that, it is your vision of the song, and nobody can mess with that. As @AJ113 pointed it out, and I share his opinion on this one, I aways, and with all available resources try to get the track to sound better, BUT, there is a but, at the end of the day the artist has the final word. If he/she dislikes all the editing, pocketing, sound replacing, and thinks that the record is too slick, than there is not much we can do here, but revert to the unedited tracks, bring up the faders and start again. :slight_smile:
Keep up the great work guys :slight_smile:

1 Like

Very well said sir! :trophy:

1 Like

gritty and filthy. I love it. Vocalist is awesome.

1 Like

Thank you Patrick, and welcome to the forum! I am flattered, I am pretty sure nobody has ever described my singing as awesome before. :blush: :beers: