Too easy, cheers mate. I’ll let you get back to your class, thanks again bud.
Had a bit of a play with the stems today - some observations:
The bass was pretty dynamic, with different frequencies popping out during different sections. I used 3 different versions of the DI each processed differently: One for fatness and low end, one for midrange and clarity, and the final one distorted with a Sansamp simulator, all bussed into a single buss, then compressed and eq’d further.
One tactic that I’ve often used for basses like this is to highlight different tones for different sections, rather than keep the bass just static in tone. Here it is just the same all the way through, and it suits some sections better than others.
The guitars needed some low end and low mid cutting, but also some trimming in the 800hz area, as well as some high end boost around 3-4k. Used a little compression to tighten them up too. Hard to keep the leads sounding as they should when processing the guitars as a group. Here the priority is getting the rhythm sound to fit.
Anyhoo, here is what I got:
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Bass sounds really punchy and tight @ColdRoomStudio ! I’d be really interested to see how you approached the various sections.
Like I said with the initial bass, it’s doing so much dynamically it was really hard to keep in tamed with a catch-all treatment. it just killed it dead.
Yep, guitars still need work, agreed.
You don’t know of any good tutorials regarding bussing l/r guitars into a stereo comp and the settings etc?
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Do you wanna have a look at the l/r rhythm gats on their own? I clearly fucked them right up initially with way to much 1K, but I’d be really interested to see how they could sound with someone who actually has a clue behind the wheel.
Here’s what I did for the bass:
- Duplicated the bass DI three times
First DI was mainly emphasising low end (very compressed):
Second DI was for overall clarity and amp tone:
Third DI was for distortion:
All were mixed to taste, then run into a bass buss which was:
UAD Neve 88R channel strip for comp and eq > Waves Maxxbass for some hamonic weight > Fabfilter Pro MB to tighten around 100hz > Just kissing Waves L1 for a final bit of levelling:
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Sure, no worries!
Damn that’s cool. Definitely a LOT more distorted than what you’re hearing in the mix.
So all three instances are playing together?
Haha, yeah it’s pretty ugly solo’d! Distortion is definitely the “secret” weapon for bass.
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Here’s the two dry rhythm guitars @ColdRoomStudio and all the rest grouped on a separate track (treated). Excuse all the clicks, they’ve been comped and chopped a fair bit since the start of the project.
Ok, here’s a try at the guitars incorporated into the sound:
Here are the guitars solod out:
The left guitar processing - ReaEQ for some high passing and cutting followed by further processing in VMR
The right guitar processing - similar to above, slightly different settings:
There were both sent to a buss that had this processing on it - Virtual Tape for some saturation, smoothness & fatness into VMR for a little more “makeup” and into Pro MB for some low end control of the “chugs”:
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Probably a little brighter in the top end than I’d usually mix my guitars but really interesting all the same. Excuse my ignorance, I’m not really familiar with the vmr. Just trying to figure out what’s engaged and what isn’t, all those eq’s…mind boggling.
I’ve just been experimenting with the 3 tracks of DI bass trick, I couldn’t replicate your results exactly but it doesn’t sound awful either. I’ll put up what I ended up with.
Hey thanks a million for the help @ColdRoomStudio, faarking cool mate.
EDIT: Just looking back through your settings, it’s probably not that it’s any brighter in the top end, it’s probably just because I’ve got a tendency to boost the shit out of the mids which probably masks a lot of that top end info…idk.
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Yeah the midrange is where everybody has an opportunity to explore their own tastes, so within reasonable bounds there is definitely room for variation. Not that I was trying to duplicate its frequency response, but I kind of referenced Fuel’s “Jesus or a Gun”, as it had a similar sort of aggressive feel.
Nah, fricken awesome mate, you made it sound great. I don’t use as much multi band compression as I probably should but I love that little trick just to squash the chugs down past 200ish.
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This was what I ended up with after blending the 3 DI basses going off the fat/clean/distorted method and then into a buss for a light touch of compression. Not sure if I overcooked the bottom end or not, kinds feels like it.
This was the bass blend within the mix, ears are a bit worn out but it’s definitely there.
What do you think @ColdRoomStudio, Kind of or not really?
Sounding good - definitely an improvement. Perhaps a bit on the tubby side in the low mids - I imagine where the guitars and bass overlap around the 200 hz mark. A good starting point though.
I was really hoping Andrew would chime in here…I’m glad he did.
After everyone left yesterday I started fiddling with it but I wasn’t able to get it to where I was happy with it, but Andrew did some very similar things.
I used the UAD SVT Pro like he did, Multiband compressed right around using a C6 and reached for a distressor plugin also. I didn’t think to try a limiter at the end of the chain though. I think I used the SSL instead of the Neve. I fiddled with it for about an hour trying to get a distorted DI to blend with a cab, then realized I needed a 3rd track. I’m on a laptop in the lobby, I have an intern on my main rig again getting some files routed and transferred. I’ll post some stuff as soon as I can.
@ColdRoomStudio, thanks a ton for sharing what you did here! I’ll get my files uploaded later this evening.
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Yeah, he was a really big help and I think the track is much better for it. I’d still be really interested to see what you come up with @Jonathan . Can’t have too much input imo. Cheers man.
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I don’t understand any of it, but it sure was a fun read. The talent in this forum is scary
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Hehe, I know the feeling buddy. Writing it’s one thing, making it sound pretty is an entirely different prospect altogether.
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