Thanks Eef - yeah, these guys are on quite a bit of a creative roll at the moment. This is definitely one of their finest so far, both in terms of songwriting, arrangement, recording and performances. I’ve been mixing their stuff since they were at high school, so it’s really lovely to see the profession.
Thanks MP! Awesome, I know I love it when I listen to a track and just get absorbed in the song and forget about my analytical ear. I am always striving for that in my mixes, but I rarely (if ever) achieve it.
The clean guitar was proved as both an amp sound and a DI. The amp had a really dynamic, crystalline sound that was great, but lacking a little warmth and sustain, so I compressed it pretty heavily and ran the DI in parallel running into Scuffamamps S-Gear Fender Tweed Bassman model, just running at the point of very slight breakup. Mixing the 2 sounds together gave me the best of both worlds.
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so I listen on my Bluetooth speaker , studio and headphones it sounds stellar in all of them , really like this arrangement very full and great guitar sounds print it Andrew I wouldn’t touch a thing.
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Thanks Danny, that’s great to hear that it translates across all systems. I’ve been tweaking my system in my new room, and I think I’ve finally hit on a combination that works well.
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You definitely found that little hole we discussed on the previous tracks from your new room. Very solid from the bottom up. I might bring the background vocals up a hair, but other than that it is great. Well done sir.
yeah it took me some time to get my room where I wanted it but after mixing in it for a year now I think I have found the comfort zone. when you get a chance check out mix 4 in bash on your personality song…
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Thanks Bob, that’s great to know.
Believe it or not, I think the problem was that the volume control on the sub got knocked out of position in the move.
I couldn’t remember where I had it set in the old room, so it was a bit of trial and error to get it set to the level I was used to hearing. It turns out I ended up with it set too loud, and that affected my approach to eq’ing that critical 70-150 Hz region.
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on great advice when I calibrated my 2.1 I turned my interface all the way up and set my left and right to 85db and my sub to 80 db it has given me a great balance both in listening to music and movies to mixing and mastering.
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Interesting Danny. I was far less scientific. I just turned it until it felt right. That’s my approach to most things in audio. 
That’s interesting to read… I found just with a new interface that there are a heap of changes to my listening patterns that take getting used to… so people who move around different studios would have very different listening techniques… It is just so much simpler following known patterns… 
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Absolute perfection Mr Cold!
A well crafted song and a masterly crafted mix to serve it.
If I were to absolutely nitpick, there’s one cymbal crash in the beginning that took me by surprise. Just a hair loud. The big guitars coming in did the same thing. But it made me smile. Whereas that cymbal kinda put me off balance for a second.
The vocal did get clouded for a split second maybe one or 2 times so maybe something to push it forward just a hair. I actually prefer a vocal exactly where you have it. But with every other mix “in your face”, a baby step forward may be just the ticket.
But truly masterful work. Best thing I’ve heard in a while!
later
rich
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Yeah, you have to establish some sort of “listening baseline” you can rely on - this move has really challenged me.
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Wow, thanks Rich. I appreciate the compliments…
Which cymbal crash did you hear that jumped out (ie. secs:mins)? I’ll tuck that sucker in on the revision (there is sure to be at least 1 when I get the mix notes back!)
The vocal was tricky to get perfect clarity all the way through. In the lower register and higher registers, clarity was no problem, but in the middle register, he had a resonance that really dulled his voice on certain notes. I ended up using multiband compression just to target those notes when he hit them and bring them down to clear out space for clearer and richer harmonic content.
Thanks again for the listen and comment!
Yeah… that’s a tough one. I listened again. But you never get that fresh listen back
It might be the hi hat going into a crash at around .-:45 or the one at ;59 that gets into vocal range or the one at 1:05 or so that is slightly ahead of the gtr coming in. See what I mean the first impression trumps the microscope every time. It’s gotta be one of the early ones. But maybe it’s fine as is I prefer softer cymbals myself. But yours are exciting
The vocals are fine and very well done performance and tone wise. There were just some very brief moments when “something” got in the way. Like I said… I don’t mind that and tend to like it. But given the competitive nature, a hair louder or a hair forward is a safe bet. On my 3rd listen now… still lovin it!
later
rich
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Just wondering exactly how you used the multiband compression to target those notes… did you sidechain it somehow or do a duplicate track for the tricksy bits??
Ok cool thanks Rich, I’ll cast another critical ear over those sections and see if I can improve it in the remix.
No sidechaining, just straight multiband.
I used the Fabfilter Pro MB, which allows you to compress one band in a narrow frequency range. I was going to automate it so it just kicked in on the notes in question, but then when I auditioned it going on the whole track, I realised it wasn’t negatively affecting any other vocal passages, so I left it on the whole time…
In fact, I suppose technically speaking, a multiband compressor already has side chains going, as each band is only being triggered by the frequencies within that band. When you solo the band on a multiband compressor, I suppose that is much like soloing the sidechain input on a full range compressor, only the multiband just compresses the frequencies it “hears”, whereas a full range compressor compresses all frequencies across the board in response to what it “hears” in the side chain signal.
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Completely agree with this. Since adopting the Izotope plugs a while back, all of which include MB processing (compression but also other things as well), I haven’t even thought to reach for a MB comp, nor have I yet tried to explore sidechaining. Just not sure whether that technique is particularly applicable to more spare stuff? I’m an ignoramus on this subject. 
TDR Nova is also a very good alternative to MB comps. Especially for vocal. It’s a dynamic EQ rather than a MB comp. It’s also free…
I can get more precise with it than c6 or reaXcomp. I know the fabfilter stuff is better. But I don’t have any of their stuff.
I can also get pretty aggressive with it and it still sounds natural.
I sometimes wish it had more bands. But if I really need it, I’ll pick the most needed band and render it at the item/waveform level and use the rest on the channel.
If you need to de-whistle or de-honk a track. Nova works really well
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My go-to EQ is Voxengo GlissEQ, and it’s a dynamic EQ too. Love that, it is SO useful. I use it on virtually every sound I record…
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