Patrick T - Blue (Metallurgist)

[dcp10200]

It seems to me the ability to do all kinds of crazy things to someone's raw tracks is an easy thing to do. Making those things work within the context of the song is more of an art form. I would never confuse technical acumen with an art form, or vice-versa. As an art form, I feel this mix fails badly, but shows off the mixers considerable technical skills. Improving on or making a track 'sound' better is truly one of the most subjective things in the human experience. I enjoy the technical aspects of this mix but the song is lost because of it. And to me, it is all about the song.

I haven't really made a mix of this track, so take my words with a metric tonne of salt. I'm agreeing with you, the mix is perfect from a purely technical aspect. It's not too hot and compressed the balance is great, and it has some cool effects.

From a musical perspective however, the delays and other effects don't really add to what's already there and that audio watermark is really annoying, like a pirated copy off Limewire. I've listened to other mixes by Dave and they all seem to be technically good, not exactly song serving.

I'll put it like this, Californication by the Red Hot Chili peppers has a horrible mix and master from a technical standard, however I love the songs on that album because they are well written and the raw and dirty sound of that album suit the music of that album because the music is raw and visceral. This mix is like how Californication would be with overly polished, technically perfect production.