07-02-2018, 02:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2018, 02:53 PM by OctopusOnFire.)
Hi guys,
This is my first attempt at this song from Actions. First off, this is a lovely song that gives a lot of options and routes to go for, so my mix has stranded slightly from the given reference. It's a bit more gentle and "pop-rock" so to say. Most noticeable differences are the sound of kick and snare, less metal and more pop-ish. Specifically, I went for a 'UK pop rock' kind of sound. I think it fits the song really well, but it's a taste thing after all.
Quick recap:
- Drums: As I said, most of the character is given by the choice of samples for the kick and snare. The processing is the usual EQ, compression and saturation. Extra space on the verses (non-lin verb on the snare), going for that UK rock vibe I was talking about.
- Bass: Tried to give it that UK pop rock feel, using reverb and featuring it on the verses, especially. It has a mid-rangey character to it for this purpose as well.
- Guitars: Used crystalizer for the intro guitar. It basically takes splices of sound, pitches them, and does some echo. In this case, in reverse.
1/8 dotted echo for the 1st verse guitar worked great.
Rhythm guitars are duplicated, then added a heap of fuzz distortion to the copies and EQd them so only the higher mids came up.
Acoustic guitars have some corrective eq, then some healthy bumps in the higher mid areas where the 'click' of pick vs. string happens. It was very hard to give them a space in the wall of sound, since their low end didn't help (and removing it completely was a no-no), and it was hard to find a point for them where they could be noticed without eating up the space of the overdriven guitars, the main attraction.
- Voice: Splits for the cleaner parts at beginning and end. The usual EQ-Comp-Saturation-Deessing, dynEQ...
There's a copy of the voice one octave lower to support it in the thicker parts of the song.
The Double Track voice has, additionally, a widening plugin (Microshift from Soundtoys).
In the heavier breakdown there are 2 kinds of echo/verb effects happening. One is a hall verb, again with crystalizer. It gives an effect of openness and wild, raw energy that fits the part really well. The second echo is more traditional (Primal Tap from Soundtoys), just repeating the words after the band goes away leaving the voice solo. Also very subtle.
- Nothing special for the BGV, just eq, balancing levels and adding some space.
That'd be all! Of course I'm leaving stuff out for the sake of brevity, just ask if curious. I'm really looking forward to some feedback, see if there's something I missed or could work better.
Cheers,
Simon.
This is my first attempt at this song from Actions. First off, this is a lovely song that gives a lot of options and routes to go for, so my mix has stranded slightly from the given reference. It's a bit more gentle and "pop-rock" so to say. Most noticeable differences are the sound of kick and snare, less metal and more pop-ish. Specifically, I went for a 'UK pop rock' kind of sound. I think it fits the song really well, but it's a taste thing after all.
Quick recap:
- Drums: As I said, most of the character is given by the choice of samples for the kick and snare. The processing is the usual EQ, compression and saturation. Extra space on the verses (non-lin verb on the snare), going for that UK rock vibe I was talking about.
- Bass: Tried to give it that UK pop rock feel, using reverb and featuring it on the verses, especially. It has a mid-rangey character to it for this purpose as well.
- Guitars: Used crystalizer for the intro guitar. It basically takes splices of sound, pitches them, and does some echo. In this case, in reverse.
1/8 dotted echo for the 1st verse guitar worked great.
Rhythm guitars are duplicated, then added a heap of fuzz distortion to the copies and EQd them so only the higher mids came up.
Acoustic guitars have some corrective eq, then some healthy bumps in the higher mid areas where the 'click' of pick vs. string happens. It was very hard to give them a space in the wall of sound, since their low end didn't help (and removing it completely was a no-no), and it was hard to find a point for them where they could be noticed without eating up the space of the overdriven guitars, the main attraction.
- Voice: Splits for the cleaner parts at beginning and end. The usual EQ-Comp-Saturation-Deessing, dynEQ...
There's a copy of the voice one octave lower to support it in the thicker parts of the song.
The Double Track voice has, additionally, a widening plugin (Microshift from Soundtoys).
In the heavier breakdown there are 2 kinds of echo/verb effects happening. One is a hall verb, again with crystalizer. It gives an effect of openness and wild, raw energy that fits the part really well. The second echo is more traditional (Primal Tap from Soundtoys), just repeating the words after the band goes away leaving the voice solo. Also very subtle.
- Nothing special for the BGV, just eq, balancing levels and adding some space.
That'd be all! Of course I'm leaving stuff out for the sake of brevity, just ask if curious. I'm really looking forward to some feedback, see if there's something I missed or could work better.
Cheers,
Simon.
ITB Setup: Reaper, Airwindows, IK Multimedia TR5, XLN AD2 ATrigger and RC-20, Waves.
Monitoring: Dynaudio BM5 mkIII, Behritone, Sennheiser HD 650. Semi-treated room.
Monitoring: Dynaudio BM5 mkIII, Behritone, Sennheiser HD 650. Semi-treated room.