Complete remix of the original reference mix of Burning Bridges

[Blitzzz]

Hey guys,

After working for some smaller clients, learning tons of new stuff from guys like Joey Sturgis, Eyal Levi or Joel Wanasek and increasing my self-confidence , I decided to remix the original mix of Burning Bridges I did two years ago. My band is also very close to release our first album, so I had to remix some of our older songs like Burning Bridges anyway so they don't sound like they are played by a completely different band.

I was curious how far I could take this song this time and if there would be any noticeable difference between the two mixes. To make a long story short: Yes, there's a big difference in clarity, but also how I treat guitar and bass nowadays and how much that has changed the overall impact and clarity. Have fun with this before/after comparison

Cheers,
Dirk

[Roy]

I didn't know this was your band. Cool. Mix of old school and modern.

I know I'll probably get some shit for this and be in the minority but I think I prefer the older version. Even considering that it's lower resolution than the new file. I downloaded them and A/B them a couple of times. The new file sounds good and clean but the older version feels heavier and breathes more. The sections hit harder and I get more impact from it. Sure there's a lot of issues that the older version has from a technical stand point. As an engineer/mixer I hear the positives of the new version but as a listener the old version moves me more.

I think if you can blend the two then it'd be perfect.

Just my 2 cents.

[Shul]

Huge difference man. There is a a shitload of clarity now.. every single thing is breathing like a new born baby

@Roy ... I think you are perceiving "louder is better" and that's clouding your ears. knock back the volume on the old mix to match the volume on the first one and you should hear the difference much better. A B comparison is pretty much Day and night different.

Great mix Blitz.

[Roy]

I definitely hear the differences but that's a fair point. I dropped the files in Logic and balanced out the levels. I still have to say I prefer the original. I'm not knocking the new mix. It's great. It's the 'better' mix. But there's just something more aggressive and raw in the old version that I find more enjoyable. There's more focus on the vocals and guitars that just makes me want to listen to it more and gloss over it's flaws.
I suppose I just have old ears and different aesthetic.

[Shul]

I definitely hear the differences but that's a fair point. I dropped the files in Logic and balanced out the levels. I still have to say I prefer the original. I'm not knocking the new mix. It's great. It's the 'better' mix. But there's just something more aggressive and raw in the old version that I find more enjoyable. There's more focus on the vocals and guitars that just makes me want to listen to it more and gloss over it's flaws.
I suppose I just have old ears and different aesthetic.

No.. I have to admit the old mix sounds more warm and is more full on mids.. and there is quite some noise in the midrange (kind of like how analog consoles process signal) that excites the overall mix in that area.
I prefer the new one though.. perhaps maybe bigger low end but that's a taste thing I suppose.

[dcp10200]

After level matching both versions in Reaper and A/Bing them I have to say the original is my favorite. The new version is heaps cleaner and less squeezed overall but lacks the density of the original, the guitars have more top end fizz which get a touch annoying over time, and overall the new mix doesn't really gel together as well (the kick sounds isolated from the rest of the kit and the guitars are picking a fight with the vocals).

For a laugh I pulled out a Eq to see if I could roughly make the new mix sound a touch smoother and here's what I found: A 2 dB cut at 4.16 kHz helped to smooth out the harshness in the top end of the guitars followed another 2 dB cut at 1.9 kHz to take some of the rattiness out of the high mids of the guitars. I found a high end resonance at 2.6 kHz and killed it with a 5 dB surgical cut. Finally a 1.5 dB cut at 376 Hz to clean up the low mids , a broad 2.5 dB cut at 957 Hz, and a Resonant shelf boost at 6.2 kHz for some sparkle on the top. This, for me at least, seemed to make the mix less harsh and in turn make the lower end of the mix more prominent and gelled to the top.

Obviously doing this on a 2 track MP3 bounce isn't really ideal and doesn't really change the actual balance of the instruments themselves, so take my findings with a grain of salt . I would say turning up the bass abit, cutting some 4 kHz and 2 kHz out of the rhythm guitars, and making the kick less present in the mix will get you closer to a more finished sounding mix, as of now it still has some growing pains that need to be addressed (the bass before the solo is a touch too distorted, try going with a cleaner sound there ). I haven't listened to this track in a while and it's cool to see a new take on one of your old mixes with the experience you've gained.

Cheers, and good luck on the album!
Doug

P.S There's a weird pitch shift on the lead vocal in the first chorus at 0:32 mark, it doesn't seem intentional as it doesn't happen in any of the other choruses during both versions of the mix and the vocal feels abit rushed on its entry there.

[dcp10200]

Here's a bounce of the eq changes I was talking about

[Blitzzz]

Sounds good on my headphones in the office. Gonna check it out when I´m home. Funny fact: The old version is completely mastered (I haven't done that myself) whereas my new mix isn't mastered at all. I just turned up the volume with FG-X. I would consider all your EQ moves to be typical for a final mastering stage except the resonance fix. I guess that's why you shouldn't master your own mixes unless you have 10.000+ hours of mixing and mastering on your back

[Shul]

The first thing I would do is throw an excited for mids... I think that's all this needs.. And a boost on the low end. I will download your mix and see what's up

[dcp10200]

Sounds good on my headphones in the office. Gonna check it out when I´m home. Funny fact: The old version is completely mastered (I haven't done that myself) whereas my new mix isn't mastered at all. I just turned up the volume with FG-X. I would consider all your EQ moves to be typical for a final mastering stage except the resonance fix. I guess that's why you shouldn't master your own mixes unless you have 10.000+ hours of mixing and mastering on your back

Haha, that explains the new track being less squeezed and some of the Eq differences .

I would say that no matter how much experience you have mastering your own stuff isn't really ideal anyhow for the fact that the mastering engineer is most likely the only pair of fresh ears to hear your mixes and be able to massage out the kinks in the final mix, again it's a luxury not had by many indie bands and working musicians but it can really elevate the mix. I've learned that lesson myself, the first summer that I started my recording program a couple of my friends and I recorded an EP for their band, I was the engineer, mixer, and mastering guy.

In the end it didn't sound very good at all, the EP has a really harsh sound, is really scooped, and the performances are pretty hilarious timing wise. To our ears at the time we heard really nothing too wrong with it but after looking back at it now it's pretty crap. Most of it was due to our inexperience (at that point we were all pretty new to the whole recording process and not too choosy on what takes to use ), and the last 10% was due to us not having anyone else to take a listen to it before we put it out. It was a good learning experience though on what not to do when producing music for public consumption. Anyway this is getting way off target here but I'll leave the link to the band camp (the guys have since moved on from this band, we were planning a full length release but it got canned pretty early on) https://openfyre.bandcamp.com/releases.

Cheers,
Doug