Atrophy Mixed by Doug

[dcp10200]

Really nice mix, Bloke!

Sounds great with headphones on. I have been playing around with this one myself for the last couple of days and have found it to be a tricky one to glue together.

You've done well.
Dave

Thanks Dave, glad you like it! Personally I found this track really needs the reverb pushed on the snare and the room mics to be squashed abit to make everything gel together, it's a good example of how a set of multis may sound good on an induvidual level but when summed together, something feels like it's missing overall. Saturation and some compression can really help the pieces of this mix glue together more easily (on my master buss I used Waves NLS on the Abby Road TG Console emulation driven hard to connect everything. It adds this nice low end and mid energy to tracks and is a really gluey sound!).

Cheers,
Doug

[dcp10200]

Thanks for taking the time to explain some of your tricks,I know it takes a lot of time but really helpful for myself and hopefully others.
You have a great point and I agree 100% about listening and referencing hi quality material makes which a big difference in keeping our ears calibrated and learning the sound and stereo image of whatever monitors or headphones we have (as long as they have a decent frequency range ) Just like you have learned and know the sound of your AKG headphones.

Thanks again.
Cheers

No problem Don, at this point in time at at a bit of a downturn in work hours (I'm a laborer of a local AV Company, I'm hoping to start a studio with a couple of friends from my recording school though) so I have a fair bit of free time now . I've never actually tried Waves NX myself, it actually reminds me of the idea behind the SPL Phonitor Headphone amp: https://www.long-mcquade.com/45486/Pro_A..._Black.htm . Basically it simulates the crosstalk that you get while listening to a set of speakers in a room and makes it easier and less fatiguing to mix on headphones . Obviously it's a fairly expensive piece of gear, interesting nonetheless.

The thing I've found with my AKGs it that they have a fairly open sound to them and don't suffer as much from the typical headphone isolated stereo image, it's also great that they don't block out so much ambient noise (the opposite of my ATH M50x set) it realy comes in handy for vocal tracking when the vocalist needs to hear themselves in the room and sing in tune easier.

Cheers,
Doug

[Digitaldruglord]

At the head of your mastering chain, insert a mastering level De-esser, I started using DMG Essence in my chain as of late and I think you may find usefulness in it also based on the calibur your work is already at.

Thanks for the tip, in my new mix I ended up doing just that and tweaked my de esser on the lead vocal track to make them a bit less piercing in the mix. I think this is pretty much where the mix needs to be now.

Cheers,
Doug

2.1 kicks ass! Good stuff. BTW, you were right about NLS as I was using it + the Console 1 which I've determined was double saturating and coloring, so I now use only 1 depending on the situation

[Digitaldruglord]

At the head of your mastering chain, insert a mastering level De-esser, I started using DMG Essence in my chain as of late and I think you may find usefulness in it also based on the calibur your work is already at.

Thanks for the tip, in my new mix I ended up doing just that and tweaked my de esser on the lead vocal track to make them a bit less piercing in the mix. I think this is pretty much where the mix needs to be now.

Cheers,
Doug

I have a next tip to explore. If you want to get a bit louder (though your current loudness is fine) you'll need 2 extra slots at the end of your mastering chain:

1) Sonimus Satson Channel - this is a gain control that you'll want to push up right before you start to see signs of red clipping, just make sure the boost doesn't hit the red light in this plugin. Your DAW levels at this point will reflect the actual volume boost, so this is where the next plugin comes in...

2) At the very end of your mastering chain, add Stillwell Audio's Event Horizon and place the switch in "clip" mode. Adjust the db ceiling until your DAW output meter is at -0.1db.

Now, you'll have maximum loudness using these last 2 plugs, that rival any hardware process. This is the last piece you're looking for, here you are

[Dangerous]

Listening to 2.1, something for me has had a negative impact of the vocals. They are sounding sort of phasey and modulated now and somewhat pushed back. Maybe something to do with the de esser that's employed, Not sure.

Dave

[dcp10200]

Listening to 2.1, something for me has had a negative impact of the vocals. They are sounding sort of phasey and modulated now and somewhat pushed back. Maybe something to do with the de esser that's employed, Not sure.

Dave

The vocals have a chorus on them, I pushed it up abit in 2.1. Probably abit too much but I like it.

Cheers, and thanks for the feedback,
Doug

[wesleyamltd]

Here's a quick mix and master of Atrophy

I honestly don't get where you were going with this mix. The bottom end is all but gone.

The mix sounds like things are centered and lack ambiance.

I have heard better from you. I was surprised.