Facade - a new mix

[CJ Fuller]

Hi,

I really enjoyed this song - enough to want to remix it. I thought there was a good song hidden in there, but we all know the various issues plaguing the original recording - a weak kick and snare with lots of spill-over in all the drum tracks, and only one guitar recording put through multiple mics and cabinets, and one lead vocal, which makes getting the sort of width, depth and punch modern rock listeners expect a challenge.

Like many others, I've used drum triggers for sample replacement. I did feel that some other mixes here went a bit overboard with extremely punchy or artificial kicks or snares that would be more suited to EDM, hip hop or perhaps industrial music. I wanted them to still have somewhat of a live rock feel. I do use a mix of samples, for example snares hit both soft and hard, and set up my drum machine to blend them according to the velocity from the triggers.

The guitars, well it was tempting to crank up "old black" and overdub some punchy power chords for the chorus, but in the end I decided to take on the challenge of only using the recordings supplied. I'm fairly happy with the overall punch of the guitars when the chorus comes in. It's not Rammstein but then that mostly comes down to what was played originally. Getting the kick and bass guitar to mesh contributes a significant amount of punch.

For the chorus vocals, I used both chorus takes, cut and layered. One has a stereo widener and a touch of reverb to give width and a "backing vocal" effect, while the main vocal has been over-driven to give it some grit and distortion, which I personally feel fits the song really well.

Other than that, a lot of automation on faders and effects...

Thanks for listening and hope you like it!

[CJ Fuller]

Referring back to what I posted on "Jet B - Suit You" regarding mastering and online mastering services, here is exactly the same mix, this time put through Landr instead of my own in-house mastering process. As with all mastering, the differences become subtle, yet pronounced. I think this is something mix engineers need to be aware of... curious as to your own thoughts on this?

[Rob Sidhe]

Referring back to what I posted on "Jet B - Suit You" regarding mastering and online mastering services, here is exactly the same mix, this time put through Landr instead of my own in-house mastering process. As with all mastering, the differences become subtle, yet pronounced. I think this is something mix engineers need to be aware of... curious as to your own thoughts on this?

Hi CJ, I listen to both versions and I think Landr Mastering sound different than your, especially at the high frequencies and a little bit in the overall compression, but not much better; Though I note that Landr fixed that kind of "flanging" effect on the guitars.

Did you use a reverb with a long pre-delay time on vocals? I really like it!

[CJ Fuller]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback.

As far as the vocals, are you talking about the "aahhh aaaahhhaaahaa" bit? I actually cut up the vocal manually and layered it over several tracks, with slightly different processing on each one, to get that build up effect it has.

But lets see, I just loaded up the track. Hmm. There is an overall reverb buss, which as a 42ms pre-delay. Some % of both the verse and chorus vox are send to this. There's also a separate reverb and delay on the chorus - quarter note delay, and a "large room" reverb, both pretty wet. The chorus then has a separate layer on another track, which applies a fair bit of tube distortion and compression, to get that raw, gritty, powerful sound. Hmmm... a % of the verse track is also going through this distortion track, but its less noticeable because its just a send, whereas the chorus is actually double tracked so it sounds fatter.

BTW, the distorted track has no reverb or delay at all, so we get upfront grunt, backed by something cleaner but roomier.

There, now you know all my secrets...

[jbruce]

Thanks for sharing the mix, CJ (yes, realize this was a while ago, but I just mixed it myself so I'm listening to other mixes now). Good width, and I like the production decisions except possibly for the final "Do what you need..." at the very end (mixed feelings, maybe because the reverb/delay is cut off at the end?). The vocals feel a little loud to me in the choruses, almost like it pushes the instruments down quieter, maybe could come down a couple dB? Nice, clear mix.

As for the Landr master, the high end is definitely tamed more. That's what I noticed the most.

I went with a different, in-your-face hard rock feel for my own mix, but that's a matter of taste. Give the same track to 10 different people and you'll certainly get 10 different mixes! Thanks for sharing yours!

[CJ Fuller]

Thanks for sharing the mix, CJ (yes, realize this was a while ago, but I just mixed it myself so I'm listening to other mixes now). Good width, and I like the production decisions except possibly for the final "Do what you need..." at the very end (mixed feelings, maybe because the reverb/delay is cut off at the end?).

Hi,

Thanks for the positive feedback.

The reverb tail being cut of at the end was one of those stupid things I never really noticed, and now you point it out it is blindingly obvious to me - like, damn, how did that slip through?!?

Definitely something to fix. I could probably get better drums as well.