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Four Graham Mix and Drum Rework
#1
Lately I've been trying my hand at drum programming and working inside of EZDrummer for fun, this track for me always was a challenge due to the drums that come with the multis, they don't have the impact needed for Pop Punk and kind of dull. With this mix I programmed out the drums and added my own twists to them, I'd doubt in the real world I could be this liberal with a production choice without asking the band this is sandbox kind of site however and it was fun adding some little flair bits! This is my first mix of the track so there are some things that need to be addressed, I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Cheers,
Doug

Update: I changed the kick I used in EZDrummer to something more snappy and lighter sounding than I was using and worked more to try and balance out the vocals and guitars.


.mp3    Four Graham Mix 1.mp3 --  (Download: 3.7 MB)


.mp3    Four Graham Mix 2.mp3 --  (Download: 3.78 MB)


Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We do it because we love music! It’s the love of music first. Eddie Kramer

Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6
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#2
(16-07-2017, 07:34 PM)dcp10200 Wrote: Lately I've been trying my hand at drum programming and working inside of EZDrummer for fun, this track for me always was a challenge due to the drums that come with the multis, they don't have the impact needed for Pop Punk and kind of dull.

Cheers,
Doug

I like the programmed drums better than the original only because its a cleaner performance. That said, they should sit in the mix better. This mix is all vocals and drums, yeah I hear the rest of the elements of the song but they seem more like afterthoughts.
The kick is a metal sound and I think its out of place in this genre.
I like the effort overall.
My Original Music

"One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment."

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#3
(16-07-2017, 08:52 PM)wesleyamltd Wrote:
(16-07-2017, 07:34 PM)dcp10200 Wrote: Lately I've been trying my hand at drum programming and working inside of EZDrummer for fun, this track for me always was a challenge due to the drums that come with the multis, they don't have the impact needed for Pop Punk and kind of dull.

Cheers,
Doug

I like the programmed drums better than the original only because its a cleaner performance. That said, they should sit in the mix better. This mix is all vocals and drums, yeah I hear the rest of the elements of the song but they seem more like afterthoughts.
The kick is a metal sound and I think its out of place in this genre.
I like the effort overall.

Thanks for the comments, I literally just finished mixing this and after listening in the car I came to basically the same conclusions, the kick I disagree with you on however considering most pop punk these days offen crosses over with metalcore and some hardcore (bands like A Day to Remember, Chunk! No Captain Chunk, Four Year Strong, Knuckle Puck, ect) and in general they have a modern sounding, more clicky sound to the drums.

I'm going to work this later on but this was mostly an experiment anyway, I really spent most of my time programming and not much as normal on mixing so "mistakes were made".

Cheers,
Doug
Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We do it because we love music! It’s the love of music first. Eddie Kramer

Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6
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#4
Hey Doug ,Love the programmed Drums they really bring the song to life.
The vocals maybe a touch full in the mid bass area !
I think just a matter of some radical eq with the instruments and vocals to bring them into the same sonic space and clarity of the of the awesome drums .
Some things that come to mind while having a listen is some minor eq tweeks like taming around 2.5 and 5 k on the cymbals and kick and boost the electric guitars in that area ect .

Well Done !


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#5
(17-07-2017, 11:22 AM)thedon Wrote: Hey Doug ,Love the programmed Drums they really bring the song to life.
The vocals maybe a touch full in the mid bass area !
I think just a matter of some radical eq with the instruments and vocals to bring them into the same sonic space and clarity of the of the awesome drums .
Some things that come to mind while having a listen is some minor eq tweeks like taming around 2.5 and 5 k on the cymbals and kick and boost the electric guitars in that area ect .

Well Done !

Thanks Don, I'll be honest and say the first mix I made is pretty bad, the balance is pretty poor and it has way too much reverb on it (especially noticeable on the guitars). It was mostly made as an experiment but I really should have checked it before I uploaded it Big Grin. This mix made from the ground up and this time I tried to get things and even as possible (the raw vocals are actually worse than I remembered them being, seems like it was a cheap condenser mic recorded with not enough gain on the preamp and the performance was comped from alot of inconsistent takes), this should be closer to a semi competent mix haha!

Cheers,
Doug
Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We do it because we love music! It’s the love of music first. Eddie Kramer

Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6
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#6
Good, solid sound and I like that.

I'm not sure I like the way you've done the balance though. Interesting choice on the guitar hook. My direction was to try to fatten that and bring it up as much as tolerable to really make the transition. Not going to say this can't work but it sounds a tad anti-climactic. Maybe make them ring out a little more, like bell tones?

Nice job on the vocal. That was definitely a challenge in this one.
Old West Audio
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#7


I'm going to work this later on but this was mostly an experiment anyway, I really spent most of my time programming and not much as normal on mixing so "mistakes were made".

Cheers,
Doug

[/quote]

That's cool, I'm familiar with those bands and I agree to an extent. What I'm saying is that the click of the kick shouldn't be the prevailing force of the kick drum. There should be (imo) a nice warm bottom pushing the groove not the click. But it really comes down to what the other instruments are doing, the tunings and where the bass is occupying.

I respect the fact you stand behind your work because in the end this is a representation of you taste on this song. That's what makes this site so great is being able to hear how other engineers interpret the same material.

I look forward to hearing the remixed version.

Cheers.
My Original Music

"One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment."

Pro Tools 12.6/Studio One 3 Pro
Studiolive 16 Series III
Yamaha HS5/HS8
Console 1
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