06-08-2017, 12:03 PM (This post was last modified: 06-08-2017, 04:12 PM by OlafArty.)
A practice run to try out compression and see what it can do.
I started by hacking as much rubbish out of the stems as possible, with Audacity. Then I mixed in Reaper, running in Linux Wine and using just the Reaper plugins.
One exception was to use the Liquidsonics Reverberate plugin as I am not keen on the Reaverb sound.
I'm afraid it does not sound as loud as other folks examples: I've listened to too much easy listening and lift music.
[EDIT] Mastered adding an attached file. So that's what mastering is all about.
Although, originally, I started by removing noise and silencing supposedly quiet passages from the stems using Audacity (which is far easier and far more accurate than playing with DAW plugins), no amount of equalization would reveal much in the way of actual instruments and voices.
Mix 2 is using just Reaper plugins. I had to use sends to Reaverb because too many instances caused strange repetitive artifacts especially when loaded on the Master track. I am using three IRs downloaded from Cockos.
This time I used Reaper toys to add what was missing, namely Loser's Exciter, SSTillwell's HugeBooty (Kick and Bass) and a Tweedie Combo turned up to 11 for the guitars.
I used ReaDelay on the vocals with no feedback and a very short delay. The wet signal was backed off until the delay was not obvious. I used both the ReaVerb vocal room IR and a send to the generally used Wide Hall IR. Otherwise, the vocals appeared disconnected from the instruments.
I used the ReaVerb Drum Room IR on the drums (and the Wide Hall) which was really effective in bringing out the snare (from a combination of the snare track and the overheads track).
Finally, I liked how another mix in this thread had placed the piano, so I pushed the grand to the other side of the studio.
I listened to some more mixes and found others had discovered that the snare was fitted with a snare and the kick drum actually sounded like a kick drum.
I stripped out almost all of the enhancer plugins, any compressors that were not doing something useful, revised the EQ for a more natural sound and I moved the drums closer to the middle to get a much needed 3dB boost.
In the process, I discovered a new control on Reapers Master Track: The Stereo Width control, that I must have double-clicked to zero when I rendered Mix 2. Sorry!
I started with the drums to make sure I was getting the same slam from the kick and sizzle from the snare that other folk were getting. I did a lot of automation to get reasonable levels for the different parts of the arrangement (and to remove the odd unmusical clonker). I went for a natural balance for the instruments and vocal rather than a bright, forward, harsh sound, even though my mix is less 'impressive' as a result.
The nice bass tone solos well, but appears all to rarely through the mix. I admit defeat on this. Equalisation loses the bass line or the nature of the bass sound for me. I also moved the bass towards the centre for more power. However, I found the optimal pan setting for the bass surprisingly sensitive.
It is not as loud as other mixes, but sounds good on small speakers (Creative), modest headphones (Sennheiser) and monitors (Mackie). It also works in mono, but loses the air. The instruments tend to fight for prominence. It is a busy mix for mono
05-11-2017, 02:35 PM (This post was last modified: 05-11-2017, 02:37 PM by OlafArty.)
I've discovered lots about mixing since I produced Mix 3. One important lesson is that tracks and busses can be overloaded without any dreaded red lights appearing.
I normalise each stem to -2 dB, otherwise it is not possible to get some tracks to the best level. However, because the clip lights operate at the output of a track or buss, mixing several of these hot tracks together can overload the input by several dBs without any clip lights appearing.
I still normalise items to -2 dB, but put a gain stage at the beginning of the inserts of tracks and busses (JS: Volume Adjustment, in Reaper) and adjust the track/buss level to -20 dB down) with the fader set at 0 dB. If any plugins, such as saturation or drive, need more level to get into the zone, a little more level can be dialled in with Volume Adjustment. The track cannot overload because all the items are -2dB down. The busses can be checked for input overload using the input meter in the Volume Adjustment plugin.
This, my final mix, uses two techniques that are new to me.
1) Vocals are band split and exciters used in a mid band. The bands are panned slightly apart for a richer sound. The track is also passed (pre fader and effects) to an effect-free parallel bus. The two faders are juggled for the best overall effect.
2) The Master Buss is checked with a Spectrum Analyser and compared with the trace (a straight line slope) for pink noise. Differences in the angle of slope or kinks in the slope, itself, are corrected with a multi-band EQ. The final mix is then tweaked by testing with a pair of ears.
To me, it sounds like real people singing in front of a real drumkit, guitars, bass and keyboards. Mix three has a similar balance, but misses on clarity and definition.
