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Starnes & Shah: 'Prodigal Son'
#1
G'day good people,

I've been out of action for awhile and thought this would be a good track to "dip my toes into the water again" and mix. First mix of 2019! yay.

Nothing fancy, no arrangement changes, just a straight forward mix. Went for a mellower tone focusing mainly on the vocals. I struggled a little with harsh tones within the vocals that seemed to become present with the more processing I did. So based on that I kept things pretty light.

Comments welcome, thanks for listening


.mp3    StarnesAndShah_Prodigal_Dangerous#1.mp3 --  (Download: 7.43 MB)


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#2
sounds good! i'd say it's a bit risky panning vocals off-center/asymmetrically. they tend to draw attention no matter how well you counter balance them with other instruments. but the mix sounds very good and to my ears there's nothing wrong with it. ^_^
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#3
No showoff mix, just letting the tune be, as it should! Drums might lack some excitement (the snare fill before the first chorus), but for the most part your approach to them lets the tune flow natural and let space for the guitars, besides it has a vintage touch that I'm partial to.

Such pristine guitars! The arrangement in the choruses (first with the high triads and then with the fuller chords) is so smooth, waterlike... What's in Guitar 1, did you reamp the DI? It has a solid lowend humbucker quality I don't recall being in the raw tracks.
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#4
Sounds great. I like the panned vocal. It might be able to come up more though. I kinda want something else up in the center. Maybe the 2nd (or 3rd?) guitar in the chorus.
I like the guitar sounds and would like to know what you did to it as well. When we did this record we DI'd all the guitar parts and had a lot to learn about getting tones and amp sounds using Logic's amp designer and was never really happy with the results. I'd like learn more about what people do.
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#5
(07-04-2019, 02:11 PM)kapu Wrote: sounds good! i'd say it's a bit risky panning vocals off-center/asymmetrically. they tend to draw attention no matter how well you counter balance them with other instruments. but the mix sounds very good and to my ears there's nothing wrong with it. ^_^

Risky it is! I remember thinking that at the time, but for me it allowed me to showcase the backing Vox 1 in it's own light even with it was off to one side. It was so nicely sung and tight with the main vox, I felt it kinda worked. I'm pleased you liked the mix. Thank you.
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#6
(08-04-2019, 04:21 PM)Deliza Wrote: No showoff mix, just letting the tune be, as it should! Drums might lack some excitement (the snare fill before the first chorus), but for the most part your approach to them lets the tune flow natural and let space for the guitars, besides it has a vintage touch that I'm partial to.

Such pristine guitars! The arrangement in the choruses (first with the high triads and then with the fuller chords) is so smooth, waterlike... What's in Guitar 1, did you reamp the DI? It has a solid lowend humbucker quality I don't recall being in the raw tracks.

Hi Deliza,
Thanks for your comments. I actually tried to push the drums back a bit. Basically ran with the overhead track and rolled off some hi end with a high shelf and added a hall type reverb. So there went any excitement that was ever present. Reflecting on this and your comments, some automation throughout the song would be beneficial.
I think you'll be disappointed with my guitar processing trickery though. I'll reviel more with Roys response.

Thanks again.Big Grin
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#7
(08-04-2019, 07:13 PM)RoyMatthews Wrote: Sounds great. I like the panned vocal. It might be able to come up more though. I kinda want something else up in the center. Maybe the 2nd (or 3rd?) guitar in the chorus.
I like the guitar sounds and would like to know what you did to it as well. When we did this record we DI'd all the guitar parts and had a lot to learn about getting tones and amp sounds using Logic's amp designer and was never really happy with the results. I'd like learn more about what people do.

I'm pleased you approve Roy. I did have the panned vocal a little louder initially but backed it off after a headphone listen. I felt it was stealing too much of the show in regards to the main vocal part.

As for the guitars well. I first re-amped them out into the real world one at a time placing a monitor at the bottom of a bell tower at our local church and hanging a mic from the top. Not Really! Actually I reckon that would sound somewhat hideous. Tongue
To be honest, my processing is going to disappoint you. For Gtr1 & Gtr2 all I have done is invert the phase of that channel against the Gtr DI channel. I have a High pass and low mid scoop eq on the main channel but no processing on the DI with their fader levels almost at their default levels. See Attached screen shots. I'm a lazy mixer. If I don't have to touch it, I won't.
So I guess all the credit goes to your good self Roy. A nicely recorded piece. Well Done and thank you for the contribution. Big Grin

Dave


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#8
(09-04-2019, 10:28 AM)Dangerous Wrote: ...
To be honest, my processing is going to disappoint you. For Gtr1 & Gtr2 all I have done is invert the phase of that channel against the Gtr DI channel. I have a High pass and low mid scoop eq on the main channel but no processing on the DI with their fader levels almost at their default levels. See Attached screen shots. I'm a lazy mixer. If I don't have to touch it, I won't.
...
Ha. I'm not disappointed at all. The phase reversal is an interesting idea. And that reminds me, why doesn't every DAW have a dedicated have reversal button? And I like how that EQ shows you the closest note to the frequency you're eq-ing.

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#9
Yep, simple means ain't any less inspiring. I'll download the tracks again so to try that trick.
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#10
(09-04-2019, 01:12 PM)RoyMatthews Wrote: Ha. I'm not disappointed at all. The phase reversal is an interesting idea. And that reminds me, why doesn't every DAW have a dedicated have reversal button? And I like how that EQ shows you the closest note to the frequency you're eq-ing.

Yes, I'm a big fan of the phase button. I'm in the habit now days of flicking it in and out when making tonal changes to a track or tracks. Very useful.
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