6FW - Hope and the Sea - Updated

[Mixinthecloud]

I took a long time with this mix as my approached evolved. I found the key to this mix was the bass and the figures and effects he used. When I got the focus on that down, the rest of it came together more easily.

The drums took a lot of work and a lot of critical listening to get pans, levels, filters, etc just right. I ended up with a gate on the snare to widen and deepen it. The buss had The Glue, a M/S EQ and an in-line Oril River ambiance patch on it. I like the space it ended up in. I used all of the overheads and the chamber as well. Each lent character to the space.

The sax was a bit monotonous so I have a lot of dynamics automation through the tune on it. I used both mics panned full L/R and the bus has an 1176 on it and an API 550B.

The guitars were a mysterious lot. Very dark and I tried to keep them that way and used their tone to fill the open space in the mix nicely. At times they sound almost keyboard-ish (funny, you don't look keyboard-ish...).

The vocals were pretty easy. Just well filtered, Glued and shaped with an API 550B on the Lead vocal and BGV subs. Even with the amount of bleed on these tracks they required no muting or cleaning. The slight ambience they added was beneficial to my ears.

My first mixes had the drums dominating along with the sax, and that was the wrong approach. Once the bass came into focus I was able to drop the kit back, place the guitars and lay in the sax with the dynamic moves through the song. The vocals were static with some nice reverb to bring the spaces together.

-13.6 LUFS; 10.5 LU

Six Fox Whiskey - Hope and the Sea - Mix 5

As promised I made some mods to the voice and intermediate room as well as addressing the sax automation through the song. Took a few attempts to get where I wanted it to be.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hope you find it a worthy listen.

Thanks,
mITc

[sagalegin]

I like the ambience sounds big on my laptop not in the studio today. Like the sax want to give it a listen on my speakers so i can judge the bass/drums better. I think the vocals sit well plus the overall fx sounds good and gel everything together. Only critique is it's a little bright and could use a little warmth...but that's just a personal taste. Overall really good open mix. I'll give it another listen when i get back in the studio

[Mixinthecloud]

I like the ambience sounds big on my laptop not in the studio today. Like the sax want to give it a listen on my speakers so i can judge the bass/drums better. I think the vocals sit well plus the overall fx sounds good and gel everything together. Only critique is it's a little bright and could use a little warmth...but that's just a personal taste. Overall really good open mix. I'll give it another listen when i get back in the studio

Looking forward to your studio review.

[Thomas Mueller]

While it sounds very wide and open overall there might be too much fx especially on the sax, and it's not "glued together" very well. The sax seems also a bit drowned by the guitars in later parts. The vocals are ok but a bit thin in the low end.

[Mixinthecloud]

While it sounds very wide and open overall there might be too much fx and it's not "glued together" very well. The sax seems also a bit drowned by the guitars in later parts. The vocals are ok but a bit thin in the low end.

Oh boy. So much for my automation! The level of the sax goes up (and down, but mostly up) as the song progresses to add energy while the guitars stay static except for the 2 bar trades with the second guitar on the left at the end. I guess that's not working. It could be too much delay on the sax. I was trying out another of Mike's freebees. I was tempering the sax tone with a slap to place it in a unique space. I may have to temper my temper on that too. As for the vocals, could it be your horns striking again, Thomas?

Thanks for your time and comments.

[Thomas Mueller]

While it sounds very wide and open overall there might be too much fx and it's not "glued together" very well. The sax seems also a bit drowned by the guitars in later parts. The vocals are ok but a bit thin in the low end.

Oh boy. So much for my automation! The level of the sax goes up (and down, but mostly up) as the song progresses to add energy while the guitars stay static except for the 4 bar trades with the second guitar on the left at the end. I guess that's not working. It could be too much delay on the sax. I was trying out another of Mike's freebees. I was tempering the sax tone with a slap to place it in a unique space. I may have to temper my temper on that too. As for the vocals, could it be your horns striking again, Thomas?

Thanks for your time and comments.

I don't have problems with your overall vocal sound and this time they're not even too much in the top end as in other mixes so no, it's not "my horns striking again", it just could use more low end in my opinion.
And I get your idea with the automation, at the very end the sax is sitting well in the mix but the level changes are audible and it's a bit too low at some parts.

[Mixinthecloud]

I don't have problems with your overall vocal sound and this time they're not even too much in the top end as in other mixes so no, it's not "my horns striking again", it just could use more low end in my opinion.
And I get your idea with the automation, at the very end the sax is sitting well in the mix but the level changes are audible and it's a bit too low at some parts.
[/quote]

You make some valid points. The sax in the intro is to laid back. My idea there was to establish the bass in the user's ear then let the sax draw the proper attention in the phrases which follow. I think I may be too timid with it in the intro. I am tempted to put a long echo or a different room completely with the sax as it has not yet found it's best space yet and not fully glued.

The vocal is a different matter. My chain first has a stock Presonus ProEQ which is a six band with shelving top and bottom with 4 or 5 available slopes. It makes a great hi-pass filter and is graphically excellent. And it is very effective. I may substitute a Waves F6 to try and balance the bottom of his voice by his dynamics. It may just need some crunch.

I'll give these a try and come back with a new mix later.

Thanks for the input.

[Thomas Mueller]

I don't have problems with your overall vocal sound and this time they're not even too much in the top end as in other mixes so no, it's not "my horns striking again", it just could use more low end in my opinion.
And I get your idea with the automation, at the very end the sax is sitting well in the mix but the level changes are audible and it's a bit too low at some parts.

You make some valid points. The sax in the intro is to laid back. My idea there was to establish the bass in the user's ear then let the sax draw the proper attention in the phrases which follow. I think I may be too timid with it in the intro. I am tempted to put a long echo or a different room completely with the sax as it has not yet found it's best space yet and not fully glued.

The vocal is a different matter. My chain first has a stock Presonus ProEQ which is a six band with shelving top and bottom with 4 or 5 available slopes. It makes a great hi-pass filter and is graphically excellent. And it is very effective. I may substitute a Waves F6 to try and balance the bottom of his voice by his dynamics. It may just need some crunch.

I'll give these a try and come back with a new mix later.

Thanks for the input.
[/quote]
Yeah the presonus eqs are great i know them from the studiolive series, you can make a nice warm sound with them & they're very precise aswell.