I was thrilled that this one was from analog tape and only 7 tracks! It fits in perfectly with my "old-school" way of doing things. The main problem I encountered here was with the bass: it was recorded like s__t! Sorry to say. I'm considering raising the bass slightly and lowering the guitars slightly, but I'm happy with things the way they are.
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT AND CRITIQUE (CONSTRUCTIVELY) AS YOU SEE FIT!
Not a bad go at this, stu. Rather than go into the nitty gritty details like we did before, I'll just point out a few general things I notice... Overall the mix is a pretty thin... The guitars I think would be thundering if they were getting enough low end support from the bass guitar, but as it stands they sound pretty weak, since you've scooped the low end quite appropriately. You're having a hard time getting the bass loud enough because the dynamic range is very wide in the raw tracks, I imagine, and you'll probably need two or three compressors in series to get it where it is nice and even.
Everything else sounds pretty good to me, really, though the guitars and Hammond are disagreeing with the vocals quite a bit. Shouldn't be too tricky to fix when you hear what I'm talking about.
Get that bass where it needs to be and you'll inevitably run into a few other problems, but you're definitely off to a good start.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
I agree with Pauli completely here. However, I personally don't think the bass is that bad; it did need some compression I'll admit but a single compressor, with perhaps a little more aggressive settings than I usually use, was sufficient. Check out my mix. Like the sound? My compression settings on it were threshold, -23 dB, ratio 20:1, attack 10 ms, makeup gain 4 dB. EQ settings, 1 dB boost at 80 Hz, -5 dB cut at 8300 Hz. I also used an amp simulator to simulate the warm distortion of a 70s bass amp.
Your last mix, Voelund's "Comfort Lives in Belief," exhibited the same problem as this one: almost no bass presence at all. That's why your mixes tend to come out "thin," I think. You definitely have a gift for creating an involving and interesting stereo image, though; once again I love the panning you did on the guitars here and you got the congas sounding pretty wizard. However, even though you don't like the sound of it much, I think you have to kick up that bass quite a bit to get that weight back, and I'd give a good solid boost around 80 Hz, and maybe a bit of a cut around 400 Hz, to the kick drum as well; the raw recording was a little thin.
wow, 20:1 is bordering on using a limiter I don't remember the specifics but I think I used a compressor running around 10:1 to aggressively bring down the really high peaks followed by another one with something like 1.6:1 with a very round knee, and the attack and release were set so they it was hovering around the knee, to even it out a bit. that's a strategy I've been using more lately after many have suggested it, and I find it helps make the compression a bit more transparent... but a 20:1 ratio did the trick, and if it SOUNDS good, it IS good That's what I love about mixing... there are no right or wrong answers if it makes you feel good.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
05-05-2014, 10:04 PM (This post was last modified: 06-05-2014, 12:03 AM by Stu.)
OK. Here's the next shot:
-re eq'd and changed the compression on the bass
-added some compression and raised the level slightly on the bass drum
-used a touch of HC on the bus eq
-changed the reverb a bit
(04-05-2014, 01:16 AM)pauli Wrote: wow, 20:1 is bordering on using a limiter
Yes. A tactic I tend to avoid whenever possible. However, I am not averse to using compressors and limiters on individual tracks in a mix when they're called for; it's on the final mastering of a track that I flatly refuse to use any compression or limiting.
(04-05-2014, 01:16 AM)pauli Wrote: That's what I love about mixing... there are no right or wrong answers if it makes you feel good.
Probably one of the greatest universal truths about any art form, really. It's like juanjose1967 who always manages to make tracks mastered with compression and limiting sound good somehow. It's not a technique I generally approve of, but when something works I don't question it. Obviously he knows how to use a compressor in a transparent way, and I respect him for that. I've told him on more than one occasion if I ever find myself in a position of having to "master" one of my recordings to fall within a particular volume range I'll likely be seeking him out to do the mastering job as he's the only person I've met on here so far whose judgement I would trust applying compression to one of my "babies."
(05-05-2014, 10:04 PM)Stu Wrote: OK. Go for it...LET ME HAVE IT!
Can't. There's not enough to complain about here; this is damn good!
The only remaining problem, stubbornly, is that pesky lack of low end weight. The kick drum beater sounds like it's smacking drywall instead of a drum, and there's no fullness to the bass at all.
May I suggest the following EQ settings?
Kick Drum: 9 dB boost at 80 Hz, -6 dB cut at 405 Hz
Bass: 1 dB boost at 80 Hz, -6 dB cut at 8300 Hz
Maybe add a little amp distortion to the bass, too. Also, the bass needs some compression to even it out. Check out the compression approaches described by both Pauli and myself as we applied them to this track; either approach should get you a good sound.
But that lack of bass presence is the only problem left. Other than that, love the sound! Nice open reverbs on the guitars; sounds excellent!
Out of curiosity, what are you using for the bass eq, and what are you using for the bass compressor, or in your case, limiter? As you know, each compressor/limiter will react differently, even with identical settings. Before I sent the second mix, I played with a few different compressors. I also thought that some distortion on the bass might be a good idea.
(06-05-2014, 01:58 AM)Stu Wrote: Out of curiosity, what are you using for the bass eq, and what are you using for the bass compressor, or in your case, limiter? As you know, each compressor/limiter will react differently, even with identical settings.
For this particular mix, just the stock ones that are built into GarageBand. In most cases, I find them adequate to the tasks I put to them, but I have found the AU Dynamics Processor useful for more demanding tasks.
Melda Productions has an outstanding bundle of free VSTs, EQ, modulation, compression, analyzers, pretty much everything you need.... MCompressor and MEqualizer both have really good graphic analyzers that give you a hi-res visualization of how your processing is affecting the sound, which I find helps tremendously when you're aiming to stay objective. What's even better is that they both can apply processing to standard stereo, left, right, mid, or sides, depending on what you want... so you could use the equalizer in side mode to low cut the side channels and focus the bass information in the center of the stereo image... I highly recommend you give those a try, Stu.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
It fits in perfectly with my "old-school" way of doing things. The main problem I encountered here was with the bass: it was recorded like s__t! 
Sorry to say. I'm considering raising the bass slightly and lowering the guitars slightly, but I'm happy with things the way they are.
That's what I love about mixing... there are no right or wrong answers if it makes you feel good.