Pedaling Prince Mix: Skelpolu - Together Alone

[Pedaling Prince]

I've been looking forward to seeing more work from Skelpolu on here. In fact, that's one of the reasons I've avoided listening to his EP. When I go into a mix I prefer to go in with minimal preconceived notions about how the song is supposed to sound; since he's apparently planning to post the multitracks from his entire EP here I think I'll wait 'til I have done my own versions of all his tracks and then go and listen to how he did them.

This one, however, I have already heard; Skeloplu kindly provided it for use in this video:

http://youtu.be/rLD8X1nTMLY

So this one I knew exactly what the original sounded like. That being said, one thing I didn't like about his original mix was he kept the vocals rather deep in the background (something that seems common with the work I've heard from him thus far). I wanted to give them more prominence so in my mix here I did. Also, since this is "Drum & Bass," I, of course, amped the bajeebles out of the bass here (you know how I love bass ). Better make sure your speaker stands are secure; if they're not, chances are this mix'll rattle 'em to the floor...

So. Anyone want to weigh in on this one?

I'll review the other mixes of this some time this week. I should have plenty of time; I'm Canadian working for an American company so I get both July 1st and 4th off, the former being particularly nice since it's my birthday as well as Canada's. Mind you, I'm not as old as the country... I'm 42 today.

[Skelpolu]

Hey John,
Happy Birthday first of all, it's a pity I couldn't tell you in person. :/
In any case, I do notice that the drums are well mixed along the bass, though the kick could use a bit more upper frequencies & a dB or two.
Aside from that, the Piano as well as the guitar are really rich in the highs - It's not annoying by any meaning, but I thought it'd be worth pointing that out.
In any case, I'Ve also noticed one thing: You seem to ignore opportunities for additional effects on this track.
For instance, there's a transition at 2:56 which you left open - If you liked the sound as is, then I've never said anything. Personally, I would have put a little highpass-filter on the drums and gradually let the frequencies come together until the big bang! But again, whatever floats your boat, and I didn't expect a non-filter-version to have an impact even before the "big-bang", so to speak - Great job on that.

In any case, in mono, I find that the guitar sounds a bit too thin to be honest - The piano is alright due to support by the bass, though I really missed the guitar, as well as the strings.

Overall, great mix! Anything said are only personal preferences, keep it up man!


P.S: Hope you celebrated your Birthday well!

[Pedaling Prince]

Happy Birthday first of all, it's a pity I couldn't tell you in person. :/

Yeah, sorry about that. I've been busier than a one-armed paperhanger (as Annie Wilkes would say ) getting ready for a trip to New Brunswick on July 11.

I do notice that the drums are well mixed along the bass, though the kick could use a bit more upper frequencies & a dB or two.

Done.

[T]he Piano as well as the guitar are really rich in the highs - It's not annoying by any meaning, but I thought it'd be worth pointing that out.

OK. Since this seems to be more of a surprise than a problem for you I'll leave that alone.

I'Ve also noticed one thing: You seem to ignore opportunities for additional effects on this track.
For instance, there's a transition at 2:56 which you left open - If you liked the sound as is, then I've never said anything. Personally, I would have put a little highpass-filter on the drums and gradually let the frequencies come together until the big bang!

Which would take advantage of the wider dynamic range of my mixes. Good idea. I don't have the ability to automate a hipass but I can automate EQ. I've never done it before as my approach to mixing is generally to minimize on EQ in the first place, but I've always been aware of the ability in GarageBand and this gives me a good opportunity to try it out. So I pulled all the bass, low mid and high mid frequencies out of the drums at that point and slowly faded them back up until the "big bang."

[I]n mono, I find that the guitar sounds a bit too thin to be honest - The piano is alright due to support by the bass, though I really missed the guitar, as well as the strings.

OK. I like a sharper acoustic guitar sound myself and found the original tracks a little low-mid heavy for my taste. Perhaps I overcompensated, though; I dialed back on the EQ on those and brought them up in overall level to compensate for the less prominent high frequencies.

So what do you think of my revised version here?

P.S: Hope you celebrated your Birthday well!

Thanks. I was relatively low-key but I did get out to a movie (Maleficent) with my sweetie and had a couple beers with my best friend so I'd say it was a good day.