Arise and Run! The Metallurgist's dope mix.

[The_Metallurgist]

normally, forum projects contain far too much content. this is one of the rare one's that is pretty minimalist, to say the least. that's not a complaint because it presented an opportunity to make use of all that available space.....

....and so i did.

[Voelund]

What a fine production. It sounds both clear, full and interesting and stood the iphone test. All I can listen on at mo ...
Those delays are feel good makers. I wonder did you sample tge best stick hit and put it in a sampler ? I dont remember it to be so goodsoundin all hits
Very good work. Must admit first mixes I heard of yours I didnt understand/like OR you just got much much better at it.
Look forward to hear this when I get home, unfirtunately that doesnt pay the bills as giggin does

[Voelund]

The delays remind me of Daniel Lanois work on Neil Young record. Google it. Youll love it

[marco]

Good one to my ears!
I like the way you intended to use those spaces, and did it properly to me. Can hear lots of personality in the mix, without having that to move my attention away from the song, great goal! I'm starting to understand how movement could be created in this kind of songs, so I even learnt something from it. Sounds balanced too to my ears.
If i have to mention something that maybe could be better to me, is a little more body on vocals. Maybe a bit less high frequency on bass too, not sure 'bout that.

Appreciated your work much

Marco

[The_Metallurgist]

What a fine production. It sounds both clear, full and interesting and stood the iphone test. All I can listen on at mo ...

my wish is that it stands up to your Dyno's as well, then i'll be a really happy bunny.

Those delays are feel good makers.

A lot of love went into those, glad you liked them.

I wonder did you sample tge best stick hit and put it in a sampler ? I dont remember it to be so goodsoundin all hits

i didn't sample it, but i did take some care working it. i messed around with an EMT140 emu on the insert (after some selective EQ from the Cambridge), which gave it a slightly longer decay and a bit more drama. i felt the need to make the rim hits stand out to help accent the beat. i also dropped a gate on it to clear out some irrelevant material that was cluttering it up in some places.

i would like to have dropped a kick into the mix but my sample library wasn't to hand so i made do with the original. there's always something we can do further..... but when to stop?

Very good work. Must admit first mixes I heard of yours I didnt understand/like OR you just got much much better at it.
Look forward to hear this when I get home, unfirtunately that doesnt pay the bills as giggin does

hope the gig went ok...that's a tough way to pay bills dude. respect.

some of the earlier mixes blew hot and cold (and some of the later ones can be challenging to some tastes, especially the traditionalists), but i think a lot of it depends on how weird and "less mainstream" i allow myself to go.

one of the great advantages of the forum is the opportunity to explore our inner "thing" without being accountable to anyone, including ourselves? i try to think out-of-the-box and push my own comfort zones, so i can understand, and sympathise with your opinion - thanks for your honesty. i've not always liked the outcome....but sometimes you just gotta do what you just gotta do, eh? i think the recent Howlin' song was a major push into an alternative direction which got quite radical. i struggled with the original arrangement and questioned a lot of the content's value and worth in delivering the emotion in the lyric and pushed hard to get transitions working and to create tension.....and release by deleting what i felt was irrelevant material and a distraction, and muting the other stuff which started too early, or went on too long etc. I must give those guys some feedback! i can get lost in this forum!!!

the Arise song had something i can't explain. so i spent a lot of time on this one, and the automation and care with the EQ to make the space for everything was pretty intense. i took 12 mixing days (half-an-hour to 4 or 5 hours in a day, depending on my schedule) spread over 4 weeks. the baritone came as a consequence of feeling the vision was lacking something, then out popped the idea, for example. the biggest challenge was to stop all the delays from crashing into each other and while retaining clarity. working FX can really add a lot of time to the mixing process.....and this is perhaps one of the most demanding mixes i've ever created.

should one go with intuition and it's creative subconscious guidance? or should one question it with logic and rationale and miss opportunities for potential exploration and new ideas? without risk there are no rewards...

but i've changed my approach to mixing since being in the forum, and i think the opportunity to explore has had some impact. it's guys like you and other "Forum Warriors" who've been invaluable in contributing to The Process.

i took a cruise over the weekend through some of the other threads of Arise and found yours. there was some fantastic discussion going on, especially from Sergio about "traditional reggae". and it was interesting to hear how your mix took shape (for the better, in my opinion) because of it, but without losing the Voelund touch we are all lovingly familiar with!

[The_Metallurgist]

The delays remind me of Daniel Lanois work on Neil Young record. Google it. Youll love it

there's a super clip where DL is talking about the process of Le Noise and his views on reverb and sound in general - fascinating! so i'm on the hunt for a DVD of this (192/24). i was also interested to read that DL produced U2's The Joshua Tree, an album which impressed me at the time. i must do some more research...and engage my ears!

great tip! and you're right...I LOVE IT!!!

[Voelund]

Another little record from DL's hands are called "So" by a guy once the singer in a british band called Genesis. Not bad music in my opinion

Thank you for that stick explanation.
Real life has some many things goin on so I havent gotten to listen it on the dynos. Yet
Strugglin to learn 2 great songs for a funeral this friday. Hearts slone and a danish guy tim christensen love is a loosers game. Really good songs I didnt play or sing but Was asked to sing in the church.

I'll be back. Soon I hope

[Voelund]

And thx for the kind words about my mixes. I remember that thread. And even though it makes me look like an idiot, not that far from the truth, I dont delere threads as my old man used to say: nothin is completely useles. It can always serve as a bad example.

Lots of work you put into that mix. I like to do that if time permits and the mix ask for it.
Some take ages others come together real quick.

[juanjose1967]

this is one of my favorite songs available here to mix, but you've taken it to a superior level now. I admire the use of the delays and reverbs just with the right measure! I always think that they're too low or too loud in my mixes, so I still have to work on that. Great job, Dave!

I can't resist and I'm going to listen the mix again

[pauli]

Hey Dave, sorry for the late response on this one... a friend needed some original music for a short film project, I agreed... and then found out I had 10 days to compose, arrange, record and produce it. I've been busy!

What to say about this mix... honestly, I love it. There are too many extremely satisfying sounds and textures here for me to go in depth on every single one, but I'll highlight a few that I think are benchmark quality from your work here on the forum. The syncopated organ going on here is what makes this mix so engaging for me, because it's thick, fat, and utterly believable... and it sits in the mix just perfectly. My ears are saying there's some sort of analog or simulated analog EQ fattening things up? And tape saturation makes a lot of sense knowing you... maybe some parallel compression, too? I must know.

Have to agree with Niells on the rim shots, too. Been a long time and a lot of learning since I worked this one, but memory says the rim shots were pretty thin and inconsistent. Of course that sound is absolutely paramount to the genre, and a minimalist recording hasn't the time or the strength for sounds that are less than superior, so your care there is appreciated. The slightly subdued nature of the vocal and guitar- the way you've favored the rhythm, bounce, and most crucially the jive over other elements- probably would irk a modern record exec, since they all seem to think that the vocal should always take priority over everything in all circumstances... it's very refreshing, 100% appropriate, and it sounds so damn good. This production would sell, mate.

As for criticisms, on a technical, mix level, I really don't have anything. Clarity, balance, excellent give and take between separation and blend... it's all there. My primary concern/quibble is in the layering and textures filling the empty spaces in the mix. They're absolutely beautiful, obscure nothing, and it's total ear candy... but in my humble some of those elements are a little misplaced. Now this could be my interpretation of the tune and the band's intentions, but I feel like the short transition sections (there really isn't a chorus in the normal sense) should be a bit fuller. I'm talking about the bits when they go back and forth from the major fourth and dominant fifth (they take it awayaayy)... but the texture drops out in those spots completely and it leaves me wanting a bit, and I think it isn't helping the musical tension toward resolution that is the harmonic function of a IV V progression. For my taste and the way so song is pulling my strings, I'd say the textures, delays and effects introduced in all their splendor in the very first verse (or Part A, or whatever you want to call it) is playing your aces a bit too early, and the fullness of Verse 1 to the sparseness of Transition 1 (Part B) isn't serving the emotion quite as well as it could. Is it awesome? Yes. Could you sacrifice a bit of awesome in the beginning so as to allow more impact/emotional interest further on? In my opinion, yes, or at least worth exploring.

But I say that with sincere respect and I'm still really impressed. I've noticed the development of your mixing style.. almost want to call it maturation, but as young as I am to this art that may not be appropriate. If this is the product of that development, then keep going. I'd be more than willing to part with some of my hard earned cash for music like this. From my multiple perspectives as a musician, recordist, mix engineer, and listener, this is excellent. Lots of feels, right here in the chest. Keep doing this.