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Siren extended mix
#1
Hi!

some times ago, Georgia Wonder asked for mixes of their track, and I had a go at it. I actually made a kind of extended mix, so this could feel too long to some, but I liked the song, so I didn't mind making it last longer :-)
I submitted the mix to the band who linked to it on its web page. The original mixer told me he'd have liked more reverb overall, but I guess it's a matter of taste.
Here's the SoundCloud link if you just wanna listen quickly.
http://soundcloud.com/dbstudio/siren-db-studio-mix
I also attach a 320 kpbs mp3 to the post.

Shoot!

Regards
Eric


.mp3    Siren_dBS.mp3 --  (Download: 16.02 MB)


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#2
Hi drbob1970, and welcome to the Discussion Zone! I can see why the band liked your mix, because you've given it more separation than theirs had, drawing out lots of the nice backing details at different points in the mix (the choruses and middle section in particular) so that the production becomes a more engaging listen overall to my ears. This implies to me that there's a certain amount of sensitive editing, EQ, and/or automation work going on, and those are all very relevant when you're trying to bring the best out of productions like this, in my view. So good work there!

I like the way you've given the prechorus more backing vocals, which gives a nice definite change of sound there, but it seems a shame that the 'aah' backing vocals don't get very much prominence, as the way they arrive at the top of the choruses always seemed to me to be one of the stronger assets of the preview mix. However, in your defense, the fact that I can therefore hear more nice details of the synth rhythm parts and guitar lines goes a good way towards compensating for that.

The basic beat sound feels a little muted for my tastes, so I'd recommend a few decibels of 100Hz and 1kHz there to harden things up and give the kick in particular more of a subjective sense of weight. You've done a great job with the bottom two octaves, so don't tamper with those -- it's not real low-end welly that feels lacking, but rather an illusion of low-end welly for those listening on smaller speakers. I also wonder whether you need to work a bit more carefully with the 4-8kHz zone on your percussion and vocal parts in particular, because there's a strain of over-harshness in there that makes high-volume playback a little less appealing than I think it could be. De-essing the vocals more astringently might well be part of the solution there, but I suspect that the hi-hats may well benefit from some judicious notching too.

Other than that, the main thing that I wonder is whether the contrast between the beat and some of the other elements could be starker. Take the first verse, for example. The synth pad might feasibly be thinned out and widened, and the vocal has plenty of room for some suggestion of trippy delay/verb patch. And does the snare need a reverb there? By drying it up you not only keep the beat punchier, but you also put the other parts at a different depth position to the beat and allow the possibility for adding a reverb later on to fill out a lusher section of the arrangement, such as the choruses. In principle there's nothing wrong with any of these parts as they're treated at the moment, but they just make me feel like I'm viewing the whole track through a sepia lens rather than in glorious 3D technicolour. (I'm grossly exaggerating, obviously, but hopefully you get my drift.) The more you contrast your parts, the more the arrangement will tend to come alive, in my experience, so don't be afraid to give free rein to your more creative impulses if it throws all the parts into better relief.

Quote:The original mixer told me he'd have liked more reverb overall, but I guess it's a matter of taste.

I think that the contrast issue might well be a way to square that particular circle, because if you kept the beat nice and tight most of the time, that would leave a lot more scope for epic delay/reverb 'feature' effects on some of the other parts to really leap out at the listener, and would also serve to enhance those effects by nature of the contrast.

Hope some of that helps!
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#3
Thanks a lot Mike, this is definitely very useful.

Best regards,
Eric
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#4
super cool !!!
a bit to much in the bass ;-)
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