My version of this nice song.
I tried to keep the sound smooth, warm and intimate. I wanted the mix to have troubadour feeling.
It was very difficult to me, and I have a feeling, that it's not yet ready. Something is bothering me but I can't pinpoint what it is, so that I could try to fix it. Maybe I'll mix some other song first, and then I'll listen this again.
I had a listen and dont know what to suggest ... Balance is great, sound is a little dark but as you may know I like that :-) Could be its a matter of space and debth ? The clarinet for instance could be further behind with some early reflections. This type of music is often best when you aim for an illusion of a great stereo recordin, without audible compression, eq or anythin. For instance some deep bass double bass notes wanted attention - maybe back off if youre boostin and compressin.
In my opinion that is.
Sound like a good idea to sleep on it for a day or 2.
THanks for listening.
I probably do a new version with different kind of bass. First I tried to do a natural version, then I went for a weird sounding bass by imitating Stings "Moon Over Bourbon Street" sound. This version is something inbetween, and maybe that's a problem. It should be 100% something and not a mixture.
Actually, I already added quite much early reflections to clarinet. Maybe I'll try little more, but on the other hand, I don't want to "hear" the plugin too much.
Ad yes, I will keep this song as dark.
And dark will be also the new "70's rock'n'roll song" that I'm gonna try. Dark but not muffled, hopefully
Ah so it could be leftovers from the Sting treatment that makes the bass sound that way. Very good song and mix that Sting tune by the way.
I would like to hear your version with 100% bourbon bass :-) Maybe thats what you should use as the base to build the mix around !
For some reason I don't get the email notices of replys always. So I've missed your comment. Just for fun I'll try to do that Bourbon version.
I think that the song was made to sound dark. So I think you got a perfect overall sound for it!
Sounds very good, Olli. The bass is still a little boomy on some notes, and some others disappear in the mix, but that's all I can criticize.
... I should resume my rough mix and get that bass under control there too. It's not impossible, just needs a little more work.
Regards,
Steffen
Thanks for the comments.
I agree with you Stoman, the bass is quite difficult in this song. Maybe some note by note automation should be done. Sometimes I do it, sometimes it's against all my principles. It depends on the day.
What needs to be done needs to be done.
Perhaps you could also try a combination of parallel compression and transient shaping. It sometimes helps to stabilize a bass that is both very dynamic and lacking definition. You may also have to add a limiter to the bass bus.
My first approach when I did my 1-hour rough mix of this song was similar to yours, with heavy drums and bass. But I think I'll start from scratch and try a softer treatment instead.
Regards,
Steffen
Here's my quick bourbon bass version. I'm not sure what I think about it, but it was fun to try.
I added more phaser and tremolo to bass. (I don't know how the effect was done in Sting's song.) I turned down little bit 2 K area of guitar, because it was masking the effect. In Sting's song the bass is almost alone (with hi-hat), so the effect is very prominent although it's not that strong.
@stoman: I didn't do any boominess fixing with this test. I might try some tricks you mentioned later if I come back to this song.
I like this James May. I already downloaded his other song to mix.