Pedaling Prince Mix: Street Noise - Revelations

[Pedaling Prince]

Hi PP, (have you ever raced? sorry the question is off topic!)

I participated in a recreational time trial once but otherwise, while I'm pretty fast in downtown traffic, I don't really "race," no. If you're interested in racing, however, you might want to check out this video I did a few years ago:

http://youtu.be/zoN-ds38ezw

OK. Back on topic:

Anyone who grinds their way through material cleaning it up gets my fullest respect!

Well, I find it's the only way to clean up noisy recordings; when you try to remove it from the full mixdown it creates "pumping" effects in the noise that are very distracting.

I've never been one to shy away from hard work, particularly when the payoff is so great.

You chose to keep the mix dark which makes it emotionally dull and lifeless in it's delivery. I'd have personally preferred more use of the frequency spectrum while of course, still respecting the low and high-end roll off found in vinyl production. Because the instruments were darker, I'm struggling with clarity (which leads to listening fatigue), especially the Hammond, which from my own experiences was a terribly difficult animal to bring out because of it's inherent desire to clash frequencies with the lead guitars. The sibilance on the vocal might cause the pressing plant some issues I struggled to control the sibilance...the minute I did anything in the process, it would insist on coming back again. Difficult.

Unfortunately, this is one of the mix projects which I discarded in a recent space purge (I don't have a lot of space to spare on my computer) so I won't be able to implement your suggestions I'm afraid. I will say, however, that the mix came out slightly darker when converted to AAC for some reason; it sounds a little brighter in uncompressed form.

For the record I wasn't looking to recreate the sound of vinyl; I was actually looking to clean up the recording and make use of its full studio quality. Problem is I found the tracks themselves lacked much content in the high end, probably owning to the limitations of magnetic recording. I did apply a lot more EQ to the drum tracks than I usually do with modern projects trying to bring out the cymbals and sharpen up the snare but I was reluctant to push it too far; it's easy to get carried away with EQ and end up with a sharp, brassy mess.

I had no sense of space here, not that a replicated LCR mixing desk will do much in that regard, but the mix is as dry as a bone. Can I ask why you chose not to use reverb in your strategy?

Actually, there is reverb but it's very subtle. I tend to prefer a drier sound and usually use reverb almost subliminally to add presence. Though subtle, though, I chose a style of reverb more in keeping with the 70s feel.

In retrospect, maybe I should've dialed it up just a notch? If I ever revisit this mix I'll be sure to keep these suggestions in mind.

Do you have any specific suggestions how I might tease out a little more high frequency content without pushing it too far?