Quicksand with Mixbus 32C

[The_Metallurgist]

As always, thank you so much for your comments and input. I do have to admit, I definitely know that this was a loud mix. I typically mix trying to keep my peak vu hitting around -.5db, and my RMS value of my mixes around the -12dB range.

a VU meter (the acronym 'Virtually Useless' has some validity!), and RMS are profoundly limited in their application: i can give you 2 mixes where one sounds 'subjectively' much louder and distorted than the other...yet still share the same RMS value. VU has no relationship to loudness, only voltage; a flute won't cause as much as a twitch on a VU, but it can make you deaf

I slammed my limiting amp really hard in my mp3 conversion/faux mastering. I rarely try to push my mixes really hard with my limiting amps, but I got carried away with this one (it should be quite easy to bring my faux mastering down, as it was a really simple chain, and it was all ITB).

tut tut.

So here is how I handled my guitars (just to give you insight on his particular mix). I panned the guitars 1-2 main mics at about the 45 degree mark on opposite sides, as I'm sure you all hear. I panned their distance mics hard L and hard R. Sent that to my guitar buss (muting their masters), as well as sending them to a mono buss with a guitar amp plugin on it (a process that I've employed often). I wonder if I have some phase things happening with it, so it is making them sound extremely wide. Maybe I need to change the center channel up a bit and the send to the verb, or bring it up a touch in volume.

blimey, that's creative!

the only point i'd make is that at 1:00, for example, the guitars are presented hard panned without the benefit of spatial messages in the time domain eg Haas. the right guitar doesn't appear in the left, nor vice versa. i personally ditched the wet mikes so i could employ a more consistent ambiance....and have full control over everything in the time, frequency and amplitude thanggg instead of fighting it. K.I.S.S. !

When using my mid side Eq, I do try to say within a 1-1.5 dB change, unless I'm clearing out low end from the sides, to try and mitigate weird skewing. Maybe I'll just bypass it.

i'd say that it isn't the level/change that is important per se, but what subjective (psychoacoustic) effect it has on the frequency bands across the spectrum: the instruments/arrangement, their harmonic structures....etc etc. a minor change in amplitude in the HF zone will be pretty significant, say, compared to the gain's impact in the low-mid (Equal Loudness Contours refer - Fletcher-Munson et al). and if you take out treble, you are subjectively boosting the low-mids without touching them. big topic.

my idea would be to flick between mono and stereo with about 10 seconds between each flick; if you do it too quickly the ears won't have time to adjust. see if the mix stays consistent in timbre, for example - let your ears be the judge. if things go pear shaped, it's an indication that we need to go back to the drawing board.

So I'll address these things and see if I can keep my energy and bring it down to more a dynamic feeling mix (I usually don't try to compete in the loudness war, but I let myself fall prey to the, "Wow, this sounds better when I turn it up" trap [i actually feel a bit embarrassed because of it]).

it's an easy trap to fall into. i'm the same with coffee too....the more i have, the more i want.

catch yer laters,,,