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Patrick Talbot - Upper Hand (M&F)
#1
Here is my mix of this song, my second testing out Waves NX.. I really like the results from using it..

Source file for reference, right click and "Save File As" (please use BitPerfect from the Mac App Store for iTunes for Mac for bit-to-bit intended playback).

(Revision 1 posted based on producer's notes.. In mixing, its normal that the producer or artist makes comments to a first mix pass, then the mixer adjusts based on the comments... In the process of this, takka360 had his comment, and now for this song, I challenged takka360 to a friendly mix-off.. If he can get any 4 member with at least 3 mixes of their own posted to the forum, to choose his -up to 4 revisions- over my revision 1, I will PayPal him $200)

Update2: The LANDR silent test failed.. was curious to see how it would play out and I agree with the comment on that version.. so, I revised this post to my XQR mixing process (its a specific chain of stuff and process producing the 24-bit master) and in the process of working on this song I lost a bit of zeal for finalizing this song.. At first I attempted to experiment with the mix of the song, and eventually was steered into a "traditional" mix of it. The artist has a good traditional mix version of the song already.. and as I finalized this, I feel like I'm only doing a layered traditional version of the original song mix.. perhaps some songs work better sticking to traditional oppose to being creative.. I don't need to practice "traditional", this mix style is easy for me personally, I need to practice creativity.. I want to explore what 2016 gear can do.. I feel music is boring today not because of the songs, artists, and producers.. the "songs" are still great.. but because the "sound" lacks diverse creativity.. There is a difference in sound from Motown, Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The 5th Dimension.. all records made in the same era but all different.. There will not be another Wall Of Sound because one guy is too scared he won't sound like the next guy... in closing my thought: I feel today is the best opportunity to give people listening experiences again.. circumstances can take the money away from music, but the ability to have a person appreciate the music you work on, is the reason why anyone doing this today is doing it, for the love of the craft. Thanks to everyone with constructive comments on the last versions of this but this is my final version.. Now, I'm off to find something I can crank the AMS RMX16 on as I'm dying to try it out Smile


.mp3    Upper Hand XQR.mp3 --  (Download: 10.45 MB)


M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#2
Sounding fine to me. Except that the acoustic guitars are sounding quite harsh.
I'm not sure the Waves NX did a good job here, the room sounds like a bad cellar with low ceiling, especially the drums are suffering from a claustrophobic sound. And then the vocal is much too loud, I had to turn down the volume when it entered.
I would ease up the "room effect" at first and make the vocals more part of the band.
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#3
(31-01-2016, 12:24 AM)ptalbot Wrote: Sounding fine to me. Except that the acoustic guitars are sounding quite harsh.
I'm not sure the Waves NX did a good job here, the room sounds like a bad cellar with low ceiling, especially the drums are suffering from a claustrophobic sound. And then the vocal is much too loud, I had to turn down the volume when it entered.
I would ease up the "room effect" at first and make the vocals more part of the band.

Doing a recall for adjustments based on the comments. Note: Waves NX is not an effect printed to the mix, it is a "room monitoring" plug that's disabled once the mix is ready for print.


M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#4
I honestly don't know how you can make this track sound so bad.you could load the tracks as they are and it would sound better.
The list of gear you have listed here you really need to learn how to use it.Sorry if im being very harsh here but whats the point in lies.
Pat was more than kind with his feedback.You must have a very bad monitor set up or just no clue about mixing.
waves Nx ,I would send that back.
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#5
(31-01-2016, 12:24 AM)ptalbot Wrote: Sounding fine to me. Except that the acoustic guitars are sounding quite harsh.
I'm not sure the Waves NX did a good job here, the room sounds like a bad cellar with low ceiling, especially the drums are suffering from a claustrophobic sound. And then the vocal is much too loud, I had to turn down the volume when it entered.
I would ease up the "room effect" at first and make the vocals more part of the band.

Recall (revision #1) is posted above.
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#6
(31-01-2016, 02:36 AM)takka360 Wrote: I honestly don't know how you can make this track sound so bad.you could load the tracks as they are and it would sound better.
The list of gear you have listed here you really need to learn how to use it.Sorry if im being very harsh here but whats the point in lies.
Pat was more than kind with his feedback.You must have a very bad monitor set up or just no clue about mixing.
waves Nx ,I would send that back.

I've posted my revision 1... If you can get any 4 people in the forum to agree that your mix of this song is better than mine, then I will PayPal you $200.

You got a little ahead of yourself... don't confuse me participating on this forum as nothing more than experimenting/exploring new processes with new gear.. thats all it is, me breaking in a new setup.. I'm not here to show off mixing skills but to develop new ideas to my own mixing practice.. but since you want to give insults instead of constructive comments.. now on this post only, I'm showing off my mixing skills.. Now, you are forced to blow me out the water..
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#7
I don't want to enter into any pissing contest. But I'm afraid to say that I still feel that your mix is off.
The acoustic guitars are still very harsh sounding, sounds like you've compressed them to death and added too much saturation to them. The drums are also very compressed and the vocals need some levelling.
There is also some low end rumbling during the outro that is making my speakers distort in a bad way.
Of course it's fine to be experimenting, that's what it's all about, but I feat that this waves NX plugin is giving you a distorted perspective, I would try without if I were you.
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#8
(31-01-2016, 05:08 AM)ptalbot Wrote: I don't want to enter into any pissing contest. But I'm afraid to say that I still feel that your mix is off.
The acoustic guitars are still very harsh sounding, sounds like you've compressed them to death and added too much saturation to them. The drums are also very compressed and the vocals need some levelling.
There is also some low end rumbling during the outro that is making my speakers distort in a bad way.
Of course it's fine to be experimenting, that's what it's all about, but I feat that this waves NX plugin is giving you a distorted perspective, I would try without if I were you.

Anything sounding lesser than this is not within my mix style, but of course I kindly respect your comment. takka360 can deliver his here and show me how the heavy hitters do it.

Note: BTW, there is absolutely no compression used on the gtrs or drums in this mix.. In the real world, a client would use another mixer to find what they're looking for, because a mixer should be confident enough in their ability to deliver "commercial ready" and stand by their work, and if it doesn't work for the client, then it doesn't work for the client, and they find someone else who better fit their project... Smile
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#9
too much fx on your guitars.. they don't even sound acoustic.. they sound more like electric guitars.

here is a tip for you. Balance the instruments first with volume and panning, once you hear that raw balance sound.. that's the overall sound the artist is looking for man, they wouldn't record it like that otherwise. I feel you over do everything, eq, reverb, delay etc..

If you can't deliver what your client is looking for.. you suck at mixing bro. saying "find another mixer" is limiting your self and closing the door.
An Engineer solves problems.. he doesn't pass the problem onto someone else. sorry to say that but honestly.. who says "i'll paypal you 200 if you get people to like your mix better than mine" not a serious mixing engineer.
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#10
(31-01-2016, 07:17 AM)Shul Wrote: too much fx on your guitars.. they don't even sound acoustic.. they sound more like electric guitars.

here is a tip for you. Balance the instruments first with volume and panning, once you hear that raw balance sound.. that's the overall sound the artist is looking for man, they wouldn't record it like that otherwise. I feel you over do everything, eq, reverb, delay etc..

If you can't deliver what your client is looking for.. you suck at mixing bro. saying "find another mixer" is limiting your self and closing the door.
An Engineer solves problems.. he doesn't pass the problem onto someone else. sorry to say that but honestly.. who says "i'll paypal you 200 if you get people to like your mix better than mine" not a serious mixing engineer.

Then you mix the song the way you want to hear it.. the files are there.. there will be a zillion versions of this song posted here.. no one here is making money so no one needs to jump through hoops over every 1 or 2 different comments (opinions).. And sure enough a mixer will pass it to someone else because there's a million different ways this song can sound.. its up to the artist/producer to pick what they like, no one is going to wait for a mixer to deliver, they go to a person they feel comfortable with.. or else 1 guy would be mixing every record in the world..

Sure enough I would tell the client I refuse to make anything less than my sound and they would have to go somewhere else.. You can kill yourself working for a client looking for a unicorn, thats on you.

Constructive comments here I've found come from the guys who mixes I find are great, and I accept those comments with honor.. the insults come from insecure mixers.. who mixes sound like amateur bedroom demos... likely speaking from a bit of jealousy over my signature... Since you always find issue in my post, from now on you can simply skip my postings.. right?
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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