Jules King: Never Stop (mgetz mix)

[mgetz]

Hello all,

I am fairly new to mixing, but I would love to build up my mixing chops. As you all know, lots of notes or suggestions always help! If you have any questions about plugins or choices I made when mixing, fire away!

Master Bus chain: ReaEQ (reaper plugin) -> Waves C4 -> Slate VCC -> Waves L1

As far as mastering goes, I view that process as "post-mixing" right now. Just one or two decibel reductions for eq to tidy some of the more tiring frequencies, some multi-band compression for glue, Slate VCC because the emulations are magic and do a great job of making the mix "breathe" and feel more alive, and then finally the L1 to bring things up to a more normalized listening level. Thanks for taking a listen!

Best,

mgetz

[Gexx]

ehmm... what can I say... , when I listen the verse part it's a good mix straight forward guitars I really enjoyed it , but when the song hit the chorus part... what happened to drums...? it looks like the drums were drowned... it's looks like the compressor hit too much on the drums... if you can manage that problem I think it will be a good mix

[mgetz]

ehmm... what can I say... , when I listen the verse part it's a good mix straight forward guitars I really enjoyed it , but when the song hit the chorus part... what happened to drums...? it looks like the drums were drowned... it's looks like the compressor hit too much on the drums... if you can manage that problem I think it will be a good mix

Thanks for the suggestion on the drums, Gexx! There's no really heavy compression on the drums in that mix. Some on the kick to pull out the "punchy" quality, some on one the snare to get the right "thwap," some on the drum bus to glue and tighten. I did some very slight automation on the drums to bring a little more energy to the chorus in this new mix, but I think a lot of the lack of drums you are hearing in the chorus is mainly due to the performance.

A more driving pattern on the ride or crash or even opening up the hats would have helped more than anything during the chorus. I actually found the vocal and the guitars to be driving the chorus more, because that drum pattern just doesn't open up enough for the energy that is needed. Sometimes volume or compression just doesn't cut it. Vocals tend to drive a lot of pop-styled songs like this anyhow, so I think having the drums just a little under the guitars and the vocal gives a nice/different texture from the verses.

The lack of energy from the drums during the chorus is also the reason why I chose to add in a bit of a pulsing drum pattern during each chorus that I spliced up from the tracks. It helps a lot with the dynamics and energy!

Best,
mgetz