Jamie Kent: 'All-American Mutt' kapu mix

[Mixinthecloud]

Cool. Good [...]

Well, I had a phase

I found that a -3 dB scoop at 250, -2.5 dB scoop at 400 , and a Pul Tec style cut at 300 was enough to open up those verse sections and keep it clear through out the track.

Parallel compression is a possibility for the drums here but I wouldn't recommend it because of the more sparce nature of these multis, it's super easy to overdo and a lot of times just adds mud to tracks like this (it's an overrated technique because every "Mixing tricks"/"Producer" channel and forum on the internet seems to think its the best thing ever and needs to be done on every mix).

I can't really say much more, overall I like the mix, that acoustic sounds great, it just needs less obvious compression, something just to keep the peaks down rather than add aggression and power.

Cheers and hope this helps,
Doug

I had very similar cuts in the mastering EQ for my clarified submission. Paralleling the drum buss is always a song by song decision just as attack and release are. I do tend to avoid choking an instrument unless it serves a creative function in support of the melody or the groove. I tend to allow the artist to show through more so the mixing engineer. It is my job to get out of the way for the most part. At least in a middle of the road country pop piece like this. Maybe I'm not that creative!

[kapu]

I'm going to agree [...]

Thanks! I might do completely new version, but I'm quite happy the way it sounds already. About the mud, I think the bass riff here might get easily interpreted as muddy, but for me that's just the bass tone of neck pickup played from upper octave closer to 12th fret. Like the case of JJ Cale - Cocaine when some people say it's a very muddy mix. I'll consider your notes. ^_^

[kapu]

I had very similar cuts [...]

I usually just try to make things sound the way I would like to hear them. I tried following some philosophies about what the roles are, but eventually I end up doing something that makes the music go under my skin. ^_^

[kapu]

Added new file. Adjusted drum compression and some overall minor tweaks. ^_^

[Mixinthecloud]

Added new file. Adjusted drum compression and some overall minor tweaks. ^_^

Yes! Life has crept back in.

[dcp10200]

The new mix is perfect! If I'm super picky the kick is poking out about 3 dB too much, but I really can't fault anything here, kinda has a Sheepdogs/Americana vibe to it.

Cheers,
Doug

[kapu]

Yes! Life has crept back in.

Yes, well 4 compressors on the drum bus might have been too much. Took on off. ^_^

[kapu]

The new mix is perfect! [...]

Thanks! Perfect mix? I think there are some memes around considering perfect mixes. I tried to go for somekind of Jackson 5 groove meets the Americana type of sound. The kick could probably go down a bit, but on the other hand it has some nice rumbly qualities to it. ^_^

[Mixinthecloud]

Yes! Life has crept back in.

Yes, well 4 compressors on the drum bus might have been too much. Took on off. ^_^

Gee. Only 4? On the buss, not individual instruments?

[kapu]

Gee. Only 4? [...]

Yep. Only some eq on individual drum tracks. Now parallel and two mild serial comps and tape saturation on the on the drum bus. Individual drum tracks sounded nice for me so not much processing there.