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Ambitions - My Master
#1
Warning: Might be very loud! Turn your speakers down.

Boy, was this mix/master a chore.

I want to start off by saying that I am an audio student at Full Sail University who is about to graduate. I would say I have about 2-3 years of mixing experience, so I am generally confident with my skills, but not easily satisfied either. I come on Cambridge sometimes to see what others think of my mixing. That said, I don't feel like I really got the sound I wanted with this mix/master.

The snare, kick, and toms were all replaced using Slate Trigger. I handpicked what I thought fit best.

The vocals were especially hard to work with. There are spots where the vocal will fit great and other times when it just doesn't fit. I had trouble making the vocal sit right in general. I wanted to use Melodyne but unfortunately didn't have it at the time. I added some harmony and distortion effects for certain parts to try and make it more interesting. The vocals might be too low.

The guitars, in my opinion, should have been quad tracked. I found it difficult working with the lead part in the beginning, but I tried making it working by adding some effects to it. There weren't any DIs, which could have helped a ton. Listening to it now, the guitars might be too overpowering.

I added an EQ sweep during the middle transition, which I thought helped add diversity to the track.

I added an intro sound as well as some small sub drops throughout the song to try and make the transitions stand out more.

Overall, it was a surprisingly hard song to mix given what I had. Go ahead and tell me what you think!






.mp3    AllHandsLost_Ambitions MASTER final.mp3 --  (Download: 11.61 MB)


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#2
Made some revisions


.mp3    AllHandsLost_Ambitions r5 (final).mp3 --  (Download: 11.8 MB)


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#3
I really love the direction you took with this. At this stage in my career, I hit a lot of analysis paralysis things when asked to actually make creative decisions like this, and really prefer my old life of always working with a producer. I like what you picked in the intro and like that you knew exactly what you wanted.
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#4
(08-04-2019, 05:21 AM)pipelineaudio Wrote: I really love the direction you took with this. At this stage in my career, I hit a lot of analysis paralysis things when asked to actually make creative decisions like this, and really prefer my old life of always working with a producer. I like what you picked in the intro and like that you knew exactly what you wanted.

Thanks I really appreciate that!
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#5
(03-04-2019, 09:09 PM)Nick Wrote: Made some revisions
I am a first time mixer and wow great Choices on subtle parts. It seemed very glued together and to the Lamen they wouldn't know the difference and as a listener made me want to hear it all the way through. Goal accomplished i'd say. Yea his vocals were very hard to do. The automation helps but he gets really harsh on certain parts and nothing you can really do but Automate the shit out of his vocals lol. Great job
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#6
(08-11-2019, 06:19 AM)AJ78 Wrote:
(03-04-2019, 09:09 PM)Nick Wrote: Made some revisions
I am a first time mixer and wow great Choices on subtle parts. It seemed very glued together and to the Lamen they wouldn't know the difference and as a listener made me want to hear it all the way through. Goal accomplished i'd say. Yea his vocals were very hard to do. The automation helps but he gets really harsh on certain parts and nothing you can really do but Automate the shit out of his vocals lol. Great job

Thanks!

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#7
(14-12-2018, 04:51 AM)Nick Wrote: Warning: Might be very loud! Turn your speakers down.

Boy, was this mix/master a chore.

I want to start off by saying that I am an audio student at Full Sail University who is about to graduate. I would say I have about 2-3 years of mixing experience, so I am generally confident with my skills, but not easily satisfied either. I come on Cambridge sometimes to see what others think of my mixing. That said, I don't feel like I really got the sound I wanted with this mix/master.

The snare, kick, and toms were all replaced using Slate Trigger. I handpicked what I thought fit best.

The vocals were especially hard to work with. There are spots where the vocal will fit great and other times when it just doesn't fit. I had trouble making the vocal sit right in general. I wanted to use Melodyne but unfortunately didn't have it at the time. I added some harmony and distortion effects for certain parts to try and make it more interesting. The vocals might be too low.

The guitars, in my opinion, should have been quad tracked. I found it difficult working with the lead part in the beginning, but I tried making it working by adding some effects to it. There weren't any DIs, which could have helped a ton. Listening to it now, the guitars might be too overpowering.

I added an EQ sweep during the middle transition, which I thought helped add diversity to the track.

I added an intro sound as well as some small sub drops throughout the song to try and make the transitions stand out more.

Overall, it was a surprisingly hard song to mix given what I had. Go ahead and tell me what you think!
Killer bro whats your vocal chain like and on the Bus? great job
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#8
[/quote]
Killer bro whats your vocal chain like and on the Bus? great job

[/quote]

I wish I had the session with me to tell you exactly what, but in general, I use a few different plugins from FabFilter. I tend to use a lot of EQ in general. I actually like to use a limiter on the vocals in order to help make the dynamics more consistent and reduce the volume drop outs. I might need to use multiband compression or deessing to make sure the vocals aren’t too harsh. On the bus, I will use some EQ, maybe some very light compression, and then the limiter. I’m a big fan of trying match EQ on the bus just to see if I can get closer to the sound if my references. Naturally, I make sure to A/B everything because at the end of the day, it all depends. Hope that helps a bit!
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#9
Hey Nick,

I like your mix so much! Smile

I also mixed the track but your version sounds more open and clear, especially the guitars and the vocals.

I would be really interested in the EQ settings you made with the guitars and vocals and maybe the FX you use.

Here you can listen to my mix:
https://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/show...?tid=28862
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#10
(25-09-2020, 01:31 PM)RyanB Wrote: Hey Nick,

I like your mix so much! Smile

I also mixed the track but your version sounds more open and clear, especially the guitars and the vocals.

I would be really interested in the EQ settings you made with the guitars and vocals and maybe the FX you use.

Here you can listen to my mix:
https://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/show...?tid=28862

Geez, it’s been a while since I did this mix. I’m not sure if I remember exactly what I did.

I usually end up High Passing guitars a bit. If the guitars seem muddy, I might cut 400-500hz, and if they are too ‘harsh’, then usually the problem is between 1.5k-5.5k. I tend to low pass them a bit too to try and get rid of unwanted ‘fizz’ if there’s too much.

I also High Pass vocals. Usually, my go-to plugin is JST Gain Reduction 2, but it’s a bit expensive. I find it best to compress the vocal as much as possible without being unnatural, and also using a multi band compressor to get rid of pokey words as well as esses.

For reverbs, I find it best in most cases to go with boxy, mid-heavy ones that have short time lengths. I don’t often use a lot of reverb unless I’m trying to use it as a spare effect with automation.
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