03-03-2020, 06:19 PM (This post was last modified: 14-04-2020, 07:35 PM by Mixinthecloud.)
Yikes!!!
As wonderful a voice as Kat has, she is a live engineer's worst nightmare. Her vocal volume is barely above the ambient volume in her mic. Thank goodness I am not her monitor engineer.
That being said, everyone has had to deal with the oft times ugly overburden in Kat's vocal mic and my struggles were no different. I chopped and sculpted the best I could. Besides the low level, Kat's mic technique is just about non-existent so sibilance from phrase to phrase is a nasty issue on top of everything else.
Still, I think I was able to get a lot of body in the ensemble and some decent placement of her vocal. Mostly for the ensemble, was playing with the phase of the inner/outer, top/bottom, overhead/mono tracks. Hi-passing was invaluable in almost all tracks as well. I did very little automation but may revisit that on the horn group to better follow the dynamics of the song.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I hope it is worthy of a listen and commenting.
Thanks, mITc
Kat Wright - By My Side - Mix 3
An evolution of the mix with an improved ensemble balance and vocal level and de-essing improvements.
Kat Wright - By My Side - Master 2
I was Covid-19 bored so I decided to take another spin on Kat's vocals. Highly over-produced is how I would characterize this mix, but it has its charms, I think.
Tonally it's balanced well from top to bottom. I like the sound of the band. The snare feels a little "shy" and the drums overall feel restrained. I think that coupled with the slightly muted vocal tone makes this version drag a bit. I know the song does have a laid-back quality but I think it's missing some of the live energy and lacks excitement. Maybe it's because I know it's a live recording that subconsciously I want more from it? I dunno. I want it to just move me more.
On a technical level it all works. I think it just needs a bit more of the emotion to come across. It feels very safe. Though to be fair we might just be hearing this song differently.
Yeah, I think I get what Roy means. You're going for a smoother, more polished mix, rather than a more raw, I dunno, Rudy Van Gelder style sound. You've taken the group to a more expensive studio.
I think that's ok though, and also lot more work. I do find I like the alternative smoother vibe a lot though. There's a place for both approaches.
I might be off base, but for my taste I think I would like to hear it with just a touch less reverb, and maybe a slightly darker tone on the reverb too - in keeping with the smoother, more laid back vibe? I think that was the only thing that sprang to mind when listening to it, everything else is spot on to me I think.
Oh, vocals much better for me on the second version too. Good job I think. A slightly different take that works I feel.
Cheers!
Just uploaded a mix/master? Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!
As wonderful a voice as Kat has, she is a live engineer's worst nightmare. Her vocal volume is barely above the ambient volume in her mic. Thank goodness I am not her monitor engineer. mITc
Her monitor engineer must give thanks to the in-ear monitor gods every night. Wish those were around when I was mixing live. A bass player friend of mine, that was an original Dancehall Doctor, had an awesome set of those babies... Great when you can get them custom-fitted and the boss pays for them.
I had forgotten that I had downloaded this track directly from Telefunken earlier. Turns out that I tossed it for the exact reason that everyone is complaining about...there's more stuff in the vocal mic than there is vocal. When I downloaded this today, I brought up the tracks in my existing old Reaper session. The lead vocal was already soloed so that I could enjoy the whole band in one track. ;-P Good tune but I tossed it again.
Maybe if we chip in she'll overdub the vocal. If she passes through Miami, I can do it here at the house and provide the track for everyone ;-).
08-03-2020, 01:04 AM (This post was last modified: 08-03-2020, 03:06 AM by Shul.)
I'm having the hardest time with the vocals!!! ... also been away from audio for a while so I don't want to heavily edit the vocals.. but looks like that will have to be the way. Did you do heavy editing on it? Mix sounds Great!
Hearing again: I have to point out that if you pay attention to the snare you can hear when the vocals cut out in volume.. snare becomes dull. If voice is present snare is brighter.. this is hard! but I just realized. I don't think anyone can fully fix this.
(08-03-2020, 01:04 AM)Shul Wrote: I'm having the hardest time with the vocals!!! ... also been away from audio for a while so I don't want to heavily edit the vocals.. but looks like that will have to be the way. Did you do heavy editing on it? Mix sounds Great!
Hearing again: I have to point out that if you pay attention to the snare you can hear when the vocals cut out in volume.. snare becomes dull. If voice is present snare is brighter.. this is hard! but I just realized. I don't think anyone can fully fix this.
I think the only way to 'fix' the snare bleed into it the vocal mix is to not chop the vocals, but that was too deleterious for me to stand. I did the best I could and think that the casual listener will not be as critical as we, who are intimate with the raw tracks, would be.
Thanks for your comment. Have a go, Shul. Your take would be an interesting one, I'm sure.
As wonderful a voice as Kat has, she is a live engineer's worst nightmare. Her vocal volume is barely above the ambient volume in her mic. Thank goodness I am not her monitor engineer. mITc
Her monitor engineer must give thanks to the in-ear monitor gods every night. Wish those were around when I was mixing live. A bass player friend of mine, that was an original Dancehall Doctor, had an awesome set of those babies... Great when you can get them custom-fitted and the boss pays for them.
I had forgotten that I had downloaded this track directly from Telefunken earlier. Turns out that I tossed it for the exact reason that everyone is complaining about...there's more stuff in the vocal mic than there is vocal. When I downloaded this today, I brought up the tracks in my existing old Reaper session. The lead vocal was already soloed so that I could enjoy the whole band in one track. ;-P Good tune but I tossed it again.
Maybe if we chip in she'll overdub the vocal. If she passes through Miami, I can do it here at the house and provide the track for everyone ;-).
The tracks for other songs the band did at Telefunken Labs all have the same issue and the same challenges. But hey, I love a good challenge. Getting her in a studio where she can over-dub her voice would do wonders for this song. I have a hard time believeing they do not do that on their published work.
I'll be happy to second for you since I'm in Ft. Lauderdale.
Yeah, I think I get what Roy means. You're going for a smoother, more polished mix, rather than a more raw, I dunno, Rudy Van Gelder style sound. You've taken the group to a more expensive studio.
I think that's ok though, and also lot more work. I do find I like the alternative smoother vibe a lot though. There's a place for both approaches.
I might be off base, but for my taste I think I would like to hear it with just a touch less reverb, and maybe a slightly darker tone on the reverb too - in keeping with the smoother, more laid back vibe? I think that was the only thing that sprang to mind when listening to it, everything else is spot on to me I think.
Oh, vocals much better for me on the second version too. Good job I think. A slightly different take that works I feel.
... also been away from audio for a while so I don't want to heavily edit the vocals.. but looks like that will have to be the way. Did you do heavy editing on it? Mix sounds Great!