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Pedaling Prince Mix: Traffic Experiment - Sirens
#1
I am self-taught both in video/film editing and audio engineering, having been experimenting with audio and video since my teen years back in the 1980s.

My guiding principle in mixing I call the "principle of least treatment."

Having heard the crystal clean sound of CDs from the earliest days of consumer digital sound in the 80s, comparing it to the overprocessed, overcompressed mess many commercial mixes are today, I have come to believe that current mixing techniques rely too heavily on processing, particularly in the use/abuse of compression in mastering.

In general, I go as gently as possible on all processing, using only the minimum EQ, automation and compression necessary to get everything to blend smoothly, and under no circumstances do I EVER apply processing or compression of ANY kind at the mastering stage; my goal is to preserve 100% of the dynamics of the original recording.

I joined this forum in order to get all of YOUR thoughts on what I've done with these multitracks. Criticism is welcome so long as its polite and constructive. Smile

The theme of this song seemed identical to Georgia Wonder's "Siren," only this time from the sailor's point of view as opposed to the siren's. That having been said, I felt that Traffic Experiment's "Sirens" needed the sound of ocean waves, just as Georgia Wonder's "Siren" did. Generally I don't make additions like that to a mix; I prefer to work only with what the artist gave me in order to preserve the artist's original intent. However, I would like to think that Traffic Experiment would like what I've done here. Blush

I also did some minor editing here to give this song a more dramatic ending. I know when *I* listened to this all the way through for the first time it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up...

What do YOU think? Wink


.m4a    08 Sirens.m4a --  (Download: 17.2 MB)


John A. Ardelli
Pedaling Prince Pictures
http://www.youtube.com/user/PedalingPrince
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#2
I like very much your idea of putting the waves sound in and especially the ending. The overall mix sounds a little "muddy" to me. Are you using a high pass filter on the tracks that have unnecessary bass frequencies?
To mix or not to mix ... mix!
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#3
(13-01-2014, 01:53 AM)bmullen Wrote: I like very much your idea of putting the waves sound in and especially the ending. The overall mix sounds a little "muddy" to me. Are you using a high pass filter on the tracks that have unnecessary bass frequencies?

Aside from the vocal tracks, no. In keeping with my philosophy of "least treatment" I only usually do that when I spot a track with low frequencies that are giving me specific problems.

Maybe I'm trying a little TOO hard to avoid processing. Blush It's not like I'm trying to avoid work. Quite the opposite. There are often times when my choice to avoid processing a track results in MORE work on my part to get that track to balance properly in a mix. For example, while I also avoid the use of automation I would prefer to use that rather than compression to balance out an unruly track in a mix; that way there's no undesirable effect on short term dynamics, preserving the original quality of the sound. But it IS more work to solve the problem that way for sure.

I just checked my archives; I still have the original project for this one (this one was done later, after the "great purge" when I deleted several of them clearing out space on my hard drive Blush). I'm working extra hours this week so I probably won't have time through the weekdays but I might have a chance to try your suggestion over the weekend; if/when I do I'll post it here. Smile
John A. Ardelli
Pedaling Prince Pictures
http://www.youtube.com/user/PedalingPrince
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