Pedaling Prince Mix: Wesley Morgan - Backroom in Tulsa

[Pedaling Prince]

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.

I was surprised by the high level of noise on these tracks until I found out later that they were actually recorded with analog techniques. Still, the noise didn't present a problem; I was able to scrub away most of it without harming the sonic quality any. Wesley's voice here is super compressed from the original track, an effect I normally find abrasive, but on this song it works extraordinarily well. The song reminds me of the style of Jace Everett's "Bad Things," which fans of True Blood will recognize as the theme of that show. Which is why I went out of my way to show this particular mix to my girlfriend, a huge True Blood fan.

In all seriousness, Wesley Morgan might want to consider submitting this song to the producers of True Blood for possible use as end title music; they usually play a different song over the end credits each week and "Backroom in Tulsa" would be a perfect fit to the flavor of the series IMHO.

"Seven years of bad luck child but, honey, I can keep you from harm;
"Just take the broken piece of glass, and carve my name into your arm."

Yup. That's True Blood material right enough...

[Voelund]

I like this mix.
Nice clean sound youve achieved here, especially I like the piano eq.
I would like it even better if you automated the vocal in the intro/first verse to balance little better with the more sparse instrumentation there.
I know you dont have access to all the multitracks due to limited storage. So maybe just food for thought for future mixes, vocals dont have to be same lvl all over, but rather balanced to the instruments theyre up against.
At least thats how I hear it.

Fine mix John !

[pauli]

Hey John. I have to say, man, your mixes have great spectral balance for my taste. Like Niells said, very very clean, and the separation of instruments is very good in this mix, too. I'm curious how you kept the piano from trampling everything else in the mix, as I'm struggling with that track. It seems compressed at the source, which is always a booger to resolve, at least for me, but your piano sounds great.

I feel like multing the vocal and reducing the level during the intro and first verse is very good advice, too. To my ears the bigger parts could use more of the room mic, too, but that's because I'm referencing my version against this tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIU8VRW9yBw

but comparing my sonics to T-Bone Burnett's is pretty discouraging Check out that album if you haven't heard it yet, it's very good, if a little overcompressed in places.

[Pedaling Prince]

I'm curious how you kept the piano from trampling everything else in the mix, as I'm struggling with that track.

I automated it, pulling it down when it needed to hang back and boosting it up at moments where I felt it deserved center stage.

[pauli]

Yeah, I was thinking you'd kinda have to do that to get these results. I'm not sure what the issue with that piano track is but it behaves like something that was compressed during recording, which to me is a fundamentally unwise idea unless you were trying to make it easier for the guy to hear what he was playing... But then it's be a good idea to turn off the insert before you render it.

[Pedaling Prince]

I'm not sure what the issue with that piano track is but it behaves like something that was compressed during recording, which to me is a fundamentally unwise idea unless you were trying to make it easier for the guy to hear what he was playing...

My understanding from my research into how the tracks were created was that they were recorded on analog gear; compression was added to help bring the signal above the noise floor. I still agree with you that it wasn't a good idea; use of Dolby SR to reduce the noise would have been more effective and would've prevented squashing and distorting the piano sound itself.

[pauli]

That makes a lot of sense. The compression doesn't sound bad in its own right... it might be natural analog soft clipping (which I think sounds great, personally) but in the world of modern mixing is definitely makes it tough to get the results we're looking for, huh? I don't really like using lots of automation when I don't have to but I guess this is one of those cases!

[takka360]

We are all lazy when it comes to automation but its key to a good mix.

[pauli]

Agreed, but overuse will ruin a mix just as quickly as anything else.

[Pedaling Prince]

I don't really like using lots of automation when I don't have to but I guess this is one of those cases!

Absolutely. Remember, I'm the guy who likes to process as little as possible and avoids automation like the plague; if I thought it was necessary, very likely it must be.