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A Reason To Leave - FAQ from the author
#1
Hey there fellow mixers!

Here are a few info about the song "A Reason To Leave" that you might find useful when attempting to mix it:

General

This one is special to me. I think this is the one where I've best achieved the kind of blend of various styles that I like, mainly jazz, rock, blues and pop.

It's also because of that probably the most difficult to mix, because there is quite a big contrast between the sections, some parts being overtly jazz (mainly the instrumental parts and the verses) and some more (soft) rock oriented. Blending them into one song and make them flow seamlessly is not an easy task IMHO.
There are also elements of pop in the vocals, with the chorus trying as hard as I can to be hooky and of course a strong blues/rock element in the outro.

I think the reference mix is doing a rather good job at blending all these elements.

The lyrics are half joke half serious. This is about saying to a person you love: Give me a Reason to leave you! So it's about an obsession that is clearly destructive and the only way out is to leave that person, but it's harder than it sounds...

Honestly I'm quite proud of this one because I think I succeeded in creating a coherent blend of all these styles with my own touch.
See if you can enhance that and make it shine and you'll have succeeded yourself!

Recording

Recorded in an untreated room, using a portable vocal booth that I use as a gobo to shield from computer noises, a sofa and a mattress and a SE Electronics Reflection filter for vocals.
The vocals have been tracked with an ADK Hamburg condenser mic direct into my RME UCX audio interface.
The drums are Superior Drummer, with the Roots Sticks SDX
The bass is Spectrasonics Trillian VST, studio bass model.
The Rhodes is AAS Lounge Lizard
The vibraphone is UVI Vibsys
There is an additional electric piano (from Native Instruments Kontakt I think)
The guitars are tracked with a Variax JTV (Hollow body, ES335 and Les-Paul model) into a Kemper Profiling Amplifier (don't remember the exact profiles, I think there was a Roland JCV, a Hiwatt and or a Vox AC30), direct into my interface using SPDIF outputs.
There are 2 tambourines, one from Superior Drummer, the other from Stylus RMX

Pay attention to

As I said the most important thing is to make the transitions between the sections sound natural and not forced.
The drums during the "jazzy" part could be rather ambient, but should be rocking more during the chorus and outro (sample replacement could be needed, and you can use the MIDI provided to augment the drums or replace if you feel the need.
The guitars used have been multed into a few tracks, this should help you give them different treatments.
I've used various models for the rhythm guitars and the 3 solos, the first is a hollow body, is supposed to sound like a jazz guitar, the second solo uses a semi-hollow body (ES335) and can use more delay or saturation, and the last one is a Les Paul Junior and can probably support more saturation if needed. I'd keep that progression in your mix, it makes sense.
There is a "DroneGTR" that is suppose to accent the groove at a few points, it shouldn't be too loud but should be felt when it's there.
The bass might need some different EQ and compression automation during the verses and the chorus. It needs to drive the chorus groove.
The bgvs are quite important during the chorus, they provide the hook, make them work!
The groove in the chorus is really bass against guitar syncopation, the snare can be understood as the proverbial cowbell in that part, it's important but rather rigid, the groove is elsewhere... the bgvs are also working to accentuate the groove BTW.
The outro has the more blues/rock solo, but there are also a few extra guitars that are adding to the feel, I really think they should be heard.
The song ends with a fade, of course I haven't exported the sources with that fade, but I've heard a few mixes where people just let it end abruptly, it doesn't make sense to me. In my reference mix, the fade happens between bar 155 and 167 (with a BPM at 156 - 4/4), feel free to make it shorter or longer if you want but do fade out!

What I would expect

You take whatever you want of the above and any advice I could give. Provided you have a coherent vision for the song that matches its feel and 'message' and keep the musical elements and styles and possibly enhance them and you will have a golden mix!

Keep the transients as much as possible, this is not one to be squashed. Punch is good, over compression is bad.
Make sure that the songs gradually gain in intensity, the peak should be the last chorus and the outro.
This should groove, all the elements are there, make sure you enhance the right ones at the right time and it should work.
I'd like to hear a mix that is better than my reference mix, I know that I'm not always good with ambience so that's what's probably lacking, perhaps some EQ decisions were a bit too much (the bass is a bit boxy now that I listen to it), I wonder if it's possible to achieve a smoother sound but keep it punchy... I told you this one was a challenge!

Happy mixing! Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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