MixWOLPH3 - Draft submission - Eriksimon

[Eriksimon]

So here's mine.

A few remarks: I went for lots of Reverb (it's just that kind of a song, I feel) and for LOUDNESS, and a lot of submix and track compression and stereo spread, ah, as wide as the audible universe... (well, I may be exaggerating a bit much....)
Did I mention that it's drenched in reverb? Drenched? Soaked!

OK, enough with the flippancy, I mixed this track as I think/suspect a commercial "housy" track is mixed, with a very clear and dominant leadvocal with a healthy and uncloaked dose of reverb. To me that dutchie trancy synth is musically (chord progressions) the dominant factor (dûh!) together with the THUMB-TAC-THUMB-TAC 'drummer', so those are the three I put at centerstage: 1. Vocal 2. (Chord)Synth and 3. Kick'n Snare
So this is my interpretation of how this kind of tracks usually sounds. Isn't this roughly the "dutch" sound? Tiëstoic? You see, I'm pretty unfamiliar with the DJ and House scene and -music (yes, even though I'm Dutch), it's all new to me: my first project with just Logic & Apple plugins, and my first House/club track mix and my first Scandinavian Eurovision Song Contest entry mix... (is it...?)

The song grew on me too. It probably helps that I don't understand the lyrics though... but I just like the craft of mixing it...

Ah, Ellemay...

and of course, a first of making it (really) LOUD - just bypass AdLimiter on Stereo Output for the un"mastered" mix.

Later edit: I have already made some more tweaks to the mix (made the snare stand out more, dialed back some of the reverb on the bridge vocals) I can't just sit here and wait for someone to say something before working on it some more, I want to get on with it, even finish it. Until now I've been working with just my own feedback, but now I would like some from somebody else...

So?

How about it?

Waddaya think?

I'm 'feedbegging' you!



Click here to listen to the mp3

[iStudio72]

my first Scandinavian Eurovision Song Contest entry mix... (is it...?)

Thats exactly how i described it!

[iStudio72]

Sadly i have loads of effects and plug-ins missing due to being poor....i mean using Express ...so i can't even hear the vocals and will have to wait for an MP3 version to have any idea how it should sound.

Except for one thing....LOUDNESS, you definitely went for LOUDNESS lol

[Eriksimon]

Feedbackbump!

[camillo jr]

Having a big yard party today but I will definitely have some feedback soon. Been listening to your mix with a fine toothed comb so I can deliver a fine couthed tome!

In the meantime, what was this illegal plug doing in your song? Help! Mixwolph police!

[Eriksimon]

Having a big yard party today but I will definitely have some feedback soon. Been listening to your mix with a fine toothed comb so I can deliver a fine couthed tome!

Have fun! My mixes are better listened with a coarse brush though... mrgreen again.

In the meantime, what was this illegal plug doing in your song? Help! Mixwolph police!

That illegal plugin is a mystery to me! I HAD used the Brainworx Dynamic Range Meter, but I removed it as not to alarm the (wolph-)pack leader. But it appears that I had the TAL-chorus in there too...??? I can't even remember that... odd... I'll get on it right away...

edit: well, my very, very bad, it's on the 'bass long' track, probably something I did very early on and forgot to 'Logiccify'.
The TAL Chorus is a freebie though, you could install it...
http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2814.html

I'll think I'll try the Pedalboard for a similar Chorus, as I'm not too fond of the Logic Chorus plug (the one in the Modulation section).

[camillo jr]

Oh what a party - with two free bands thrown in. On the one day of the year we decide to have a backyard music party with acoustic jamming with all my musician friends, the neighbors a few house over decide to do something similar - but with TWO amplified rock bands for their birthday party! We had to do a bit of negotiation to get them to give us a bit of time to let our jam happen. It all ended well, we had a great time but I think some other neighbors were not so happy about what was essentially an amplified concert at their doorstep. Some cops came into our yard at one point looking for the noisy band and we pointed them down the street!

Allright then..... feedback.... feedback.... feedback.... feedback.... feedback

In general, my main suggestion is about using less reverb, which you have already mentioned that you're going to do. In fact, maybe even consider if certain parts (whether vocals or synths) really need any reverb at all - in the service of creating a more dimensional mix. For example, I mostly like the reverb on the chorus voice but overall, the choruses sound kind of mushy to me and not "hitting" like a chorus should. Maybe it's partly because of all the 'verb on the Chorus Lead parts (the synth files of the same name). And I just noticed that there's verb on the Plucky parts too. Do they both need it? When I solo the Chorus Lead synths, they sound fantastic but with everything else going the chorus sounds a bit murky.

Getting into the second verse, again, I'd make a distinction between what needs reverb and what doesn't. Like those plucky synths, they might sound good just dry, no verb at all, since the voice has lots of verb already. But then, that's the choice I made in my mix!

The voice in the second half of the Bridge, same thing, too cavernous. Maybe a thinner sounding reverb might do the trick, or one where some low mids are EQ'd out. And I want to hear more whispers in the bridge! The Ambience file in the bridge- does it need reverb? Could it do without it all together?

I like the panning on the Reverse voice in verse one. I might use that too. REALLY like the AUMatrixverb you've got on "Chorus Lead" synth. I like AUMatrix although it doesn't let you hear the tail whenever you stop the song. That juicy big sound was what I was looking for in Space Designer and got fairly close but this one is pretty nice. I'll be saving that preset! One of your own?

On a more techy note, one thing that seems rather daring is the way you've used the Multipressor to compress all the vocals en mass. I would wonder if that creates a trade-off between simplicity and control! As I step through the vocal sections with the ALLVOX channel soloed, I can hear it having different effects on each section, particularly the Outro, where you can hear some obvious pumping. On the plus side of that - I like the grittiness that creates in the Outro voice. But on a workflow level, I tend to prefer smaller groupings in addition to individual compression, just to guarantee a combo of both fullness with as few artifacts as possible.

One question about the plugs in your output chain - were they on while you were mixing or did you add those plugs after?

[Eriksimon]

Camillo, thank you very much for your detailed report, insights, questions, ideas and suggestions. Appreciated.

I'll go into more detailed answering later, but the first, basic idea of what I wanted it to (sort of) sound like is this:


O, and to answer about my "mastering": no, I add those not before the balance of the drums and vocals is roughly OK, but I keep them bypassed when finetweaking the mix. I used to be very sloppy with that, but you cannot really mix sensibly with those active - especially the AdLimiter.

I'll respond in some more detail later on!

regards, Erik.

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

Everything's very sharp and shiny in your mix!

That "Bridge Synth" is perhaps a bit too sharp, I had problems with that myself.

Also, the kick has lost a bit of it's "oomph", though that could be my lack of studio monitors...

And I agree with Camillo, your vocals are being mushed up by all that verb.

[ruari]

Hey Erik

I've had a listen through your mix & it's very subtle almost to the point of being un-detectable but there does seem to be a hint of REVERB placed throughout your mix


I'll give you a more critical response once I've listened through a couple of times & had a chance to listen to everyone elses.

[Eriksimon]

Hey Erik

I've had a listen through your mix & it's very subtle almost to the point of being un-detectable but there does seem to be a hint of REVERB placed throughout your mix

No, not at all; I just mix in a very big room.




Actually, I simply sucked it from the other mixes...

[camillo jr]

ROTFLMAO!!!!