A/B'ing two mixes of Smells Like Teen Spirit...

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
I came across this tonight while checking out some mixing videos on YouTube. I thought I'd share it with you guys to get your opinions.

Comparing The Andy Wallace & Butch Vig Mixes Of Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit - YouTube

This is a side by side comparison of the original SLTS mix, by Butch Vig, the engineer, and by Andy Wallace. The poster of the video compares the two mixes, switching between each, so that the differences in technique and approach are highlighted. Something I don't like is that he never mentions if either of the mixes had gone through mastering, or if they were both the raw mixes. Either way, the end story is that Andy Wallace's version was chosen and it is the sound we all know today. Personally, I like the airiness of the BV mix, though I suppose it could get fatiguing after some time. But when compared side to side, there is just an openness and hi-fi sound to the BV mix, while the AW mix seems hallow and low-passed.

What do you think?

edit: I wanted to add that it's also a good case-study and chance to see how much personal preference there is in mixing music, and just how far across the spectrum from dark to bright, open to compressed, big to small, etc... sounds can be in this field. Certainly, either are acceptable pieces of work. Yet, they are both drastically different.
 
Robus said:
I couldn't tell what was what in that video.
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What do you mean, you didn't hear the differences in the mixes?

Right from the opening chord, there is a massive difference. In the AW version, the guitar is more muddy and honky....the BV is very clear and hi-fi, you can hear every single note in the chords during the opening riff. The strings that aren't played, in the BV version, give a nice sheen during that riff. It almost sounds like a full chord, though the highest strings are x'd out.

Listening on HD280's, btw.
 
Just that he is switching back and forth without telling you when. As much time as he spends talking, he could work on clueing his viewer in on the important things. I was listening with youtube minimized and wasn't sure what was playing when. I got the difference in the drums though. Huge. If you cuold have the fullness of Vig's mix and the presence of Wallace's, it would be perfect.
 
Wow the vig version sounds huge. The drums do kind of get buried but I think there's more energy anyway.
 
I like the released wallace version. It is the mix that killed the hairbands and put grunge on the map. Its iconic
 
a cool comparison but the guy talks instead of letting us know which one hes playing, it seems it could have been done better with just him telling the listener (and highlighting the sample) and not talking so much.

"it just felt so...uh...well more contempory uh well hold onlets ..uhm...ok...but this one sounds so bigger but here is well now before I do that let me just go back and play this but before I do that I wanted to let you hear how much softer and bigger and smaller it all is but ug....before I do that I want to replay the one ...well wait that was the wrong no..ok well now I'll play you the wait uhm...I really liek this one...but the other one is...."

wtf?
 
CoolCat said:
a cool comparison but the guy talks instead of letting us know which one hes playing, it seems it could have been done better with just him telling the listener (and highlighting the sample) and not talking so much.

"it just felt so...uh...well more contempory uh well hold onlets ..uhm...ok...but this one sounds so bigger but here is well now before I do that let me just go back and play this but before I do that I wanted to let you hear how much softer and bigger and smaller it all is but ug....before I do that I want to replay the one ...well wait that was the wrong no..ok well now I'll play you the wait uhm...I really liek this one...but the other one is...."

wtf?
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IDK, I guess they were so drastically different that I knew which one was playing without him telling me. He might have bumbled them a few times, but I didn't have much trouble following along with what was happening.
 
I liked the BV mix better. The AW mix tended to have a lot more 1K range stuff dialed in (or the BV took it out). The Vig mix had a bunch more power. It had more reverb, but I'm willing to overlook that. :)
 
I wonder if the decision to use one mix over the other was based in part on trends- big reverb in rock was kind of out of vogue in the 90s I think. Seems like back then, bone dry and in your face was the rule. Except for chorus, they put chorus on everything. :P
 
yeah that makes sense, think of the sound systems of the time and the fads.
Maybe the target mix was for MTV tv speakers? cassette decks and CD for cars...maybe some computer playback. VinylAlbums were probably dead by then werent they? I recall buying cassettes of it and MTV played it over and over.

There is a huge difference in mixes.... really interesting. Who made the Big Decision?

I found having to look to the far right to see the active channel per the VU meter helped.
 
CoolCat said:
There is a huge difference in mixes.... really interesting. Who made the Big Decision?
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Per Rolling Stone (though this doesn't really answer your question):

"Mixing the record, the band and producer hit another snag. "Kurt kept trying to bury his voice," says Vig. "I kept arguing, 'You can't do that. Your vocal performance is as intense as the drums and the bass and the guitar.'"

Vig eventually won the argument, but his mixes didn't make it onto the album. The band decided to hire an outside engineer. Andy Wallace, who'd worked with Slayer, gave Nevermind its incredible sonic sheen – something Cobain never admitted to being comfortable with. Talking about "Teen Spirit," he told Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad, "It's such a perfect mixture of cleanliness and nice, candy-ass production. . . It may be extreme to some people who aren't used to it, but I think it's kind of lame, myself."

And, to answer your question, per PureVolume:

"After recording, Vig initially started off to mix the album as well but both Vig and Nirvana were not satisfied with their results so they decided to call in someone else to mix the album. DGC sent them a list with possible options. Cobain did not want to use mixers that had worked with other bands he liked because he did not want to sound like them, so he decided to call in the guy at the bottom of the list after whose name it read 'Slayer': Andy Wallace. Later Cobain would complain in the press that Wallace had made Nevermind sound too slick, although Wallace had been his own choice and the bandmembers themselves had been involved in the mixing process.1 Wallace, however, had tempered the band's indie rock leanings, and had created a mainstream-ready rock sound that others would attempt to duplicate for the next decade."
 
I like the Wallace one a lot more.
The Vig one has better sounding drums in isolation but not within the track. The lo-fi guitar opening on the Wallace one is killer.
 
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