andrushkiwt
Well-known member
Hey everyone, please share your comments on this mix. I spent about 4 weeks on it, doing only small adjustments at a time and providing for plenty of ear-rest in between mixing sessions.
The intro guitars are Amplitube 4's Orange amps through 2x12's, while the heavy chorus guitars are Amp 4's Dual/Triple Recs through 4x12's. The solo guitars are... crap, can't remember, but definitely 2x12's again, possibly Orange models too. I'm really liking the Orange brand, especially for my style of music. Bass is Ampeg SVT Pro through the matching 8x10, again Amp4. Drums are SuperiorD2 (snare is the NY Avatar's Black Beauty, while the rest is from the Rock Warehouse kit).
I think I have the bass/kick about where I want them, impact/volume-wise. I made sure those two clicked well together on their own without anything else going. Once in awhile, I'd throw in the vox bus over them, but no guitars, and it still sounded good, so I thought I hit some sweet spot, perhaps. Nice, wide mid-cuts in both kick and bass, but slightly apart. Both have a small top boost (around 7 for the kick and 2.5 for the bass).
The vocals were the biggest obstacle, and it's actually really hard for me to sing lower as I do in the verses. Even without FX or compression, there was a slight harshness in the 6-9 area, so I laid the de-essing techniques on pretty thick. Melodyne doesn't help things like that, so a better choice would be to track them better, but time doesn't allow me to and I work with what I get out of the vocals. As usual, the vox here are a combination of 12 takes, the best one from every line, sometimes even within the same line. If anyone has any tips on getting that "busted speaker/megaphone" sound, please share them with me. I use that sound in the final chorus in this song, replacing what was in earlier choruses a normal/clean vocal passage with a distorted (Saturation Knob VST) megaphone sound. My processing is: EQ (HP 500hz, LP 3khz - the most important part of that sound), compression, compression, and the sat knob. I then sent it to the drum verb bus. And yes, that autotune sound is intentional on those lines.
The chorus is double tracked with the second take about 3db's underneath. The whole song has a stereo chorus vocal (if a doubled section, then the better take only) that runs underneath it all for some thickness and spread. The rate of that chorus is the minimum since I don't want it to actually tremolo or vibrate, but the delay is 7ms, full spread, and 70% depth. One compressor catches the vocal bus peaks with a fast attack and release, and the second compressor reduces the overall volume with a very slow attack and medium release. Both compressors give 4db max reduction.
Sorry to write a book about the vocals, but I thought they were the biggest challenge and I wanted to clarify my approach. AT4040, self-made iso booth (i hung thick blankets from the ceiling tiles in the basement in a 5x5 square and used a reflection filter too).
I'm most happy with the solo section and its buildup, as well as the final chorus. I wanted the buildup to sound big, ambient, and cinematic. I was able to use my knuckles to knock on the guitar to create some feedback on the high-gain/overdriven lead guitars, and you can hear it just before the solo, during the buildup. Not having access to true/real feedback via real amps is one of my biggest complaints from using sims, but I tried and I think it worked alright here.
If Soundcloud is butchering my high end, please let me know.
Shadows in my room,
won't you run and hide?
I see them chasing you,
it's safer here inside.
Have I paid my debt?
I give what I can't keep.
The word that you regret
has taken over me.
My head is aching now.
Stop the world from shaking underground.
I can be your sunlight,
you can be my daydream,
underneath the dark skies,
beneath the moonbeams.
Break the silence now,
the whispers talk to me
about the beautiful
voices in my dreams.
Have I paid my debt?
I give what I can't keep.
The word that you regret
has taken over me.
My head is aching now.
Stop the world from shaking underground.
I can be your sunlight,
you can be my daydream
underneath the dark skies,
beneath the moonbeams.
And I'm not angry -
I've adjusted just fine
to the way you've made me.
The intro guitars are Amplitube 4's Orange amps through 2x12's, while the heavy chorus guitars are Amp 4's Dual/Triple Recs through 4x12's. The solo guitars are... crap, can't remember, but definitely 2x12's again, possibly Orange models too. I'm really liking the Orange brand, especially for my style of music. Bass is Ampeg SVT Pro through the matching 8x10, again Amp4. Drums are SuperiorD2 (snare is the NY Avatar's Black Beauty, while the rest is from the Rock Warehouse kit).
I think I have the bass/kick about where I want them, impact/volume-wise. I made sure those two clicked well together on their own without anything else going. Once in awhile, I'd throw in the vox bus over them, but no guitars, and it still sounded good, so I thought I hit some sweet spot, perhaps. Nice, wide mid-cuts in both kick and bass, but slightly apart. Both have a small top boost (around 7 for the kick and 2.5 for the bass).
The vocals were the biggest obstacle, and it's actually really hard for me to sing lower as I do in the verses. Even without FX or compression, there was a slight harshness in the 6-9 area, so I laid the de-essing techniques on pretty thick. Melodyne doesn't help things like that, so a better choice would be to track them better, but time doesn't allow me to and I work with what I get out of the vocals. As usual, the vox here are a combination of 12 takes, the best one from every line, sometimes even within the same line. If anyone has any tips on getting that "busted speaker/megaphone" sound, please share them with me. I use that sound in the final chorus in this song, replacing what was in earlier choruses a normal/clean vocal passage with a distorted (Saturation Knob VST) megaphone sound. My processing is: EQ (HP 500hz, LP 3khz - the most important part of that sound), compression, compression, and the sat knob. I then sent it to the drum verb bus. And yes, that autotune sound is intentional on those lines.
The chorus is double tracked with the second take about 3db's underneath. The whole song has a stereo chorus vocal (if a doubled section, then the better take only) that runs underneath it all for some thickness and spread. The rate of that chorus is the minimum since I don't want it to actually tremolo or vibrate, but the delay is 7ms, full spread, and 70% depth. One compressor catches the vocal bus peaks with a fast attack and release, and the second compressor reduces the overall volume with a very slow attack and medium release. Both compressors give 4db max reduction.
Sorry to write a book about the vocals, but I thought they were the biggest challenge and I wanted to clarify my approach. AT4040, self-made iso booth (i hung thick blankets from the ceiling tiles in the basement in a 5x5 square and used a reflection filter too).
I'm most happy with the solo section and its buildup, as well as the final chorus. I wanted the buildup to sound big, ambient, and cinematic. I was able to use my knuckles to knock on the guitar to create some feedback on the high-gain/overdriven lead guitars, and you can hear it just before the solo, during the buildup. Not having access to true/real feedback via real amps is one of my biggest complaints from using sims, but I tried and I think it worked alright here.
If Soundcloud is butchering my high end, please let me know.
Shadows in my room,
won't you run and hide?
I see them chasing you,
it's safer here inside.
Have I paid my debt?
I give what I can't keep.
The word that you regret
has taken over me.
My head is aching now.
Stop the world from shaking underground.
I can be your sunlight,
you can be my daydream,
underneath the dark skies,
beneath the moonbeams.
Break the silence now,
the whispers talk to me
about the beautiful
voices in my dreams.
Have I paid my debt?
I give what I can't keep.
The word that you regret
has taken over me.
My head is aching now.
Stop the world from shaking underground.
I can be your sunlight,
you can be my daydream
underneath the dark skies,
beneath the moonbeams.
And I'm not angry -
I've adjusted just fine
to the way you've made me.