80's pop/new wave - ideas for minimalism vs. stereo width and frequency content

rileyw

New member
Hello all,

I will be producing and mixing an 80's synth pop / new wave type project, and would appreciate some advice and ideas:
With a background in producing, recording and mixing rock and metal I have been spoiled with distorted guitars and acoustic drums providing a rich frequency spectrum and stereo width.

However, this type of sound tends to be very minimalistic: mainly drum machine, FM synth bass and vocals, and a few other FM or analog synth sounds for added effect.

How would you go about to make sure that the final product doesn't feel too dull and empty?

Already in the pre-production phase I'm confused on how to plan ahead for panning: bass, kick, snare/clap and lead vocals will be sitting in the middle obviously. Some stereo effects can come from panned toms and hihats as well as stereo vocal dubs and harmonies. But any ideas on how I can think regarding the synth leads, chords, etc.? Mostly in the middle? Or should I try to keep two instruments going at the same time as much as possible so they can be panned out without the mix leaning to one side? Should I think about how the different synth sounds occupy different frequency ranges?

Or should I just embrace it as a part of the sound that it should be minimalistic and it's perfectly fine that the verses are almost mono and let the stereo vocals lift the choruses?

No rights and wrongs obviously - just looking for ideas and experiences! Thanks!
 
First, I'd suggest you listen to some examples of said music to see what was done before. Coming from Rock/Metal where the mixes generally follow the Drums/Bass/Vocals down the middle w/ panned Guitars L/R... I'd probably take advantage of the fact that Synths aren't "expected" to be in certain spots in the mix... so while people probably don't want guitars ping ponging back and forth having synths swirling around your head would probably be preferred. The fact that people aren't expecting a band in a room sound should be to your advantage and allow you to experiment. You can check out my Synthpop band in my signature if you're so inclined, but really... use this as an opportunity to do things in a mix you wouldn't normally do! Have fun and good luck!
 
Synths tend to suffer the opposite problem - they fill up the space from left to right, so lots of times, you want to reduce the widths and sometimes use eq in a fairly severe way to give space for the other stuff. For instance, a single finger left hand in the chord keyboard part can often get in the way of the real or synth bass, so you might have to roll the bass end of the pad sounds quite heavily to stop it getting a bit muddy. The excellent Sound on Sound forum has had quite a few topics on this over the years.
 
If you're working with minimal instrumentation, the solution is probably to go with more variety in the arrangement.

Layer on some unexpected harmonies, extra countermelodies on the synths or guits, etc.
 
Thanks for your replies!

Ujn Hunter:
You've got some cool stuff there, keep it up!

rob aylestone:
Yes, I recognize that problem as well, the "music store presets" of many synths which may sound cool when trying something out but is impossible to fit within a mix. However, in this setting this will not be a problem: we're talking about retro synth sounds, FM and analog synths, so the actual sounds will be mono and without additional effects.
 
Arrangements and performance are going to be the key - listen to some of Dave Stewart's or Vince Clarke's productions from that era and you'll hear all kinds of tricks. There was a great interview with Dave Stewart talking about the early Eurythmics recordings in last month's Sound on Sound magazine which might give you a few clues.
 
Arrangements and performance are going to be the key - listen to some of Dave Stewart's or Vince Clarke's productions from that era and you'll hear all kinds of tricks. There was a great interview with Dave Stewart talking about the early Eurythmics recordings in last month's Sound on Sound magazine which might give you a few clues.

i agreed with you
 
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