Morgan Delt Mixing Technique

wetparsnip

New member
I've been wondering how Morgan Delt makes his music sound the way it does. It sounds like he does some heavy compression on his songs, or maybe he's just using automation a lot. Does anyone have an idea?

Example of this can be heard on Morgan Delt's song, Barbarian Kings.
 
I just recently got turned on to Morgan Delt. He has become a favorite of mine over the last couple months.

I don’t know if the OP is him or not....don’t think so...but regardless, I’d be curious to hear how to get some of the sounds he’s using.
 
Check out Barbarian Kings....specifically the Bass sound.

YouTube

Anyone have any advice? I really love that tone. Kinda Beatles or early Floyd.
 
Interesting. Not something that I find personally good though... Tons of saturation and a wash of verb and delay would be the basics if you were to try to emulate.

I am sure there is much more to how he gets there and not knocking him. Just not my style. I quit doing mushrooms and LSD many years ago....
 
Well...different strokes, for sure. I’m really digging a lot of the newer psych bands *shrug*

Ok maybe it’s not your style, but any tips on that bass sound? I know it’s quite saturated but there’s something else going on with it. I think it has to do with the recording technique and some EQ/comp in the mix, but I have no idea how to get there.

The bass has a unique attack....it’s very 60’s and awesome.
 
The bass sound is overdriven valve bass amps. Happened in the 60's and 70's due to that was all there was and the bass player was trying to keep the volume up with the guitarist LOL

Alan.
 
The bass sound is overdriven valve bass amps. Happened in the 60's and 70's due to that was all there was and the bass player was trying to keep the volume up with the guitarist LOL

Alan.

Thanks for your snark-free answer. Yes clearly the overdriven amp is a big part, but there’s something about the attack that I find interesting. Maybe it’s a compression thing. I’m no mix engineer so I dunno...just trying to learn.

I wonder what kind of bass/strings/pickups/amp combination gets you mostly there.
 
If you use an old passive Fender Precision, I don't know about newer passive ones, if has a natural attack that sounds compressed when played hard. I know I have one. If sounds kind of fuzzy when soloed but sits in the mix fantastic.

A lot of old recordings were done on the Precision.

Alan.
 
If you use an old passive Fender Precision, I don't know about newer passive ones, if has a natural attack that sounds compressed when played hard. I know I have one. If sounds kind of fuzzy when soloed but sits in the mix fantastic.

A lot of old recordings were done on the Precision.

Alan.

Good advice...thanks man!

I don’t own a real one (and finding a vintage one is not really in the budget) but I think Modo Bass has a model....I’ll try it out.
 
You could try a Cheaper Mexican Precision but make sure it has the old style pickup setup with the single split layout.

Alan.

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Check out Barbarian Kings....specifically the Bass sound.

Anyone have any advice? I really love that tone. Kinda Beatles or early Floyd.

Without criticizing or commenting on the overall quality, this guy is using a lot of bit reduction and stuff like tape and vinyl saturation to intentionally (I assume intentionally) muddy up the sound. The guitar riffs at 2:17 imply tape emulators - the Wow/Flutter settings are ramped up to the n-th degree here. The other thing that implies heavy tape emulation is the absence of sibilance throughout the entire track. You can distort and mangle sounds with plugins like Kings Mics by Waves, Izotope Trash 2, SoundToys decapitator etc... Also the guitar riffs are way hotter than the lead vocal which makes no sense to me, but its a 'unique' characteristic of this guys mix be it good or bad.

I wouldn't model this guys mixing work. I hope that helps identify some of the key components in whats going on here, but honestly, if I commissioned a mix and someone sent me that as a deliverable (that's the term for a finished recording) I'd fire them. Look - I think the elements in that mix are appealing to you have to do with arrangement, composition, source, and feel. I think the music is what you're drawn to. The mix itself is terrible.
 
What is good about this? uHHHH ,nothing.

Thanks for your *opinion*
I hope you feel better.

Something tells me if I looked at your music collection, I’d feel much the same way, but I have good manners so I’d keep it to myself, Sparky.
 
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