A minimalist experiment

  • Thread starter Thread starter K-dub
  • Start date Start date
diggy_dude said:
I know what you're saying, Kevin. I was just thinking if it were me, I'd put a tinge of reverb on them and push them back in the mix. Not a hall or cathedral, but something that would make them sound like they were behind the lead singer a little ways, rather than looking over his shoulder.

Just thinking aloud, dunno if it makes any sense.

Jim
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AH ... better put, Jim. I understand your point clearer in context. Thanks for the nuance ... for now I get your specific better. You thought they were equal/too close behind lead singer.

... get it ... and thanks for the perspective.

Best,

Kev-
 
K-dub said:
AH ... better put, Jim. I understand your point clearer in context. Thanks for the nuance ... for now I get your specific better. You thought they were equal/too close behind lead singer.

... get it ... and thanks for the perspective.

Best,

Kev-
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Yes, that's it. Too equal to the lead singer.
 
diggy_dude said:
Yes, that's it. Too equal to the lead singer.
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New mix up top.

- Wet the lead vocal
- Modulated/Widened the bgv's and pulled them back slightly
- Snare a little more forward
- Nah Nahs up in volume
- Piano and guitar another db or so up (I tried the pan thing, but came of "gimmicky" to me)

Thanks to all who added their two cents!

Best,

Kev-
 
You're such a great songwriter, Kev, and this is another fine example.
Got nothing critical on the mix, sounds very good to me. Love the vocal harmonies. Man, this is radio stuff.:)
 
joeym said:
You're such a great songwriter, Kev, and this is another fine example.
Got nothing critical on the mix, sounds very good to me. Love the vocal harmonies. Man, this is radio stuff.:)
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I post in many places, Joe. The weird thing about this is although it's a piece I personally think I did a good job on ... it's not sort of the kind of song that resonates ...

... and sometimes I'll post on Facebook or other places ... and ... watch the tumbleweeds cross the comments.

Post stuff that resonates ... and the comments occur like vomit at a frat party.

I really like what I did here ... and that's all that matters to me as I do what I do. My puzzle is why it doesn't resonate better.

Thanks for the thoughts, bud.

Kev-
 
K-dub said:
New mix up top.

- Wet the lead vocal
- Modulated/Widened the bgv's and pulled them back slightly
- Snare a little more forward
- Nah Nahs up in volume
- Piano and guitar another db or so up (I tried the pan thing, but came of "gimmicky" to me)

Thanks to all who added their two cents!

Best,

Kev-
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Dude. This kicks ass!!! Punchy in all the right places, and you freakin' NAILED the backing vocals. Very nicely done! :)
 
Thanks D ...

I thought the 2nd mix improved. The funny exchange about this is that there are folks here that know me to think the 347th mix to be improved.

I guess I've improved. :)

K-
 
I don't hear anything else that needs improving about it. This one is going on my iPod. :D

Could you give a detailed explanation or play by play of how you mixed this song, what effects were used, etc.?
 
Wow...This is very good.

I have to admit that I was saddened by the lack of vibraphone...It's one of my favorite instruments. It's all, "dawawawawa" sounding...Which reminds me, does anybody know of a good vibraphone plugin?...back to the song.

There is nothing that seems wrong. The piano is right on, the vocals, everything. What kind of plugin are you using for the drums? Until I read, I didn't know! I thought they were real!

Great job!

-Adam.
 
propman said:
Wow...This is very good.

I have to admit that I was saddened by the lack of vibraphone...It's one of my favorite instruments. It's all, "dawawawawa" sounding...Which reminds me, does anybody know of a good vibraphone plugin?...back to the song.

There is nothing that seems wrong. The piano is right on, the vocals, everything. What kind of plugin are you using for the drums? Until I read, I didn't know! I thought they were real!

Great job!

-Adam.
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Thanks Adam! The vibraphone is still there - it's in the end of the song only, ringing on each chord change. It is very subtle ... mostly overtones. I'm using the vibraphone plug that came with Garritan Jazz Band 3.

The drums are Superior 2 ... and I used midi clips that came with it. I've mixed them loud, because like I said above, I started this thinking I was only going to use drums and bass ... so I wanted them dominant in the mix. Aside from setting levels and eq w/in the plug itself, I apply two plugs across the track - The first is Major Tom -- a Stillwell compressor, the second is Boost11 a limiter that comes w/in Sonar, my DAW. I set the drum plug at -14db -- so that the drums can breath, and then adjust the other two plugs to how aggressive I want them to sound ... which in this case is fairly aggressive.

Best,

Kev-
 
diggy_dude said:
I don't hear anything else that needs improving about it. This one is going on my iPod. :D

Could you give a detailed explanation or play by play of how you mixed this song, what effects were used, etc.?
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Thanks D. A lot of it is trial and error ... and learning from mistakes.

I'll quickly give you a run down of what I've got on each channel, but going into eq settings would be too confusing.

Drums: Mentioned in above post

Bass: Real - only has another Boost11 limiter on it. That's it. Panned center.

Elec git: Line 6 Pod XT source - direct in. Panned far left. No plug in the track itself, but is Aux bussed to a delay panned far right that answers the stabs.

Piano: Ivory plug in that comes with Sonar PE ... panned right ... nothing but the plug itself in the channel. No eq on it either.

Organ: Native Instruments B4II 16' setting. Again, no compression or eq. Panned far right.

Vibraphone: Panned dead center ... low end rolled off.

Strings: 4 channels panned all over the place to fill the space.

Background vocals: 6 channels of me doing various harmonies with different vocal timbres. They're all the same notes, but I mixed up the falsetto parts and the regular voice parts of the same notes and panned them to opposite sides ... making certain to keep a balance of regular voices blended with falsetto so that the submix (which each individual channel is sent to) didn't lean too far one in any direction. The submix was hammered with the Boost Limiter to really squash the blend all tight and together. Then I rolled off the highs and lows so that they stand behind the lead vocalist -- not frequency compete for notice in the mix. I then aux bussed the submix and added subtle modulation effect to thicken and enrich overall.

Nyah Nyah: Eight channels sent to another submix and given similar treatment as the bgv's ... minus the modulation ... because I wanted each channel to be more distinct, w/ less mushing together. (Mush is a technical term)

Lead vocal: Panned center and has three plugs on it -- A Waves Rennaisance Compressor sent to a VC64 Vocal channel (included in Sonar) to the Boost 11 limiter (also included in Sonar). The delay is in the VC 64 ... and the other two are used to level the vocal in the pocket.

Main Buss: The Boost 11 again ... dialed in VERY lightly just to trim the peaks.

I hope this helps explain a little better. If you've any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer.

Best,

Kev-
 
Thanks, Kevin. :)

I have to say this song puts me in mind of early Steve Perry-era Journey, sans the over-the-top reverb that engineers were so fond of in those days. I'm not saying you sound like Perry, nor should you - he has his fair share of imitators already. It's just that good time, Chevy van at the lake on a Saturday afternoon, classic pop rock vibe that you've captured so well.
 
Good work Kev - the new mix has just rounded it off really nicely.
 
This song has a great bass line that should drive this song, but in places it doesn't because of the drums. The snare to my ear is too loud in the verses. The double stopped electric guitar in the chorus is too loud as well. Love the vocal harmonies, they sound great. Those are my first impressions without reading other comments. Really like the song.
 
Because you didn't read ahead, you didn't know that this was intended to be a drum/bass song ... and as such was the original intention. Your comments are actually insightful because you didn't read ahead ... and so they were uncolored by forknowledge.

The rest was added because the basis was artistically deficient.

Thanks -- really,

Kev-
 
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