80's?

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eviljoker7075

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Hey, I am helping my brother record a piece of music for school today and he needs to make it sound like an 80's style song... I was just wondering what mixing techniques could I use to further this?

He needs to write up about it later so it would be good for him to have something to say about the way it was mixed to relate it back to an 80's style. It's kinda like the classic rock style, like Bon Jovi or Bryan Adams or something, just to give you more of an idea.

Thanks for any help :)
 
Im not so sure it was a mixing thing but more instumentation. Lots of keys in 80's. There was a good amount of kick and snare in the mixes. Sometimes it was hard to separate the two.
 
If you're recording digitally, keep your recordings to 16-bit. Perhaps slightly over-accentuate the 10kHz range on non-vocal tracks or on the mix; not too much, just enough to suggest early-grade digital conversion brittleness.

Use lot's of synths in the arrangements from Korg, Oberheim and Sequential Circuits.

Thick reverb and delays.

Synth drums, not samples. If you use natural drums, mic 'em all and spread them very artifically across the pan space, much like 21st century headbanging.

Thin ties and big hair. ;) :D

These are all stereotypes, of course. But so is the question.

G.
 
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Yeah... keyboards were a big thing, deep, boomy toms on drums, heavy snare and bass drum sound with gated reverb *mm*, and a nice, horribly thick reverb on the vocals... at least that's how Lionel Richie did it, and if he was doin it wrong, well I don't want to be right :eek:
 
Also be sure to listen to some 80's artists. Imitating them will get you close to wher eyou need to be. Phil Collins pretty much had the 80's sound as far as drums, for example.
 
Get a lexicon reverb and overuse its bright tinny plate settings.
 
The 80's was a long decade and there was a lot going on. Can you get more specific? Are we talking about A flock of Seagulls, The Police, Madonna, Poison, or Metallica?
 
It depends....The 80's were "Prince", "Durna Duran" and "Billy Idol"....but they were also "Iron Maiden", "Poison" and "Motley Crue"....There was also some Billy Joel and Huey lewis thrown in...as well as Michael and Janet Jackson making people dance.

What sound are you going for exactly???
 
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