Evening Star - "Live drums/resampled" blended

K

K-dub

Well-known member


The original performance was really good, but the individual drums weren't "popping" in the way I wanted. So I went through and took the original individual pieces, and blended sampled drums into the kick/snare/tom parts in order to better isolate and pan them.

What that (hopefully) resulted in is a live stereo drum performance that has better clarity and "push" to the track than the original - which I thought sounded kind of muddy and indistinct on its own. Adding sample blends over individual parts IS the original performance, just slight enhanced for sonic distinctiveness.
 
I'm listening on Sennheiser BT headphones.

Every other snare hit sounds distant and the kick's sub is dominating the mix - it sounds out of place (to me). Otherwise, nice song.
 
I use Sennheiser HD600s. Awesome phones - albeit slightly bassy. You'd think I'd have mixed the kick down a little more! :D
 
Too much compression on the vocals perhaps? Also excessive siblance on the cymbals. It might work just to lower those in the mix instead of EQing. Great song btw.
 
I likely do have too much compression on the lead vocal. I have NOTHING on the OH tracks (which pick up the cymbals) - but I DO have a master bus for the drums that I have compression on to glue it all together. I will play w/ the levels - as I was concerned with the same myself. That you picked up on it is helpful information. Thank you!
 
Agree with Frank. The whole thing seems way overcompressed. Like you were trying for loudness rather than dynamics. And not for the better.

It's a nice song. And the performance is good. But the mastering leaves a lot to be desired. Back off and let it breathe a little. It's not a loudness contest.
 


Now revised with suggestions garnered from the board.

MUCH less compression on the lead vocal. Less also on the drums. Some highs trimmed off the cymbals. Brought level of kick down substantially also. Made minor adjustments in some other string parts.
 
I'm still hearing heavy pulsation with the kick. Like the subs in a 10K watt car system. That's OK if it's your intention - personal taste. It's still a nice song :listeningmusic:
 
The frequencies are still there, but I dropped the db on the track at least 9 back. I do have a low pulse dialed in on EQ - as I like the distinct push/pull between the snare and kick.

Curiously, it wasn't until I hit -6db that it really started to sound like it was dropping. Up to that point, there wasn't much of a noticeable difference. Once I hit that level, though, the dropped was marked.

... and as much as I'd like to remove the compression on the drums, they were sent to me compressed - so I can only do so much due to the source tracks.
 
Btw ... I believe it was BECAUSE of the compression on the drums, they kind of lacked the "pop" and clarity I wanted - requiring the aforementioned supplementation.
 
Rene Asologuitar said:
Nice vocals. Sounds a bit digital to me.
A sound that is more normal and simpler would be pleasant.
The mix is just right.
Thanks for sharing.
Rene
Click to expand...
Often, Rene, when we assemble tracks from contributors on the internet, you're handed something that is difficult to work with because the source tracks have the audio baked into them, and they sound the way they sound.

I agree with you.
 


I did a video of the newer mix btw ... because it was cold out, and I was looking to keep busy with a project one afternoon. :D
 
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