MERCEDES #1 remix with faux mastering

  • Thread starter Thread starter rayc
  • Start date Start date
That stereo panning works really well...It did exactly what Greg said - separated the guitars from the vocals and widened the mix nicely...
Really sounds good now...

You just jumped this up to another level....:cool:
 
Oh yeah! That wide stereo just opens it right up, makes it a whole new thing now!
I can remember some of the records I used to listen to as a kid.. sometimes you would hear a stereo miced guitar with the phones on, and that was just the best when you almost felt like you were in the same room with it, because the sound was so 3-D. That's right where it's at!

Yay!!

~Shawn
 
I just wanted to say... wow!:eek: cool stuff!! I really dig the guitar. the tone as well as the chromatic decline riff. great mix!:):)
 
Sounds much, much better Ray. :)

Only thing now is that the vox seem kind of bland. Maybe it's the tracking or maybe they're too dry or something, but they seem to lack some "life" in the mix. The level and performance is good, they just seem kind of....just there. Kind of boxy sounding. Maybe try scooping some of the mids out and put a really clean reverb on them.
 
Greg_L said:
Sounds much, much better Ray. :)

Only thing now is that the vox seem kind of bland. Maybe it's the tracking or maybe they're too dry or something, but they seem to lack some "life" in the mix. The level and performance is good, they just seem kind of....just there. Kind of boxy sounding. Maybe try scooping some of the mids out and put a really clean reverb on them.
Click to expand...

I'm kinda with Greg on the vocal sound here, rayc. The vocal on "Softdance" has a very similar sound. If this is the sound that you were shooting for, then you should keep it. But, if you want a more traditional sound to them, then maybe some tweaking would/could help.
If that's the case, would you describe your vocal recording chain, hardware wise, and then any post-processing you applied to this vocal track?

Peace!

~Shawn
 
Eyema & Greg,
It was either a Sennheiser MD441 - Dynamic Directional Studio Microphone or a Tandy Realistic Omni hiball (how's that for extremes?) straight onto a chrome 60 min tape in a Yamaha MT100 4 track cassette machine (as were all the basic tracks). So long ago I can't recall, but probably the Realistic (it was 1986). Vocals on Softdance are the same.
That track was recorded into cakewalk pro audio 9.3 using an inca 8I/8O breakout box & card.
Tape noise removed using a noise sample taken & applied in waverepair.
Current plug in processes:
Main Vox: 3.2 db boost at 4127, Blockfish set at vintage vox with com set at max, attack/release at 50/50, saturation at 1/2 past 9 & output at 1/2 past 1. MDA de esse at threshold -34, freq 4850, HF drive 0.
Motown Exciter companion track: cakewalk compressor 6.4:1 with attack 6.0 release 960.5 & 1.4db gain, EQ slow roll off at 3000, MDA de esse at above, delay 20 & 200 ms at 100% (all wet no dry),
On the final mix are
Claceverb set at final master & Antress Modern Eulator VFME 670 set at threshold 9, gain 5, attack 0.5, release 0.5 (all are the MASTER option).
The Motwon track is running along side the main at about 50% of the main's vol.
I had some reverb on the main vox but it became so chronicly essey that de essers couldn't deal with it.
I'll try the scoop & a different reverb whilst waiting for a response.
Ido, thanks mate - always generous!
Coughmist - ta - & man, what a name - I love it!
Cheers
 
Wait, this thing was tracked in 1986? :eek:

Holy crap dude! I was just learning to masturbate back then!
 
Thats a cool sounding song you have there Ray-the guitars and bass gel together so well. Is that the Roland 505 setting the beats for it all? The 505 would have been a fairly new product back then I reckon.
Is there a lyric sheet on you're site somewhere-they sound great but I would like to understand them all.
Good job..:)
 
I only heard the most recent mix...I love the way the intruments sound on this.

This seems to have a broader, more spacious sound than some of your other recordings I've heard. Guitar sounds great.

Vocals kind of stand out as sounding too different somically from the music. I can't quite explain it, but they almost sound muffled in comparison to the crispy guitar and percussion sounds. I think the vocal performance is fine, I just wonder about how it translated to tape in comparison with the other tracks. I might try lightening them up a bit and making them less dry...?

Anyway...cool tune...
 
Here goes another one.
Greg,
I've tweaked the EQ on the vocal as suggested & dropped some glaceverb (the vocal presets were to bright & essed to the max so I used a piano setting) on it as well.
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4153234&q=hi
The vocal which included the flute so that's why there's some rushing to stop singing & get the flute up to the mouth, basic drum track bass & guitar were recorded in 86 or maybe 87 whichever year the TR505 came out.
Well spotted Anfotan,
My Mrs bought me 1st the MT100 & then the TR505 - top range gear down here at the time - to compensate for the band I was in breaking up & the one we tried to begin no getting passed discussions about what covers to play. Here're the lyrics. the 1st word didn't make it to tape due to the rush from flute. terry will have to record a NO for me & send it down the line.
Oh, the lyrics is fairly directly inspired by the movie The Killing Fields and by our experiences teaching the children of the 1st refugees from Year Zero to arrive in Australia.
Mercedes #1
No chasing wild things through a jungle of bricks,
Doesn’t matter if the rains don’t come.
The sun beats harder here,
It darkens their perceptions,
But don’t they know Mercedes #1.
Running from the feeling of being nowhere,
Smell it in the streets, they just don’t care,
See the shadows move behind the curtain,
In the harsh sunlight people only stare.
Draping powdered monkeys on the palace walls,
Re-educating circles to fit square holes.
Ridding the streets of bourgeois vermin,
Hanging tattered remnants from sharp poles.
Technical college little men,
Crawling on the hallowed tube.
Mercedes #1 Mercedes #1
Makes for more fun
Than working in the sun
Climbing, climbing up the ladder
It’s so hard to hang on.
Mercedes #1 Mercedes #1 Mercedes #1
Heatmiser,
Yeah, the vox are being worked on and are much improved but still more to be done I suppose. Terry is ruminating about retracking but I'm not sure, 20+ years does things to phrasing as well as the voice & I quite like those as they are even though there are issues there's something that tells me to keep the 86ers.
 
Last edited:
Wow ray! That's quite a story....I didn't realize all that. That's awesome! Quite a resurrection! I must say, I don't have a clue as to how to help you. I'm kinda with you though... the original vocal is way cool....yep.... I'd keep it. Didn't I read someplace you had the BBE sonic maximizer plugin? If you do, you might try that on the vocal.... It always seems to boost clarity, no matter what. If not, I guess a good hour or two carved out someplace to get cozy with your EQs might do some good.
Having said all that... I'm gonna load up the vocal from "Softdance" right now and have a listen. :-) I'm tired of working on these out of tune vocals anyways....

Peace!

~Shawn
 
This is a subsequqnt mix after trying the Sonic Max - It made the voice richer BUT the esses went berserk. I've tweaked the EQ a little more with a boost to the upper freqs that doesn't appear to have made the esses ring out.
Whoops that link has an error message - just checked it from the email too & it also has an error. that's two in a week! I wonder what the prob is?
I'll try again later.
 
Last edited:
rayc said:
This is a subsequqnt mix after trying the Sonic Max - It made the voice richer BUT the esses went berserk. I've tweaked the EQ a little more with a boost to the upper freqs that doesn't appear to have made the esses ring out.
Whoops that link has an error message - just checked it from the email too & it also has an error. that's two in a week! I wonder what the prob is?
I'll try again later.
Click to expand...

I think your last mix sounded pretty good ray.
Boy... it's 2:45 am... been dancing softly for quite a while here.... :D
 
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4153234&q=hi
Here's a version with some of the essing managed.
I had MDA de esser on the vox but with minimum benefit. I'd tried Spitfish but it terminated the entire program each time I tried to set it (no such trouble with Blockfish though).
So pretty much as per the last version but with fewer sssssssses spitting out & a smoother glaceverb as a result.
SO Spit & Floorfish don't run well with the cakewalk VST adapter though Blockfish has no problem & work well within it. They both work well within the spin audio wrapper but their location, selection & settings aren't remembered next time I open a project - oh well - freebies after all.
 
Maybe just make the vox louder. There's something about them that makes them seem slightly out of place, but I can't figure out what it is. They're still kind of low in the mix. I'm still thinking that some cuts in the low mids might clean them up and make em a little more polished sounding. The rest sounds really good.
 
Greg's been pretty accurate so far so try the mid cut and up the level slightly to see what you get. When you think about it, the essing should not be affected if you are not increasing the upper eq. The old adage of eq cut instead of boost comes to mind.

Off topic - when are you getting your computer back - it's been months! :D
 
I must say I'm learning quite a bit from this thread......VST's (plugins), Compression, EQ, Panning etc.... :cool:
 
Sorry Folks,
Two uploads to Lightning have garnered links that get error messages & four attempts to update the soundclick version have been terminated by timeout messages. I don't think I'm suppose to post the latest mix today. I'll try again in about 20hrs.
HAVE a good week!
 
rayc said:
Sorry Folks,
Two uploads to Lightning have garnered links that get error messages & four attempts to update the soundclick version have been terminated by timeout messages. I don't think I'm suppose to post the latest mix today. I'll try again in about 20hrs.
HAVE a good week!
Click to expand...

Have you considered satellite internet rayc? It's what I have, and it works pretty good. It's kind of pricey, though :(
 
I'd love to but I'm treed in.
AND...Cable TV stops at the top of the hill, sat TV - well treed in there too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top