Reference

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dyermaker8

New member
Hey Guys, I'm curious about what kinda readership we got going here. To wit, I'm curious about peoples genre specific personal reference tracks/album and how they effect your mixing.

Led Zeppelin - No Quarter ,. Gooey Analog reference and the magic of compression



Dyermaker8
-Make sure your having fun!
 
Hey,
I'll start you off, because of something I was talking about recently with Greg.
Turns out we both recorded a lot of cover songs at one time or another, and the point was either to accurately recreate the original and learn some new techniques, or to do our own thing with it and still learn some techniques.

I've never consciously sat down a chosen reference material to go with a project, but I have spent a lot of time working on cover versions to force myself to do different things.

Now, I'm starting to realise that reference material probably could have helped me a lot too, and I think it's something I'll focus on more in future, but maybe it's interesting that I never really bothered before?

One thing that does strike me often with the music I listen to is how bands or engineers often manage to get a very full sound with very few instruments.
I fell into a groove of layering and layering and layering to achieve a full sound, but very quickly learned that it's not the way to do it.

Hope that's useful.
 
That is exactly what i'm talking about! I'm not only a musican/wanna-be AE, I'm a music fan 1st. And what MY ears like to hear is going to , and should, help with my directional choices. Tracking and mixing decisions are often (sub)genre specific? So what I really want are some good examples of that sort. Sounds and how to acheive them. Then you cut out/arrange all the peices and make a colorwheel,.lol.
 
dyermaker8 said:
I'm curious about peoples genre specific personal reference tracks/album and how they effect your mixing.
Click to expand...

[Dyermaker8 <----> Led Zeppelin - No Quarter]


I never would have guessed you would choose an LZ tune.

;)


References are good if you need something specific to shoot for...like you really want THAT sound on your mix, etc....and of course, they are great for just checking your own mixing setup, that way you know it can deliver what you want.

I think after awhile you just end up with all that music you've listened to a thousand times, forever implanted in your subconcious....so like, you already have a pretty good sense when your recording is going well or not....same way you know which mic to grab for a given task.
Of course, if you really want your recording to sound like "XYZ" song, then it certainly isn't a bad idea to put up that reference and compare them more closely.

I don't really use cover references when mixing my own stuff. I'm just going for the sound that I'm hearing in my head, and often, each recording takes on a life of it's own, so I just roll with it. If it doesn't end up going in a good direction....I start over.
I also avoid listening consciously to covers when I'm writing recording, as I don't really want to "steal" something unknowingly, but yeah, sometimes there might be an effect or some kind of ear candy in some cover that I would like to at least try to employ in my own recording, but without doing a straight 1-1 copy.
 
I would have to agree with Miro, I probably have reference in my head, but I am trying to create something different (I know, there really isn't anything new under the sun). I don't consciously have a reference, but deep down I do.

Back to what Steen stated. I always have worked from a less is more perspective. Mainly for a couple of reasons, one I don't know what I am doing, therefore less to screw up. Two, most artists I like (from Hank Williams, to Rolling Stones, to Blue Grass and all things in between), most music I like tends to be simple arrangements and yet have so much.

Until I know what I am doing, I don't think I will be doing any 10CC "I'm Not In Love" tricks anytime soon.

Great question.
 
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