Stripped down mixing

R

rockabilly

New member
So I have some songs I want to record in the format I play live. I play with just three piece drums, bass, and guitar stray cats style.

Almost all posts I read have at least 2 guitars recorded and pan them etc.

If I am using one guitar part, and just bass and drums, what can I do so that the song doesnt sound too little?

I was thinking about recording bass twice and actually panning the bass left and right to give it some fullness, and keeping the guitar slightly left. Drums still center.

I have never heard of someone panning bass hard left and right. Is this a general no no?
 
Try it and give a listen, although I suspect your mix will too bottom heavy, and unless you play tightly on both bass parts, it will come out sloppy.

I would go for adding reverb or slight delay to the guitar, panning it in the opposite direction.
 
It might be a bit troublesome working with all that bottom end. "Tightness" will be key if you want it to sound descent, as cyrokk mentioned.

I'm all for experimentation, so I say give it a try. If it doesn't come out the way you expected, mess around until it does. If nothing else you'll be learning and gaining experience along the way, which is never a " no-no" :D

Good luck, and post a clip if/when you get it down how you want.
 
Record the same guitar part a few times over, and pan it evenly across the entire stereo image. It will thicken up your sound, but still sound like one guitar!


Simon
 
see the problem about recording the same guitar part twice and panning it around it that, this style of rockabilly guitar playing isnt just chords. There is a lot of finger picking involved. When finger picking...it is very hard to play the exact same thing.

If that is the case, wouldnt that fall into the same thing about "tightness" in the bass playing?
 
3-pc rockabilly is usually about keeping the arrangement and production simple.

I'd recommend just keeing the bass near the middle (keep plenty of slap and click in it at around the 3.5-4.5kHz range). Pan the drums (I assume a simple snare, kick and cymbal combo?) as mono or tight stereo maybe about 35% right and the guitar in mono ~35% left.

Aux all tracks off to a farily slappy (but not too wet) stereo verb and return that verb to fill the outside flanks of the pan satge.

If you have a lead vocal also, stick that in at about 20% right (opposite side of guitar but a but nearer the middle.) Or, if the guitar has a pretty major role, maybe switch up and put the drums at 20R and the vocals at 35R.

The numbers above are not exact, but should be a good guideline; the general idea is to keep the guitar and vocals seperated, keep the mix close and natural, and fill the outside with the reverb from the school auditorium/roller rink/bowling alley/Jackrabbit Slim's, or any other place where the gals in the poodle skirts would be dancing to the music :).

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
3-pc rockabilly is usually about keeping the arrangement and production simple.

I'd recommend just keeing the bass near the middle (keep plenty of slap and click in it at around the 3.5-4.5kHz range). Pan the drums (I assume a simple snare, kick and cymbal combo?) as mono or tight stereo maybe about 35% right and the guitar in mono ~35% left.

Aux all tracks off to a farily slappy (but not too wet) stereo verb and return that verb to fill the outside flanks of the pan satge.

If you have a lead vocal also, stick that in at about 20% right (opposite side of guitar but a but nearer the middle.) Or, if the guitar has a pretty major role, maybe switch up and put the drums at 20R and the vocals at 35R.

The numbers above are not exact, but should be a good guideline; the general idea is to keep the guitar and vocals seperated, keep the mix close and natural, and fill the outside with the reverb from the school auditorium/roller rink/bowling alley/Jackrabbit Slim's, or any other place where the gals in the poodle skirts would be dancing to the music :).

G.
Click to expand...

thanks a bunch! That is some really good guidelines. I have had so much trouble thinking that I HAD to have more than one guitar part if I am going to make an ok sounding recording. I am gonna get to work playing with those suggestions.

Oh and thanks for those compression uncompressed and frequency charts you do....I read those often and has helped me A BUNCH and has improved my mixes 10 fold in clarity.
 
Thanks for the kind words, glad you have found some use for my offerings :).

Let me just add something to what I said earlier: when it comes to the love/hate triangle between the guitar, drums and vocal, the parts are kind of interchangable in the mix; what you probably want to do is find the right combination depending upon how busiy each instrument is in the arrangement. In other words, if the guitar and the vocals are kind of teh most important in the lead roles with the drum pretty much just a Cricket's-style accompanyment, then you'll want to keep the guitar and the vocal seperate. If, OTOH, the drums are heavy in the mix and the guitar is more on the recessive side a la the Jordanaires, then you might want to throw the vocals on the other side of the drums instead. And so on.

The idea is to try and keep the mix balanced so that all the action is not happening on one side.

G.
 
i dont think that a small band has to sound 'small', think hendrix etc, only 3 pieces, plus vocals.

but i have no better information for you, these guys nailed anything i could have said. ;)
 
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