Hey all- stuck here in a clogged up mix. anyone have any pointers for getting brass in a country song?
song specs:
kinda johnny cashish vox (okay VERY Johhny cash singing)
swing brushed drumming (Low fi)
bass panned 12 o clcok
2 acoustic guiatr tracks, each panned L and R and doubled
sampled strings panned stereo
i have a trumpet part that i used EWQL SIlver (sucks). it is 4 trumpets playing legato. when i pan it in stereo it clogs up the mix with the strings. when i pan it to one side it sounds silly because it brings the whole focus of the listener to that side.
if i ditch the strings the trumpets sound great. if i ditch the trumpets ths strings sound great. but i like both parts.
any help? is there any golden rule when recording/mixing brass? i've searched online but all i get are answers for people recording whole brass ensembles. plus the people who score for orchestra and brass are total snobs
could provide an mp3 tomorrow if you wished.
thanks any and all
sq :-?
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Without hearing it this is a wild stab. From your description i
Without hearing it this is a wild stab. From your description it sounds like you might need to push the 5k down a little. It's hard to do with trumpets because that is where much of the honk is. Maybe pan the L and R channels at 10 and 2 to move them out of the vocal. If the middle of the trumpets are still on the vocals, then run it though a M-S converter and bring down the mid section. Instead of bringing the 5k down on the trumpets you could bring it up on the vocal. (Might work if you the trumpets and strings enter for the chorus. If you do it for the whole song it may sound harsh)
And pan the stereo strings just about full width.
As GeckoMusic says, without hearing what you are doing it is a b
As GeckoMusic says, without hearing what you are doing it is a bit a stab in the dark. However a couple of pointers:
1) The "briiliance" in the trumpet sound would be around 2-2.5K and you can add some air at 15k
2) I would try frequency scanning (like you do with a guitar) to try remove the frequencies that are offending your mix. The fundamental tone of the trumpet is around 500Hz but doesnt add much to the sound you are looking for, many times (especially with close micing the trumpet) you will find that around 500Hz there is too much sound. Try to decrease -3db to -6db at somewhere between 480Hz and 520Hz
3) You can also try a multiband compress on the trumpet track where the bands would be cut at 2K to control the various overtones of the horn. This technique can bring out the brilliance without having to bury the trumpets in the mix when you raise the 2.5K EQ.
You can send me mp3's for pointers and also listen to some samples of clips on our web site to see if you find any specific sound you are after.
Also you can have a look here:
Definitely hook us up with a sample. It will make things much ea
Definitely hook us up with a sample. It will make things much easier.
Trumpets are a very distinct voice and they need a lot of tweaking to get them to sit right in the mix. About mid height and slightly to one side.
I trumpet at 8:30, one at 9, one at 9:30 and the last at ten. Maybe narrower or wider depending on sound.
Can you individualise each specific trumpet for panning?