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pcrecord 25 July 2019

Hi gang,

Like I do once or twice a year, I like to download pro recorded tracks and make the exercise of mixing a song. It gives an idea how different those tracks are from mine and also a degree of detachment I don't get from tracks I recorded myself.

If you want to join me, it would be fun to compare our results.
I chose well recorded tracks made with by the Telefunken team using their mics of course.

You can download the raw tracks here :
The song I chose is : Remember Jones - "I Smell Sex And Candy" (Cover)
https://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/live-from-the-lab-season-3
It's free, just enter your email address, I haven't received a publicity email yet ;)

You can post your mix or an extract here as an mp3, not a external link, that way they will stay available in this thread for future members.

While doing this, I will be posting videos of each steps and thought process of the mixing and mastering the song on my youtube channel, any comments are welcome. I guess the process will take a few weeks, so you got time to post your mixes :
This is part 1 session preparation ;

Comments

pcrecord Mon, 07/29/2019 - 08:34

DogsoverLava, post: 461635, member: 48175 wrote: I'm going to do this -- are they all dry stems? I want to do this without hearing the finished mix (just get the raw tracks and see what I can do).

Yes all raw tracks !!
I think it's a good exercise to mix tracks recorded by others..
We can encounter problems we are not used to and tracks without the problems we are used to create (because of our room of mic choice etc..)
Also since they are Telefunken mics which I doubt will ever have the budget for, it's fun to hear how different the raw track form some of my tracks done on a lower budget ! ;)

bouldersound Mon, 07/29/2019 - 17:19

Here's my basic mix. There's no automation and no clip gain editing, just level, eq, compression, spectral dynamics, slapback delay and some reverb. The only real editing I did on this was plosive mitigation. If I were serious about this I would edit the clip gain and volume envelopes of the vocals and certain instruments.

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

Attached files Remember Jones_I Smell Sex and Candy_Bouldersound mix 1.mp3 (3.1 MB) 

kmetal Mon, 07/29/2019 - 17:26

bouldersound, post: 461659, member: 38959 wrote: Here's my basic mix. There's no automation and no clip gain editing, just level, eq, compression, spectral dynamics, slapback delay and some reverb. The only real editing I did on this was plosive mitigation. If I were serious about this I would edit the clip gain and volume envelopes of the vocals and certain instruments.

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

For some reason its playing but i cant hear anything, not sure if its my phone or not figured id mention it.

DogsoverLava Tue, 07/30/2019 - 16:09

Here's mine - I like wet mixes so this is reflective of that as well as trying to tame the lead vocalist who I thought put too much goofy personality into this so I mixed him a little lower and took out some of his quirkiness and replaced it with cool. In my mind I imagined him to be the singer from The Heavy singing "Do you Like me now?"

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

Attached files sex and candy Mix1.mp3 (7.9 MB) 

pcrecord Tue, 07/30/2019 - 16:44

All right here's mine.. Mix Version 1... I'll probably revisit it when my ears are not so tired

I love that some of you are participating.
Our mix are very different and all valid. . .

This weekend I'll try to post a video I did while mixing, you'll get all the moves that I made ;)

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

Attached files I smell sex and candy_Mix1.mp3 (7.4 MB) 

DogsoverLava Thu, 08/01/2019 - 16:25

Thanks guys -- here's a question - How would you rate all these mixes? I'd love to see a score (or for us to develop a score system common the the board) so I could have some objective sense of how I might strive to be better and track my progress. I don't think 10/10 is possible -- and there's no way anything I'm doing is 8 or 9 out of 10 -- but if we had to develop a mix grading system - what criteria would we use that would help me understand say how my mix might be a 6 out of 10 and how I'd try to get it to be a 7? (or maybe I'm a 4 but I want to be a 6....) Just thinking out loud here.

kmetal Thu, 08/01/2019 - 16:45

DogsoverLava, post: 461736, member: 48175 wrote: Thanks guys -- here's a question - How would you rate all these mixes? I'd love to see a score (or for us to develop a score system common the the board) so I could have some objective sense of how I might strive to be better and track my progress. I don't think 10/10 is possible -- and there's no way anything I'm doing is 8 or 9 out of 10 -- but if we had to develop a mix grading system - what criteria would we use that would help me understand say how my mix might be a 6 out of 10 and how I'd try to get it to be a 7? (or maybe I'm a 4 but I want to be a 6....) Just thinking out loud here.

Hmm that's a tough one since we are all subjective, and what we are listening on varies so much. Ive been giving mix advice for years judy using an iphone when i had them since i spent hours a day listening to music i was fairly accurate with my suggestions. The newer andriods i have seem way more hyped in the highs, and no phone has lows.

One thing i did notice on all the mixes was vocal sibalance to varying degrees, but noticeable on all of them. This could be because im listening on a speaker the size of my fingernail. It could be an issue tho since not everything i listen to has that characteristic.

Part of what i liked about this excercise was the non competitive / non critical nature of it. Im absurdly critical and anal retentive about every little thing in life, so this approach was refreshing. Ive been working on deliberatley being non-judgemental.

Id gladly offer my thoughts on your mix, but would only do so if asked.

DogsoverLava Thu, 08/01/2019 - 16:49

kmetal, post: 461739, member: 37533 wrote: Hmm that's a tough one since we are all subjective, and what we are listening on varies so much. Ive been giving mix advice for years judy using an iphone when i had them since i spent hours a day listening to music i was fairly accurate with my suggestions. The newer andriods i have seem way more hyped in the highs, and no phone has lows.

One thing i did notice on all the mixes was vocal sibalance to varying degrees, but noticeable on all of them. This could be because im listening on a speaker the size of my fingernail. It could be an issue tho since not everything i listen to has that characteristic.

Yup -- the sibilance was all over the raw tracks - I treated a couple areas where the vocalist was "popping" on the mic with consonant sounds --- i left the sibilance alone - but that would be a great mix exercise in itself - tame the sibilance. I may do another pass at this just looking at that element.

bouldersound Fri, 08/02/2019 - 10:44

pcrecord, post: 461759, member: 46460 wrote: Wow, this is very different from your first one.. More upfront, more drums ... nicely done !

Thanks. I really wanted the rhythm to stand out since it's a funk/disco type tune. But I kept running into LF and low-mid mud. I had to get really assertive with eq and break out of certain assumptions to get where I wanted to go.

I notice the vocal sounds a bit subdued in headphones, but it's where I want it to be in speakers so I'm going to live with it as it is.

DogsoverLava Fri, 08/02/2019 - 23:32

Here's my third mix - slightly tamed the bass more, addressed some of the sibilance, tweaked the panning and did some volume envelopes on the keys and horns to control the dynamics a little better -- slightly less mud overall as well. For me the balance seems better here.... less frantic and more smooth. Not sure if you guys hear that or if it's just me.

pcrecord I really like the drums and percussion on yours and your BG vocals.

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

Attached files sex and candy Mix3.mp3 (7.9 MB) 

kmetal Tue, 08/06/2019 - 11:36

Hey, i enjoyed the vids. Nice to see you adressing phase, its an important aspect to things, as mind numbing as it can be to suss out.

This song has a lot of places for effects swells and automation. I have gotten obsesssed over the static balance if things before, forgetting that most of the songs i love are full of fader rides, mutes, and automation.

This vocalist is the perfect cannidate for the summit tla-100 compressor. Its dark, silky sound compliments mid range and top end egde in a perfect way. Ill probably not ever get to own one, but grew fond of it at the studio.

Cheers.!

pcrecord Tue, 08/06/2019 - 12:11

kmetal, post: 461843, member: 37533 wrote: Hey, i enjoyed the vids. Nice to see you adressing phase, its an important aspect to things, as mind numbing as it can be to suss out.

This song has a lot of places for effects swells and automation. I have gotten obsesssed over the static balance if things before, forgetting that most of the songs i love are full of fader rides, mutes, and automation.

This vocalist is the perfect cannidate for the summit tla-100 compressor. Its dark, silky sound compliments mid range and top end egde in a perfect way. Ill probably not ever get to own one, but grew fond of it at the studio.

Cheers.!

Thanks for the good words..
I know we could go crasy on this mix.. I chose going minimal for simplicity and also keeping the videos lenght down.. But frankly with that many instruments. I fear adding too many effects would just be clouding the song.. Automation of levels, mutes.. Yes, for sure !

I could probably reamp the vocal through a LA-610 and use it's compression... Might be a good experimentation, if I get time.. I could even make the vocal distort for a small part of the song .. eh eh eh !!

kmetal Tue, 08/06/2019 - 12:32

I hear ya, it took me a while to learn less is more with effects. I got carried away when i got the core 2 duo laptop and it could handle much more effects.

pcrecord, post: 461844, member: 46460 wrote: I could probably reamp the vocal through a LA-610 and use it's compression... Might be a good experimentation, if I get time.. I could even make the vocal distort for a small part of the song .. eh eh eh !!

This would be interesting for sure.

pcrecord Mon, 08/12/2019 - 07:21

Hey gang,
I've done my mastering. Well pseudo mastering, you know I'm not an ME.
Also, I went minimal on it for the sake of keeping the video short and easy to follow..
Any comments are welcome.
I hope you will give a shot at mastering your mixes and put links in this thread.
I will post the mp3 mastered version this evening

kmetal Tue, 08/13/2019 - 12:48

Im glad you made use of the tape sim in ozone. It really is a grossly underrated sonic enhancement device. Especially for subtle thickening on clean mixes, where you want to be hifi but not sterile. Its funny how few artifacts the proL2 creates. Great Marvel shirt, i might have to bite your style on that one!

miyaru Wed, 08/14/2019 - 11:00

Thank you PCRecord!!! That means a lot to me.......

I normally do a complete differend genre, do not do many bandrecordings anymore. I had a "classic recording scholing" - attempted the SAE institute in Amsterdam 20 yrs ago, so I still know how to do it LOL.

This is also the first mix I do with the Sonarworks Reference system used.

I will keep you all informed, and will post a "mastered mix". I have no mastering gear, but will do my best.

pcrecord Thu, 08/15/2019 - 08:19

miyaru, post: 461941, member: 49780 wrote: Mine is done in the box too. I have to admit: I have no outboard gear anymore, except for an old Lexicon MPX-1.

Hereby I post the newest mixed, still not mastered, but now the horns are included LOL. Forgot them on the first mix.

[MEDIA=audio]https://recording.o…

Nice Job!!
If I had to be picky, the rithme guitar is a bit hard in the right ear.. But it's a minor thing ;)

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