Mixing my next single in analogue...

[TwilightOdyssey]

... Will be using my DAW, of course.

It will be used like a tape machine, though.

4 stereo tracks, pre-bounced, EQ'd, and compressed. No automation, that will all be done outside the box along w reverb, additional delays, & cet.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Just to clarify:

Your doing the EQ and compression outside the box as well right? Or your sending out 4 stereo tracks after that?

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

I will be doing whatever is needed to get the final track count bounced down to 4 stereo tracks ITB. Final EQ, compression, reverb/delay, panning, rides (and summing, of course) will be done in the analogue domain. The stereo output from the desk will feed back into my interface to record the mix in real time as it is performed. This will also give me my monitor mix, albeit with a bit of latency.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

 

[LLL]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

This guy has serious attention to detail. :bigok:

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

icic...so sort of a hybrid setup really (since your doing EQ/comp ITB) with modulation/summing/ final levels & pans being outboard. I certainly like how you've got er setup. Interesting to see how much it's 'worth it' at the end (from many aspects, final result, workflow, time, decision making etc).

LLL- Twilight certainly is organised and knows what he's doing. But anyone who's done more than just multi-track home demos knows the design/ planning process is a huge part in making these kind of projects run (semi) smooth.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

icic...so sort of a hybrid setup really (since your doing EQ/comp ITB) with modulation/summing/ final levels & pans being outboard.

Yep; ultimately, no matter how I slice it, it will by hybrid anyway since it is ultimately starting in digital.

I certainly like how you've got er setup. Interesting to see how much it's 'worth it' at the end (from many aspects, final result, workflow, time, decision making etc).

I did the first As Follows album hybrid as well, and that was before I took the mixing and synth programming courses, so I am hoping it will go well. Whether I will get out of it what I am putting in (the amount of pre-planning is insane, as well as the fact that each mix is in real time so you also have the performance aspect to get the mix right; or at least, you have to keep the one that's least wrong lol).

LLL- Twilight certainly is organised and knows what he's doing. But anyone who's done more than just multi-track home demos knows the design/ planning process is a huge part in making these kind of projects run (semi) smooth.

To this I will just say, amen. And thanks.

 

[LLL]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

LLL- Twilight certainly is organised and knows what he's doing. But anyone who's done more than just multi-track home demos knows the design/ planning process is a huge part in making these kind of projects run (semi) smooth.

Undoubtedly.

When I recreated "Don't Look Back" by Boston here:

DLB Redux Test 17verb

I had to organize 52 (!) total guitar tracks (not clips, tracks) along with 10 (!) busses. It was insane, but insanely fun.

Bet you didn't know that the intro guitar for that tune is actually 4 guitars (2 different parts, doubled). Incredible!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Scholz is a madman.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

1604 is a good old friend Fun to use, it has warm sound and flexibility. Have fun mate!

I miss 'real iron' a little but after mixing dosens of albums and EPs I ended up on the 'less is more' side that is almost everything ITB. It seems to have the most efficient workflow and by now DAWs and plug-ins developed to the point that a pretty nice analogue-ish sounding mixer can be emulated and no one can tell the difference. Other than that, clients take total recall feature for granted - so be it total recall then.

Only the finalising goes analogue for me. The juice is pumped into a compact 2x4 (4BUS) analogue broadcast summer that runs into a SPL EQ (sublte settings) into a TLAudio compressor (sublte settings) into a TC finaliser (wait that's digi) and that's all.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Okay, the production process has many steps and starts with prep, through recording, and ends with mixing. (Technically, mastering, but I don't do mastering at all).

PART 1:

Drums are separated by MIDI note. Swing and velocity are adjusted, fills added, etc. The same is also done to any other MIDI instrument tracks. External MIDI tracks are created and the tweaked MIDI tracks are dragged into the external MIDI tracks. Audio tracks are created for MIDI reamping.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

PART 2.

Now for some fun stuff - assigning sounds to the MIDI tracks. Signal path is: interface > synth > room reverb > gated reverb (used only on snare) > SSL > interface. I preferred the sound with the reverbs cascaded instead of parallel, and also preferred them in front of the SSL instead of through the channel strip's insert.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

PART 3.

This is as far as I will be able to get this weekend, and probably not able to pick the song up again until next weekend: reamping the bass guitar.

Signal chain: interface > Radial reamp box > mxr bass DI+ > SSL > room reverb > second reverb (just used as a tone press and level adjust, no reverb was used).

A couple of thing surprised me when tracking bass this way (i.e., with all the effects in place) -- one is how BIG the bass guitar sounds, and second how well everything is blending.





Here's a small sample of where the mix stands thus far:

 

[LLL]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

There's something sexy about seeing all those little audio/midi tracks lined up with all the little buttons you can toggle on/off. :naughty:

I don't use Mac (I'm a PC dude, but I do run a "fake" Yosemite in VMWare Workstation), so I've never used Logic - gotta
say that's a nice clean interface.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Logic's workflow just plain works for me. It's perfect for the musician/engineer that wants to go from songwriting sketch to finished product in a single session, though I usually bounce down and mix with _bip tracks to keep CPU happy.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Tracked the guitars this morning. Will post pics later, but here's an updated audio sample with flat guitar tracks.

Signal path: guitar > pedal board > amp > Sennnheiser e609 > SLL > reverb > interface.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

The flange/phaser type thing works well for that intro riff.

Not that I don't like the bass but id be curious to hear it a/b'ed with a cleaner yet still full/warm tone.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

Thanks for listening!

There are actually two bass tracks, one clean and one with gain. That's a blend between the two. Not decided yet how it will be as the mix progresses.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

As promised, photos from the guitar session. I used my Agile AL-2500 with Lollar Imperial pickups and RCocco strings.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mixing my next single in analogue...

And here is where we are at as of today. Tonally, I think I am in the right ballpark. Going to let this sit for a day or two and then start working on the volume rides.