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Post by rowmat on Jun 3, 2021 15:25:05 GMT -6
A mix is never finished, just stopped A mix is never finished, just waiting for the next revision.
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Post by bgrotto on Jun 4, 2021 20:56:23 GMT -6
Two months!? Damn...that's pretty good... I can't even make it 24 hours before i hate my work. I would LOVE a two month grace period...
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Post by rowmat on Jun 4, 2021 22:01:14 GMT -6
Since closing our studio I’ve been trawling though a few hundred songs we recorded and picking out a bunch of favs. I always knew our mixes could have been better with more time. But more time equals more $$ and clients are always looking to spend less, not more, so something has to give.
Some mixes make me cringe a little but more often than not it was stuff like a bad sounding drumkit the drummer insisted on using along with the fact it wasn’t tuned and yet no one else was allowed near it.
Anyway I’m going to dissect and remix a few favourites and see how they stack up against the original mixes. I’m even going to try some completely ITB with and without an analog mix buss stage.
But yeah, going back over old mixes is often punctuated with a few groans.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 5, 2021 7:59:23 GMT -6
The compromises inherent in different projects affects the mix. I began some of the tracks on my album "What the Heart Only Knows" in 2012. I had left the music business and had never used a DAW myself until then. Those mixes were harsh because of poor gain staging and too many ITB plug-ins. After a while I got some Warm Audio gear, the LA2A, 1176, and Pultec clones. My mixes got much better, the Pultec actually making the bigger improvement.
I had to cover some medical bills and sold all the outboard, except the Apollo. With more digital experience, I can now get a good sound ITB, but I'm convinced only a hybrid setup will get me close enough to where I want to be, so I'll eventually have to get back to at least a few good outboard compressors and EQ's. If I could afford it, I'd love the Dangerous Music 2 Bus + as well.
That said, I think we all realign our approach as we gain more technical and musical understanding. I have to say I think the main issue is one person doing most everything. I used to have my own personal analogue studio back when I was a working writer/producer for radio and TV spots. I didn't know anything about engineering, having only been in studios as an artist previously. I kept it simple, Neumann Mics, reel to reel tape recorders, a soundboard, Lexicon reverb and delay, DBX compressors, a few other outboard pieces, NS-10's, Adcom power, Kurzweil keys, Proteus instrument samples, and got to work. Those tracks still sound OK, except for the E-Mu Drumulator, ha! But the tracks I did then in a proper studio, with good engineers sound much better.
We're just not gonna sound as good as a high end studio, which is often where our benchmark recordings were made.
If I had to call out one issue causing old mixes to bug me, it's the microphones. It took a long time trying all sorts of good but not great mics to settle on the ones I have now. i'd still love to just buy a Chandler REDD and a KM-84 and not have to worry so much.
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