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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 3, 2023 14:45:29 GMT -6
I'm mostly done but it's proving challenging, and not just because the recording was pretty much all VI's and iffy mic technique.
I'm dealing with two brain shifts that are new to me.
1) This will almost exclusively be heard on people's phones though it's not clear how many will be using headphones. Can't find any data on that. It's interesting because it's two much different thought processes. If I knew everyone was going to be listening in AirPods, I'd do it one way. But if I knew everyone would be listening on iPhone speakers, I'd do it another. Reality is it will be some unknown combo.
2) This is a kind of poppy rock song but the lyrics are the comedy obviously. So it's interesting to strike the balance between making the song sound good and making sure the words really jump out.
Anyway, nothing too groundbreaking here but I'd be curious to hear who has worked on similar projects and if you have any hot tips before I send back my first version. I literally think everything sounds like garbage when listened to on phone speakers and, well, my mix sounds no more or less like garbage than any other when listened to that way. So that's good I guess?
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 3, 2023 14:47:04 GMT -6
One thing I know I'm going to revise is that the saturation that I think sounds super cool might be making it harder to follow on a phone. Maybe "glue" is bad in this instance?
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Post by christophert on Jul 4, 2023 23:01:16 GMT -6
Not sure if this is still the case, but I was told to mix in mono?
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 5, 2023 8:18:52 GMT -6
Not sure if this is still the case, but I was told to mix in mono? Likewise. The creators definitely want high mono compatibility so I'm mixing in mono but delivering a moderate stereo mix. Challenging since the chorus has a four part harmony! |
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Post by drumsound on Jul 5, 2023 8:44:34 GMT -6
Mix the vocals further out front than you think they should be, even if you already have them out front. You're not mixing for a music crowd, as long as the instruments are there, you're fine. Email the mix to yourself, as an mp3, not at the highest rate and listen. If the vocals make sense, you're probably done.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 5, 2023 9:02:47 GMT -6
Mix the vocals further out front than you think they should be, even if you already have them out front. You're not mixing for a music crowd, as long as the instruments are there, you're fine. Email the mix to yourself, as an mp3, not at the highest rate and listen. If the vocals make sense, you're probably done. Good tip. In fact, I sent a couple mixes and got literally one mix revision note. "Sounds amazing! Can you bring the vocals up more though?" Makes complete sense given the genre. But it's a bit of a brain melt... "you mean even higher than it already is? why not just do it a cappella?" Haha. This has been a fun project. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 5, 2023 9:07:59 GMT -6
I sent the same mix and took off the mix bus compression completely (instead of bringing up the vocal level) and they loved it. Makes sense since the vocals were so hot that they were really the only thing getting compressed. I was leaning that way on the first version but then killing the bus compression altogether was the logical next step to get the parts to separate more.
And I have to say, mixing without bus compression really does sound better on the phone speaker in general. There's so much compression happening on those tiny speakers (and whatever algorithms) that it's overkill having all the old school saturation and glue that I normally work so hard to nail.
Interesting thing to think about going forward.
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Post by drumsound on Jul 5, 2023 15:56:21 GMT -6
Mix the vocals further out front than you think they should be, even if you already have them out front. You're not mixing for a music crowd, as long as the instruments are there, you're fine. Email the mix to yourself, as an mp3, not at the highest rate and listen. If the vocals make sense, you're probably done. Good tip. In fact, I sent a couple mixes and got literally one mix revision note. "Sounds amazing! Can you bring the vocals up more though?" Makes complete sense given the genre. But it's a bit of a brain melt... "you mean even higher than it already is? why not just do it a cappella?" Haha. This has been a fun project. Listen to ANY pre I don't know '65 ish pop music, Sinatra, any female singer, whatever and the band (which was often 15+ people) is soooooo much lower than the vocal. It isn't until rock music becomes popular that the band starts to become more detailed and louder. I sent the same mix and took off the mix bus compression completely (instead of bringing up the vocal level) and they loved it. Makes sense since the vocals were so hot that they were really the only thing getting compressed. I was leaning that way on the first version but then killing the bus compression altogether was the logical next step to get the parts to separate more. And I have to say, mixing without bus compression really does sound better on the phone speaker in general. There's so much compression happening on those tiny speakers (and whatever algorithms) that it's overkill having all the old school saturation and glue that I normally work so hard to nail. Interesting thing to think about going forward. What a great solution, I hadn't even considered it, and I bet I wouldn't have if I was sitting in your seat. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 5, 2023 16:06:23 GMT -6
Listen to ANY pre I don't know '65 ish pop music, Sinatra, any female singer, whatever and the band (which was often 15+ people) is soooooo much lower than the vocal. It isn't until rock music becomes popular that the band starts to become more detailed and louder. I've always noted that and enjoyed it. But now it makes more sense. Think about the terrible fidelity those songs were being heard in. Almost entirely broadcast through AM radio and heard on a low quality (by today's standards) mono speaker with zero bass response. So let's see. Crappy speaker with no bass response and a broadcast medium that cuts off any real sonic fidelity to begin with. Sound familiar? |
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Post by drumsound on Jul 5, 2023 16:09:03 GMT -6
Listen to ANY pre I don't know '65 ish pop music, Sinatra, any female singer, whatever and the band (which was often 15+ people) is soooooo much lower than the vocal. It isn't until rock music becomes popular that the band starts to become more detailed and louder. I've always noted that and enjoyed it. But now it makes more sense. Think about the terrible fidelity those songs were being heard in. Almost entirely broadcast through AM radio and heard on a low quality (by today's standards) mono speaker with zero bass response. So let's see. Crappy speaker with no bass response and a broadcast medium that cuts off any real sonic fidelity to begin with. Sound familiar? RIGHT? |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,107 
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Post by ericn on Jul 8, 2023 17:55:28 GMT -6
Use a phone like an auratone and cheap Bluetooth earbuds instead of headphones. It will all come together faster. Also try to buss all the LF to a single bus so you can squash it all together and nothing gets lost in the tangle of phase issues.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 10, 2023 10:00:00 GMT -6
Use a phone like an auratone and cheap Bluetooth earbuds instead of headphones. It will all come together faster. Also try to buss all the LF to a single bus so you can squash it all together and nothing gets lost in the tangle of phase issues. Definitely could have saved some time by getting a mini-plug to 1/4" adapter and running some crap earbuds. Sounds like I might get another project from these guys, might as well skip straight to the crappola monitoring system. Chances of these songs ever being heard on anything other than iPhone or laptop speakers is like zero. I did make them promise that if they ever decide to do a compilation record for Spotify or something like that they really need to let me re-mix them for higher fidelity formats. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 10, 2023 10:00:52 GMT -6
Also... Spotify = Higher Fidelity Format??
Man, we're moving in the wrong direction!
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Post by gwlee7 on Jul 10, 2023 10:54:04 GMT -6
Also... Spotify = Higher Fidelity Format?? Man, we're moving in the wrong direction! No shit |
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Post by svart on Jul 10, 2023 13:51:31 GMT -6
All I can add is that when doing these kinds of "vocals gotta be up front on all sources" is to add compressors to just about every instrument and reverb bus and sidechain those to the vocal so that they all duck at least a little when the vocals are going.
Lots of pop mixers doing this kind of thing, especially for the delay/reverb busses for the vocals so that it sounds so lush but also very clear and intelligible.
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Post by BenjaminAshlin on Jul 10, 2023 15:58:13 GMT -6
All I can add is that when doing these kinds of "vocals gotta be up front on all sources" is to add compressors to just about every instrument and reverb bus and sidechain those to the vocal so that they all duck at least a little when the vocals are going. Lots of pop mixers doing this kind of thing, especially for the delay/reverb busses for the vocals so that it sounds so lush but also very clear and intelligible. Music bus & Vocal bus - side chained multiband comp. |
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Post by jonsimpson on Jul 14, 2023 0:36:42 GMT -6
Hey, fellow creatives! One tip I'd suggest is to embrace the uniqueness of the TikTok platform. It's all about short and snappy content, so make sure your comedy songs are catchy, concise, and visually engaging. Play around with editing tools and effects to add an extra layer of fun to your videos. Speaking of TikTok, there are some awesome resources out there to help you boost your following organically. For example, you can try the TikFreeFollowers resource. Just keep exploring and learning from the TikTok community—you'll find plenty of tips and tricks to enhance your content and engage with your audience. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 14, 2023 2:15:34 GMT -6
Hey, fellow creatives! One tip I'd suggest is to embrace the uniqueness of the TikTok platform. It's all about short and snappy content, so make sure your comedy songs are catchy, concise, and visually engaging. Play around with editing tools and effects to add an extra layer of fun to your videos. Good advice... but thankfully I'm not actually doing the creating here. Just the mixing! And welcome to the forum! |
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