Show Us Yer Mixing Skills.... 8) "Fool Me Once"

Wiz would be great if we name all mixes with the depending user names.
Than you level match them.
And you reup them as 24/96 files.

That makes sure we all talk about the same.

BTW had a unwanted free slot for 3 h today and worked on it.
I wanted to use the console but I also had on my list to do a real world demo with the Airwindows Console3 and Buss-Colors3.

Will do automation on sunday and post a download link for the 24/96 file..

Ok here's my quick one.



www.theopiumdenproductions.com/wiz/mixdown.mp3





I had tonight free from all obligations besides beer, so I loaded everything up and took a shot!

I was surprised at how low the levels on the tracks were.  I had to boost each track up 15dB to get it to where I usually have tracks peaking..  And to get my outboard gear VUs to start moving.

Anyway, here's what I did:

Acoustic has some 2.2K boost, some 180 boost on it and was bussed to a stereo delay with one side at 0 and the other side at 10ms to get it to sound somewhat stereo, then sent to a bus with an 1178.

Electrics were bussed to a pair of channels, a little top removed, a little bottom removed, then sent to the 1178 bus for compression.  Each was panned a bit off center.

Snare has some top boost, a cut around 5K, narrow boost around 180, with bluestripe 1176 on it, -6ish GR.  This was sent to a bus with a 33609/2254 hybrid on it.  2:1, -6GR.

Kick has some 7k boost, some 70 boost.  Sent to the 33609 bus.

Cymbals have some 5K cut, some 400 cut. Sent to the 33609 bus.

Bass has some narrow 100 boost, some 800 cut, LA4A crushing at -15GR.

Vocals have a little 500 cut, some cut around 2k.  LA2A peaking at -8GR.  Some uncompressed vocals brought up under, maybe -6dB down from the compressed ones.

Background vocals are flat, sent to a delay with one side at 0 and the other at 10ms for widening. 

There is a little spring verb and a little room verb on everything in different amounts, just for some ambience.

Master bus has a SSL bus compressor on it, 4:1, 2-4dB GR.

That's all.  I'm sure some automation would help the movement a bit, but I think it sounds pretty damn good as-is.

Oh and it's all hardware you hear besides the delay.

Hahaha, i could pick watchtower's mix probably out of a hundred mixes blindly.
It has his "Honorable Mention at Dynamic Range Day" most modern metal signature sound. :-)

Hahaha, yes DEEEPERRR!
The deep kick esp. in this song is funny in your mix, identifies you. Also the complete dryness of your mix. It just STANDS IN THE ROOM WITH SOME AIRYNESS, IN FRONT OF A BLACK HOLE. This is absolutely your sound. I make a bit fun out of it but i actually like it because it's a completely different approach that still could be used on completely other genres. And still works.
\m/

I'm purposefully not listening to anyone's mix so I am not influenced. but i listened to smallbutfines mix because curiosity got to me. it is excellent! the song is excellent!

Mothers day and wifeys bday this weekend, session Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, mixing my own stuff Fri/Sat and i gota fit in my day job somewhere, so I'm tied up all next week. For me it's the week after but I've booked the slot in.

Nice! I've been wanting to hear your mixing style for awhile now.

Welcome to the international wiz fan club.
Yesterday a friend of mine listened to my mix on soundcloud and she is all into quiet music, singer/songwriter stuff etc. and she said it is not often that this style of song catches her and makes her even want to *dance* to it! And wiz has this unique voice every singer wants to have, you hear it and it has a very high recognition value. He does not have to do much with it, not much variation, his lyrics become believable instantly.

Wiz.

It was a pleasure to mix it because the lyrics did not let me go.
I can identify myself with the story.

Thanks for the nice song.
First class songwriters very seldom knock on the door, you are one of those.

Cheers.

Holmes

On the mix.

Its all ITB Logic 9 just bounced to disk.

I used the Airwindows (Audio Units only) mix-buss-replacement Console3 in conjunction with BussColors.
Its Chris Johnson’s take on simulating the "saturation" part of a console.
I mixed with the Rock setting which claims to simulate an SSL sound.
To me the setting was the one that sounded the most open, for this song.
It gave me the best depth and dimension.

The verbs are all UAD-Real-Verb-Pro together with some delays.
Except the drum room is an impulse response of a brick-drum-ISO at SARM Studios UK made by Altiverb.
A very small breeze of dimension is used on the acoustic guitar with logics Ensemble plug in.

The file is the pure mix, no limiter, no bullshit, no loudening.

I listened AB to professional mixes with the Magic-AB plug in.
JJ Cale was the reference - Album REWIND.
I am not totally satisfied.
To my taste the low end is not where it should be.

I hope someone likes it.

You can download as 24/96 file 140 MB

www.dropbox.com/s/snku3b3ctfwrtqo/fool_me_once_wiz.aif?dl=0

You guys are making me blush... 8)

I am having a blast listening to all the mixes... thanks for jumping in on the spirit of the idea... Its been really cool and super worthwhile for me...

each mix so far has made me think about the tune in a slightly different light.

Its also really really interesting to hear what each person identifies with in the sonics of the tune...

I think I won't comment directly on each tune for a bit.. there are a few people who want to mix, and have time constraints so I think for the moment, will leave it going, and then after at least those who have said they want to put there mix in , do...

Great stuff and lots of fun

thanks fellas...

cheers

Wiz

true some comments would be cool....feedback is what we all need to get better...

mrholmes: what immediately hit my ears in your mix is the snare sound, you chose.
It sounds very open and sticks out very much. I like it, if the snare is very good hearable in a mix, but i personally decided against a too open snare sound because i thought it leads away a bit from the intimate athmosphere of the song. This said, i needed a second attempt because i was not completely happy with my first snare sound, so, all these are options and matters of personal taste...
I just found it to be very characteristic for your mix.

svart: I found it very interesting that you featured the rhythm guitar and not the tremolo guitar in the mix! Since this is a decision that could be made freely, it's a matter of personal taste, and i was quite surprised, because most mixes did it the other way round. Neither sounds bad. I just didn't come to this idea, in the opposite, i even made it thinner, robbed it some body so it sounded higher and more fragile, while you gave it fullness. That was very interesting for me.
And i thought i found your mix quite punchy and warm but missed some characteristics from kick and bass outside of the bass freqencies, like the kick attack click, they are all there, but it wasn't so obvious. From your previous mixes i heard, i know this may be quite your style to do it. Personally, i always fear it doesn't translate as good or has too little character, if i don't have both clearly hearable in the mix also in the mids and sometimes even in the high-end. Like for bass lacking radios.
What i often do is making the monitors quieter and go to the other room. Bass disappears mostly then, and i hope to hear everything still. Many of my early mixes sound lousy if i do this, because i spent too little attention to this or was simply not aware that this is a problem....
Just my 0.02 cent. (yes, not 2 cent ;-) )