let's play a little game!

[LuIzA]

I used to mix with sixto said, today I decided to redo my mix from scratch bringing up every fader from the start. I think I got better results, let's you listen to the song for what it is, instead of what you wish they were.

so, is it really better?

http://tindeck.com/listen/rxip

[Sixto]

Sounds good to me. Your kick and snare choices are way better than mine were.

[LuIzA]

I didn't replace any drums there, though I will try that soon

[Sixto]

Ohoho! Then wow, you did a pretty great job.

[mv]

I only did it because LuIzA is a sexy beast.

http://xavierdang.com/dump2011/LuIzA_-_Waiting_(mv_mastering).mp3

edit: reuploaded at 2:30PM CET (louder version)

Made most of the work tonight with headphones so I readjusted some stuff this morning with monitors. It's hard to master a full rock track but this was a lot of fun and the track is great so thank you for the distraction

notes:

production

- used the DI recordings for guitars, hard panned and using various Guitar Rig 2 presets.

- bass was guitar-rigged, EQ-boosted and compressed.

- used Melodyne on both lead vocal recordings just to correct tone deviations so that they don't conflict with each other (still a few odd spots but i could fix that later). mixed both (48L/40R I think since one was louder), compressed them some & boosted the EQ in mid/hi frequencies and added a very light vocal ambient reverb.

- used a vocal compressor, light chorus and very light delay on the backing vocals

- tried to mix drums separately with various compression/eq adjustments, then doubled the kick recording since it was hard to spot otherwise.

- used a GR preset on the lead guitar, made it a bit quieter when it first plays, then a bit louder during the chorus phases, also has some stadium-ish reverb to it, dumbed down.

- boosted all frequencies with a multiband compressor on the main bus, rendered the WAV at -0.5db.

post-prod/mastering

- cut frequencies below 27hz.

- applied a multimaximizer with hot/crunch settings.

- 24bit->16-bit

[LuIzA]

mv, you're still alive!

the vocals sound kinda weird panned off center haha. still, awesome take though

and here's my new one: http://tindeck.com/listen/xveu

I've replaced snare and kick drum normally, but also copied versions of the OH track and cropped them to each tom part so I could trigger them as well.

I also revised some problems from my older redo.

[Sixto]

...but also copied versions of the OH track and cropped them to each tom part so I could trigger them as well.

That's...pretty ingenious. I'm going to give the mix another shot later, this time using Drumtracker so I can use a Superior 2 kit.

Edit: Mix B

Converted the kick, snare, and toms to MIDI and brought them into the Superior 2 Metal Foundry library for a more natural sound than the Slate samples. I had also tracked the crashes and ride, but the hihat was a bit trickier than I expected so I used the original overhead track with a high pass.

[LuIzA]

sounds totally 80s haha, how did you treat the vox in this one?

[Sixto]

Oh yeah, I used a bit more compression on the vocals and then used a de-esser. Also used a short delay just to give it some room.

[mv]

http://xavierdang.com/dump2011/LuIzA_-_Waiting_(mv_mastering_02).mp3

Toyed around with it again, on headphones though so I'll have to check in the afternoon again

Pretty interesting to hear all the different versions we came up with haha.

revisions

- drums changed up a bit, toyed with another additional kick recording.

- used the lead vocals, panned hard left and right with subtle differences in EQ and form, then applied the double-lead vocals in the middle, but very quiet and high in EQ just to add some more color, more delay on the whole thing too.

- The EQ on the whole track is less aggressive and more in line with a foo fighter-ish feel.

[LuIzA]

this sounds better. are you using drum samples?

[mv]

this sounds better. are you using drum samples?

Nah, this uses your drum recordings with lots of EQ'ing and eventually tripling the kick with various settings so that it has more of a presence in the mix. I think I had two recordings of the snare as well.

[LuIzA]

It's possibly the best natural snare sound we have. Would you mind sharing more details on how you got it?

EDIT: http://tindeck.com/listen/psgq

my final stab at it. this time, completely fine tuned and mastered.