Mixdown Practicing & Learning

MAGGHY JI

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Ben Sinclair
Sep 19, 2021
Hey everyone, hope you have all been keeping well! Finally had some free time to join in for a mix, but this time I gave myself a bit of a challenge. Usually I do the mix over the course of a few days but for this one I wanted to try to get the whole thing done in a single day. I'm fairly comfortable mixing rock tracks and it was well recorded enough that I figured this would be a great track to try to get done in a day. It definitely changed my workflow considerably, less experimenting with different plugins to see what worked best. I knocked it out in about 6 hours or so, with short 10 minute breaks every hour and pausing for lunch. Keeping my ears fresh for the whole thing was a challenge but having a listen this morning I don't think I did too bad.

As for what I actually did with the track, I used a SSL J series to do the majority of the heavy lifting then had the odd vintage EQ/Compressor on some select tracks to make them stand out more. Didn't try to do too much with the track, just wanted to get it really pumping and keep the energy. I used DVP by PUP as a reference track, noticed it sounded pretty gritty so I tried to get some of that into my mix.

https://soundcloud.com/user-519015469/il-mondo-e-impazzito/s-A10FIEHsLxk

Thanks to @Totonno Nevone for the tracks, really great song and I've wanted to mix a track like this for awhile, so thanks for giving me/us the opportunity!
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Totonno Nevone
Sep 19, 2021
Hi @Ben Sinclair! I'm soooo happy you liked the song! It's an old song from 2004 but I still like it a lot, (and that doesnt happen often with things i write). Pretty much of a catchy, easy song, but has its peculiarities. And the guitar riff "just works" when you do the right balance and the right eq moves. I consider myself always in the "testing phase" when we talk about different approaches and workflows, so I'm very happy you enjoyed mixing it and that the song gave you the spark to try something different than your usual. I really feel the ssl sound it what really makes this song shine so I totally agree with your console plugin choice. I love your mix! Only thing is that i feel my vocals are a little bit too upfront, in this genre i tend to like the vocals are a little bit more inside the music. But i love what you did also on the other instruments. Thank you so much, wish you the best...and cheers from Italy!
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Ben Sinclair
Sep 21, 2021
Hey Totonno thanks for listening and the comment! 100% you are right, I've been mixing too much pop and whatnot as of late, I should have brought your vocal back -2dBish. I like it to sound like it's part of the band and even slightly being taken over by the guitars but yeah, mixed it all in one sitting so I think my ears weren't working properly by the end :p

That's really cool you wrote it in 2004 because when I heard the track it really reminded me of the early 2000s punk I listened to back then. Great track!
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Mark Milbourne
Sep 22, 2021
Hey @Ben Sinclair, Great mix. You could probably lean on the snare a little more, just to drive the song a little harder. Maybe a touch more low end in the mix just to fatten it up a bit, a mastering engineer would take care of that though. As you have already mentioned, just duck the vocal a bit.