Have you hit a point with your mixes where they just doesn’t sound the way you want them to?
A lot of the time, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the music you’re writing and working on and sometimes the difference is in our approach towards maximising the mix.
This video focuses on a beat that I’ve been working on that doesn’t quite cut it for me. It sounds good but doesn’t get me excited. When you hear it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
But I’m going to show you how I turned things around and how you can take your projects to the next level and breathe new life into them.
If you feel like your progress has stalled and you’re looking for new exciting ways to take your mixing and production skills to the next level, then this video is for you.
Check it out!
Now, I’d love to know…
How do you go about breathing new life into your mixes when you’ve hit a plateau?
Leave a comment below!
professional sounding mix every time...
I use the same techniques myself , great vid again Steven
Thanks Pete!
Respectfully, I don’t think the piano is the problem with the song. You have a nice funky beat with the drums. I’d add another instrument to play some equally funky riffs between the chords.
Thanks David. You make great points. As the piece develops, I’d definitely add in some parts like you’ve suggested. Thanks again!
I like what you did with this (and I am also a fan of Manny’s delay), but another approach (which could be used in addition to this approach with delays) came to mind when I first heard the piano.
Since dynamics are often much of the emotion of a song: Unless I had the luxury of having the pianist replay the track with a heavier attack, I would consider this: Copy the piano to another track, then put a compressor on the copy with a slow attack – maybe around 200ms – and blend that in with everything else you have here. It may or may not also help to detune the copy a few cents. The idea would be to put more punch on the attack of the piano. That might complement the cool blend of delays that you added.
Oh… I like the sound of this! I could ask the pianist to replay the track, but then I’d be talking to myself 🙂
All jokes aside, this is a great tip. Thanks Walt.
(Yes, It`s me again…)
So, this must be the intro. of one of the winner songs you`re working on? Seems it`s going to be huge!
And that`s the kind of work a mixing engineer / producer is supposed to do…
But, there`s something that scares me when someone is doing this aproach: unless we`r talking of studio work (period), WHAT IF THE SONG IS TAKEN INTO A LIVE PERFORMANCE? Are the guys going to play / sing it all in playback (not very honest) or will the fans (already used to hear theyr huge song on the radio) be disapoointed with the performance? (please don`t hit me with your chair)
Of course you`ll be right by saying: “If we don`d do some cosmetic on this, they`ll never get to the radio in the first place.” Absolutly. Still… don`t get me wrong; getting audio / video to it`s best that`s what production is all about. What I think is that in some cases, specialy for those who are looking forward to act on stage, we should be carefull with the effects amount that are used.
( … )
But, let`s wipe the above: very good work in this video!
Hey Paulo. No, this is something different I wrote myself. But the contest winning mixes will be huge!
There’s a lot that can be done nowadays to replicate what’s been done in the studio during live performance. If you look at the DAW you use, Ableton Live, the possibilities are infinite there!
You’ll also see a lot of Pro Tools engineers triggering samples and playback beside the engineer on the mixing desk in sync with the rest of the performance.
I definitely agree with what you say. It’s a fine balancing act, as with everything else. Although, sometimes, when you expect a certain sound from a band or an artist, it’s a pleasant surprise when their live setup is completely different.
Some food for thought!
I see… No wander I`m feeling kinda old. Being away from the stage for over 20 years (even as a listener) and letting digital fly by my side without notice has in fact made some difference so I post silly questions from time to time. Guess I`ll have to rush a little bit to catch this train…
About surprises in live performances, I`ve witnessed both situations, pleasant and unpleasant when compared with what was recorded in studios, but you are right: a surprise will always be a surprise (reminds me when I used do buy records / CDs without listening first / knowing what`s inside 😀 ).
Thank you so much for the answer on this question and sorry for making you write so much!…
PS: this very night I`ll be in Lisbon with a friend watching a consert of Orchestral Manouvers In The Dark (so I hope) and maybe I`ll learn something else… 🙂
No such thing as a silly question! Hope you enjoyed the concert 🙂