Reverb and ambience overhaul9/5/2023 ![]() The muffled vocal sounds on the band's mix could be traced back to the original recording, which had a very accentuated boxy mid-range. The kick-drum sound was given extra definition using slow-attack compression, and the hits were then limited to make their level in the mix more consistent. Both double-tracked parts, the main rhythm and the chorus/solo overdub, were pretty piercing, without a great deal of weight. One of the mics used to record the guitar parts sounded like it was inside a plastic cup, so I ditched those four tracks straight away, again reducing the burden on the computer. The smaller cab mainly provided lots of mid-range aggression. However, the DI track sounded plain broken, and wasn't going to be any help - it had been taken after the player's heavily overdriven effects chain, rather than straight from the guitar. The low bass-cab track was tonally quite muddy, with some notes booming out erratically (perhaps a problem caused by the hilly response of the AKG D112), and I'd have rather used the DI as the basis of the sound. Of the other drum close mics, I decided to use only the one on the hi-hat, partly because I didn't feel that the others added a great deal, and partly because I was concerned that the creaky old Apple iMac and Logic v6.1.1 system on which I happened to be mixing would otherwise max out before I'd finished the mix! If the snare sound had been bright in the overheads it would have been fine, but here the overheads were delivering a fairly warm sound. The first real problem was that the main snare-drum close mic, although blessed with a decent attack, was fairly dull sounding - often a problem when using an SM57 close up. The D112 kick-drum close mic added in a typically dependable low end. Knowing the kind of thrashy drum performance I was dealing with, I was pleased to find the overhead mics to be surprisingly usable in terms of balance, if a bit clouded by the limited high-frequency response of the C1000s used. At the outset, therefore, I edited the raw tracks into something like the same structure (although I went for a slightly shorter intro and longer outro) and sped them up roughly the same amount. The first thing that was apparent from the raw tracks was that the band had comprehensively chopped them about for their original mix, and they had also sped them up. Rounding out the track count were lead and backing vocal takes, all recorded through a Rode NT2 large-diaphragm condenser mic. Two different guitar parts had both been double-tracked, each pass recorded via two different mics, covering a total of eight tracks. There was a separate DI track for the bass in addition to recordings from two amps: a 15-inch bass combo through an AKG D112, and a separate 2x12 guitar combo through a Shure SM57. So I asked the guys to send me their raw multitrack recordings to see whether it was possible to achieve the more commercial-sounding result that they said they were after.įor the original recordings the drums had been copiously multi-miked: Shure SM57s above and below the snare drum, AKG D112 in the kick drum, AKG clip-on mics on the toms, and AKG C1000s for the overheads and hi-hat. The devil always has the last laugh, though, and when I heard the band's mix of their song 'Evian/Naive' it just wasn't doing justice to their material - lots of mud at 80-100Hz, rather muffled vocals, and guitars buzzing around nutlessly at 3-4kHz. Comfortably into black-belt status on their respective instruments, and with a first-rate singer, they also appear to have traded in their fourth band-member at the Crossroads Eternal Pawnbroker in return for dark secrets of mosh-friendly arrangement. ![]() If you can imagine Rage Against The Machine applying their hobnails to Muse's collective arse, then you'll have some idea of the happy world in which this month's Mix Rescue candidates, Stoke-on-Trent three-piece No Logo, reside. This month we overhaul rock band No Logo's mix in pursuit of a bigger and more commercial sound.
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