This week Mike and I have been working really hard on our mix for Aubergine. This is coming along really really well. We have both learnt so much while mixing this project collaboratively, something that has been challenging but rewarding. We began actually mixing this not long after we recorded. We wanted some nice warm analogue tones for this project and I had not done so much analogue mixing before so thought that the first thing we could do together would be this!
We had a 4 hour session and got a surprising amount done. We wanted this nice analogue sound as the band are heavily jazz influenced and wanted a nice over all warm sound. The reference tracks they gave us ranged from Miles Davis to Badbadnotgood. The tone they especially wanted us to capture nicely and put through some analogue compression was the trumpet in which we referenced Miles Davis.
This is a very classic mute trumpet sound and it works relative to the band in this song as Aubergine would like in their mix. So this was a good place for us to begin referencing levels and tone.
We used a chain the patch bay of a an EQ and compressor and just began to play around with the sound to boost some fundimantal frequencies and dip out any that we didn't like.
As we recorded the trumpet in stereo we were able to EQ the left and right side slightly differently to create a wider image. They ended up being a little similar the main difference was that on the left we boosted some low end around 260hz and on the right dipped it out slightly. We then boosted some similar top end frequencies around 7.5k where there was a really 'nice mute trumpet sound'. My initial reaction for this trumpet sound was to get rid of this resonance however when we did this is really change that classic sound that the mute trumpet has. The sounds were recorded nicely but it was just different hearing this resonance as a fundimaetnal tone of the instrument even though it was something I didn't love. Over all in the mix it sits lot nicer now however.
After this EQ we used a tube compressor to add warmth and some stability. I am not actually a huge fan of this compressor. I think it slams a little too much at times so we ended up using a really low compression here just for tone. We are now using DAW compression and limiting to thicken up the sound.
We felt as if the trumpet was really lacking some depth compared to the other instruments. I don't think that this is because of the way in which it was recorded but is due to the natural sound of the trumpet which can be quiet thin depending on how the musician is playing. We used a digital analogue saturation on this to add some more depth to the tone and some fullness. I think this worked really well! We are now using limiting to also bring up the over all thickness on the trumpet bus.
Some other analogue processing we used was some EQ and compression on the kick drum. We needed this nice solid back bone tone to mix the drums around. We used this nice warm EQ on it to make and nice a blended but cutting out the higher frequencies and boosting some lows at 91hz.
We used some desk EQ as well more just because we were there and it needed it juts to get rid of some other frequencies we didn't like. We haven't done any processing in the DAW after this really juts a little bit of compression to even it out. Also by EQing the kick in and out differently we have a nice full punchy but warm kick.
We also wanted a nice bright analogue sound for our hi-hat mic. We used some EQ and compression on this to make it sharper. We are still playing around with the point track of this in the DAW but this initial analogue processing has defiantly helped with the drum tone over all. Making it nice and dynamic as well as clean and clear sounding before using the digital plug ins for more creative processing.
I also this week had a session with the creative mind and project co ordinator of Aubergine Oli. We went and had a listen to the mix the Mike and I had done over a four hour session and talked through a few more of the aesthetics we should utilise. We talked through each song and I woke about some of the analogue processing mike and I had done as Oli gave feed back. I took a lot of notes in this session and made a few on the fly changes such as editing out some wrong chords and replacing them, some automation on the levels of the over head mics, some simple EQ's on most instruments that Oli had suggested and re balanced a few songs. We listened over the reference tracks on the monitors in the 8024 for balance and did some rough adjustments according to this. I added markers in the session for some more specific things that Mike and I would need to work on such as creating some more dynamic range in a few areas. I also made notes like 'peak of this song' where we could use some more creative processing to build the song up to its climax. This was really helpful for me as a producer to work so closely with an artist and really get into their head about what they really wanted out of the recordings. I feel more connected to the songs after hearing some demos in this session with Oli as well. He showed me some recordings they had done at a studio in Sydney and take me though what he liked but didn't like in those songs. This was also another really good reference point for me to put the songs in to a different context and hear someone else mix of them! Although they were rather different from the recordings we took.
I will post this week some more about how the mixing of the project has been going in the past week. I will also mention some trouble shooting Mike and I have had todo for this mix! This project is coming along so well however I have learnt a lot!
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