Supercide - yet another mix.

  • I think this mix project came out pretty good considering the sensitive subject matter. The dirty tone profile is okay but not quite where I want it to be for this particular song. I used my Westone Spectrum DX with their Maganflux HB's for all guitar tracks. Split neck for clean parts. Tone Junkies 65 Fender Twin Funk and Kempers Acous-Clean for the cleans. Lasse Lammert Shot Gun Blast for dirty.


    Let me know. Thanks.



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    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I forgot to add a drum fill for the chord walk down parts E-D-A-E like at 1:19. Oh, well, I'll add it later. I will also redo the solo later too - I want a harsher angrier sound for the single notes but keep that tone for the dirty chords. The single notes are too "synth" sounding to me.


    BTW. It's played it half-step down.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Edited 2 times, last by BayouTexan ().

  • Fantastic. Much better mix. Good tune and subject matter too.


    Maybe unintentional but it reminds me of the unfortunately named theme from M*A*S*H which I won’t repeat here, maybe the echo on the guitar.

  • Fantastic. Much better mix. Good tune and subject matter too.


    Maybe unintentional but it reminds me of the unfortunately named theme from M*A*S*H which I won’t repeat here, maybe the echo on the guitar.

    That was a somber song too with an upbeat ending. If it reminds you of that and tugs on your emotions then I succeeded. Thank you!


    Don't despair. Working on a hard rock mix now.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • The rhythm section is much, much better in balance than previous mixes, both between the bass / drums and between them and the rest of the song. Great progress, man.


    Are you still using a guitar pitched down an octave for your bass parts?


    The only tweak I'm really hearing a need for is on the bass, and even then only in one section of the song. In the lower registers the bass sounds pretty authentic, kind of a no frills P bass tone. However, when the bass line moves to the upper registers it begins to disappear, blurring into the same frequency real estate as the guitar. It's only for those few notes (eighth notes on B / Db / Eb at the end of the section).


    You might try putting a compressor on the bass track to help give it a little more focus. This would also let you dig in just a bit more on the attack to give it some definition without the transients that would take away from the legato feel of the part (if you're of a mind to re-track it). I'd start with a ratio of around 4:1, medium attack / release, and then dial in the threshold until it's just starting to bite into the compressor. At that point close your eyes and adjust to taste for the amount of punch / focus you want. A longer release time will also give you a more legato feel, and shorter can help move you towards a bit more focus.


    On those upper register portions where the bass starts to get lost, take a look at the real time frequency display for the bass in that part of the song, then compare it to the guitar part. For the overlapping frequencies, see if you can cut the guitar and boost the bass a tiny bit each, enough for the bass to poke through but without stomping on the guitar. Set the width of your Q to be no wider than the range of the overlapping frequencies (use your ears to hear the portion of the bass that's being confused with the guitar) and use the same frequency / Q for both tracks. I'd then boost / cut by the same amount as a starting point, maybe 1 to 2 db.


    Again, once you get in the ball park with the dials start using your ears to listen for when the bass starts poking through and to make sure the guitar doesn't get hidden by the bass. it's a bit of a balancing act since they're both in the same frequency range at that point, but you may find that the upper frequencies on the guitar are more what you care about and are thus able to let the bass have a little of the lower turf. It's also okay to automate the EQ so that you're only cutting the guitar in that one section if you find the EQ takes away from the guitar tone elsewhere.


    Really cool to see your constant improvements.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Chris Duncan Thank you friend!


    Yes, using guitar + transpose is giving me some problems. I'm was using compression with a limiter in DAW to cut down on the peak notes. I can get the low E to sound good but A,D,G are coming out too thin. I plan to pick up a real bass in a couple of months.


    I'll try some heavier compression on next one. I also have EZbass plugin that I haven't even tried yet, but if I am going to buy a bass then I might as well learn how to play one properly.


    I'm just at the beginning of using automation and envelopes, and I've been adding an additional technique to each future mix. I've seen a tutorial on EQing real-time frequencies using automation so I'll have to revisit that one.


    I am having a lot of fun and get real excited how each project comes out.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • "I also have EZbass plugin that I haven't even tried yet, but if I am going to buy a bass then I might as well learn how to play one properly"

    BayouTexan I'd give EZbass a go first, it's much easier to use than you light think and if you use it with EZdrummer or Superior drummer it will follow your drums better than you ever would yourself it you were playing along. It's a very powerful tool and the key to getting huge sounding tracks

  • I agree with Joe wholeheartedly.


    If you actually want to become a bassist, that is of course a different conversation.


    However, if you just want to quickly get a good sounding bass part and then spend your time on guitar, give EZ Bass a try. It gives you a bass that's already been optimized for the mix so that you don't have to. Listen to Joe's mixes. As he pointed out, the combination of their drums and bass gives him a great sounding mix, and from previous conversations I know that he doesn't spend any time tweaking the rhythm section. It just works right out of the box.


    Also, don't think you have to learn how to use all the articulations, bells and whistles before you can use it. If you just draw in the bass line you want and do no tweaking whatsoever I think you'll be surprised at how good your bass sounds. That gets your rhythm section sorted, allowing you to then spend your time focusing on other stuff.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I'm hoping to finish up a hard rock mix for this weekend so I might give the EZBass a try. I do like playing over clicking though -even if my playing is not so great. ;)


    It's exciting times over here!

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I do like playing over clicking though -even if my playing is not so great. ;)

    Another option might be to pick up a little two octave MIDI keyboard if you don't already have keys. You get all the benefits of MIDI editability and VST / EZ Bass sounds, but you can play the bass part and get the feel you want rather than clicking.


    I have a $115 Akai https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJ6QAO2 but I'm sure you can find cheaper varieties.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Another option might be to pick up a little two octave MIDI keyboard if you don't already have keys. You get all the benefits of MIDI editability and VST / EZ Bass sounds, but you can play the bass part and get the feel you want rather than clicking.


    I have a $115 Akai https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJ6QAO2 but I'm sure you can find cheaper varieties.

    I didn't even think about that. I have a Akai midi that I use sometimes for drums and just completely forgot I could use it the same way for EZBass.:/:huh::wacko::pinch:

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I've never used EZ Bass, but when I'm sketching out ideas I sometimes use Apple's little "music notes" app and that has key detection and an AI bassist and drummer which is great for when you just have that sudden idea in your head. I actually really enjoy playing the bass albeit poorly which is the only reason I use real bass. Don't underestimate the synth options.

    Here's my quick tip of the day regarding tracking anything with MIDI - Do not worry about being a good keyboard player. I find often that it's good to have a controller to throw in the rhythm of a track but not worry too much about note accuracy. You can go in afterwards and shift the odd wrong note around, or even whole chords that are out, and even cooler you can find different voicings that way. Sometimes I will completely ignore all real notes and just slap in the pattern only if I know I'm going to go this route. It's much faster than you think.

  • I tried EZBass today on a new mix. I didn't like the midi output sound at all. It sounded way too synthetic. (probably work great for club music). I tried some bass grooves in their library which sounded much better, but I would have had to use the editor to move notes around too much to match the guitar riff and points in my song.


    I went back to guitar + transpose. I will just live with that until a new bass comes in.. maybe November.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.