One Note

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    Tonights noodle is "one note" because the baseline could have been just the single note all the way through for that menacing vibe (but I decided to add a bit of variation because there's only so much single note I can play).


    The mix here is again very drum forwards, but based on the balance levels from an 80's track with vocals so should be much less drum forward than last nights track, however on smaller speakers the drums should punch much harder relative to other tracks because of the upper mids push from the under-snare mic and some EQ carving on the guitars and bass to make room around the drums.

    It's an interesting approach, I might try the other way around too (carving frequencies out of the drums for the guitar and bass) to see whether that will allow me to keep definition on the guitar and bass while pushing the drums forward.

  • It’s purely down to the upper mids balance. These drums are much lower in the mix than yesterdays, but they have a higher pitched snare with more of the lower mic (more snare resonator less drum). The guitars meanwhile have reduced upper mids.


    So if I want it to sound good on a smaller speaker then I need to more or less push that snare up.

  • It's not that, brother.


    When I say "way-too-soft" I mean you have to strain to hear anything at all. I was thinking about this last night while eating dinner and a light bulb went off in my head:


    Hit the mono button on your master channel and you'll see what I mean if I'm right. Remember I said it sounded like a reverb return? I'm betting you used a spreader / width or DT plugin that's not mono-compatible.


    I can't explain this severe lack of level via a monitoring system's deficiencies alone; even one of those old carbon mic's they used in analogue-telephone handsets, plus the severely-bandwidth-limited transmission, wouldn't do this to a signal.

  • Hmm, your'e right it does lose volume in the mids. All the effects should be mono compatible. The only widener I have in my arsenal off the Kemper is the Ozone one which is mono compatible but I'd never touch the mids with it. It's possibly a side effect of the "Air Chorus" that's part of the rig (TAF - Hello 19080z). But I can't imagine that Christoph would put any mono-incompatible FX on the Kemper.

  • Hey, if you ever figure it out Per, great, but right now it doesn't matter. I'm just glad the mono check revealed what I'm hearing.


    Maybe just something to be on-the-lookout for. Being an old-school engimaneer, mono-compatibility checks are definitely a thing. Easiest way these days is the mono button on the master channel.

  • Good advice, I've mapped mono to one of the buttons on the front of my sound card in order to have it available on quick check which I'll try to do from now on.

  • That break @ 0:38 :love: typical PM + chords combo 80's lick , great stuff Per !


    Note to Bayou Tex' : this is a great example to enhance your tracks : the PM does the drive & groove while the chords stacked on the PM do the harmony , I shall even double everything ( naturally ) to sound even tighter & larger. We do it constantly as it's super easy to sound pro with these practices.

  • Thanks for checking it out chaps!


    waraba yeah good point, it’s a classic and solid way to contain both lead and rhythm on one guitar part provided things aren’t too fast. The critical thing is that the PM’s are background so the double stop riff takes precedent and shouldn’t be rushed to make space. The bass guitar is also doubling up the palm mutes groove so anywhere the guitar PM drops out for a note or two to do lead is covered. The hardest part to play there was the little riff halfway through and at the end of the segment (lower down), when you do those PM’s your hands like repetition and don’t like change, even though it’s a very simple and not very fast double handed tap moving my hands fast enough to do it cleanly and precisely on the beat without pushing the string off the fretboard at the 12th was a total pain.