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Author Topic: IMP14 discussion  (Read 18851 times)

M Carter

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #45 on: August 28, 2007, 12:04:34 AM »

So far there's a lot of really good mixes of the song.  iCombs has a mix that I dig, and mcsnares is a fun listen as well.  

The only thing I really wanted more of out of the drums was a more spankish kind of a snare... it was tough to make those sounds get big and take up space when they were the only things going on .  The samples all got ditched in the breaks, as did a couple of sections of the song.  This is admittedly the first 'radio rock' song I think I've ever taken part in... had a good time but couldn't see myself working on this kind of thing often.

I'll try and actually do some reviews this time..

Matt
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Matt Carter
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briefcasemanx

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #46 on: August 28, 2007, 01:12:24 AM »

I just threw mine up.
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maxim

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #47 on: August 28, 2007, 01:49:47 AM »

how unsavoury...
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briefcasemanx

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #48 on: August 28, 2007, 03:52:58 AM »

I love your kick drum mcsnare. What did you do there?
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darkhorseporter

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #49 on: August 28, 2007, 09:47:22 AM »

I figured because I never did comments on the last IMP, that I should do comments for this one right away.

Upon hearing the others, i realized my mix is too bright (self-mastering = bad idea), the drums could rock more, and I should have done some more aggressive editing.

That said, I liked most of the mixes a lot.  

Also, its late so I apologize in advance if there are typos, bad grammar, or a lack total lack of continuity.



Now without further ado, in order of appearance in the submission thread, my 2 cents!



audio geek - darkish mix.  nice intro solo. the guitars are a touch too beefy, but sound killer otherwise.  the vocals are too dry, too close.  the kick is thumping nicely though.  the mix is cluttered in the middle.  pan those guitars and make some room for the drums and bass to speak.  ok - I don't like the samples, and I miss the vocals you cut/buried.   I really like the bridge.  man, the mix almost rocks hard.  a little work, and this one could bring it.


j hall - the guitars are too beefy for me.  nice choice for vocals in the first pre-chorus.  choices for compression, verb, etc.. are excellent, but there is some refining I'd like to hear.  hmm.  I wish I had done more work on the arrangement.  I like the piano without the bass on the bridge and the little harmonic changes.  oh, and I chickened out of cutting the last little vocal clip at the very last minute.  I like it way better your way.  hmm.  not a bad mix, but not quite right.


jason thompson - I like the edited intro.  I wish I had done the same to my mix.  The  instruments sound good.  The vocals need to sit better. actually, while I like the sounds and levels of the instruments, they aren't playing nice together.  bus compression might help.  hmm.  I think the bass is way too loud in the bridge.  wheres the piano?  I'd say you're 3/4 there.


hlabb - i like this mix a lot.  the verb/delay on the vocals is a touch long, and the mix overall feels a tad "closed-in."  I'm not sold on the bridge, though.  I like me some nice piano, and I didn't hear any Sad   I forgive you, cause the outro chorus is nice and strong.  aww...you should have edited the ending better.  really, nice mix in general.


soul fire - bass and kick sit well together, but I'm getting killed by the guitars. I like loud guitars, and they sound *great*, but they are pulling energy from the vocals.  Nice work with the samples, though I don't personally care for the "fold to mono/am radio" drum break.  vocals it well and sound good.  work that bridge, man!  drums are crushing the vibe before the guitars come back in.  really, this is my favorite mix so far, aside from the couple level issues i mentioned.


macbraddy - aww.  man this mix was ripping my head off until the vocals came in.  for a moment i was ok with them, but when they didn't change when the full band came in I was very disappointed.  the intro was great.  the instruments sound great (though heavy on the right side).  make h=those vocals sound great!  another weak piano mix.  they put it there for a reason, I'm sure, and while the sound was interesting for 1/2 second, it didn't help the song.  this mix might have been my favorite except for these few things.


devin k - drums and vocals sound nice - I like your choice of verb for the vox.  I'd like to hear more guitars.  they don't sound as if they are panned much, but anyways, more guitar.  oh, i LOVE the syncopated drum break.  I hate the sampled drum sounds, but I like the edit.  man, as the song comes to a close I only wish the guitars matched the vocals in gusto.  you have the best ending I've heard so far.  so yeah, pretty good mix.


singsing - bright mix.  GREAT use of sounds on the lead vocals.  the background vocals need a bit of work, and the lead vox could use a *bit* more distance.  work that bridge, man.  make some dynamics - give the sing someplace to go.  maybe lower the bass and vox until the guitars come in?   tame that top end a bit, and this is it.  NICE SHIT!  seriously the best ending.  actually, my favorite mix of the whole bunch.  nicely done.


baddo - nice sounds overall - kick is a tad "clicky" for me.  the bass is also clicky.  guitars rock.  I honestly don't care much for the chorusy effects on the quiet parts, and I wish the vocals spoke more to me in this mix even though they sound good.  nice mix, though.


southboundloco - nice mix, but I'm not sure i like the snare sound.  its too hollow sounding.  I tried the same panning as you in the very beginning, but I think the panned question-answer thing is strange sounding.  if the vocals were panned differently throughout I'd really like this mix.  oh goodness, those samples are ruining the vibe.  too full.  they stand out like green hair. in congress.  the delay in the snare in the bridge is neat, but not good.  doesn't help the song.  hmm. every once in a while there is a bass hit that is killer, but then it goes away.  I wonder if it is over-aggressive compression.  overall very good mix, though.


adam miller - wow.  nice loud guitars.  maybe too loud?  nah.  nice mix.  the kick and bass aren't always playing well together, but this is a nit-pick.  while I dig the way all the instruments sit, I don't find myself singing along and moving with the song like I should.  hmm.  oh, i did not like the edits at 1:41 and in the bridge.  might be just personal preference, but I think the song works better as it was.  the little variations make it more listenable.  aww, kill the delay on that last vocal line.  sounds yucky exposed.


chrisj - the guitars sound good, and are work volume-wise with the rest of the mix, but I'm not digging the bass, drum, and vocal sounds.  more kick, more low end on the bass.  the snare sounds boxy.  I might be wrong, but this mix sounds to me like each instrument was mixed sole, then added to the mix, cause nothing is sitting quite right. another sad piano.


mcsnare - yeah. rock.  this mix is super clean.  snare is a tad tight sounding to me, and I'd like to hear more, uh, lift during the chorus.  it kinda sags.  are the drums sampled? the outro chorus could use some massaging level-wise.  I love the piano sound for the bridge, by the way. ouch those toms are too much!  This is the cleanest mix so far, but not the most compelling.  I can't quite put my finger on why, but I think it might be the guitars too loud.  I'm guessing, actually.  I'm curious to see what the others say.


ator - rockin.  the lead vocals are too close for me.  guitars are hot, but sound good.  overall a good mix, but I don't feel like the whole mix sits in a space -- the snare is in a room, but the vocals bass and guitars are pressed up to the speakers.  gutsy move with with the piano, but I think it works.  do I want more kick?  I think a tad.   a decent mix, but lacks the sheen I'd hope to see on this style of song.


osumosan - WOW.  holy compression!  while the mix is rocking, the drum pumping is making me seasick.  hmm, aside from the pump and the hot cymbals, I really like this mix.  I wish the bridge were more...sensitive.  the drums are killing the piano.  overall, I dig this mix.


icombs - kick is thumping! nice!  solo is too verbed.  its distracting.  the bass is not speaking enough.  the vox sound good, but could be hotter in the mix.  This mix is fairly finished sounding, but not balanced quite right.  guitars are a touch loud and have too much low end - they're clouding up the mix.  ok.  overall, i like this mix, but would work a few things differently.  ps. the "ear candy" is well done in this mix.


boedoconstrictor - the snare is loud, and the delay on the vocals is strange, but otherwise ROCK ON.  The vocals on the chorus are too loud.  the background vocals especially.  man, the delay on the vocals is really unpleasant when exposed.  sorry, I should not rip into the same choice twice, but uhg.  overall, excellent mix.  There are a couple things I'd work on , but this mix is 90% there to me.


maxim - dark mix.  open up those sounds man.  The vocals sound ok, but could use some space.  why not hard pan those guitars?  Might clean room in the middle of the mix.  Nice natural piano sound.  The effects on the bridge are nice, but undermined by the imbalance in the mix.  I hear tons of vox, and everything else is missing.  oh, except the toms, which rock harder than everything else.


blloyd - this is a really hot vocal mix.  drums are up there, but the kick is weak.  snare could have more beef.  I'd like to hear the guitars hard panned, and turned up.  turn up the bass too!  the vocals all sound thin and close.  pan them, verb/delay them more.  ok, the bridge is closer, to right, but not there.  piano sounds good.  if the guitars and bass were fixed, the vocals might be fine.


ryst - like the guitars and vocals, but the drums and bass need to get their say as well.  also, I hear some eq issues.  there is something weird in the mids i can't put my finger on.  the guitars need a *little* more meat.  heres a little thing - the right side is hotter, and its distracting.  the bridge is ok, but the piano delay doesn't quite work.  neither does mine.  a little balancing and this mix would rock much more.  not bad overall, though.


fantomas - dark mix.  guitars are too beefy. solo is too far away.   i like the kick.  snare could pop more, but not like in the bridge.  the verb is...much.  bass sounds great.  gimme more vox, but with more space - like in the chorus!  I like all the background vocals, and miss them where you cut them though. don't care for the distorted bass in the bridge, and miss the piano as a significant contributor.  this is the Frankenstein mix --a mass of very usable parts but sewn together roughly.  not too bad, but needs work still.


teleric - guitars, bass and drums sit very well together.  the solo is too loud, and the vocals are too close in the verse.  the chorus sounds much better, though.  there is some distortion in the breaks that I don't like at all.  hmm.  I dint like the bridge at all.  the cool sounds are nice, but should be closer to in time.  I'm not sure what is different about the ending that I don't like as much as the rest of the mix.    This mix is real close to exactly what I'd like to hear, but I liked it better at the beginning than at the end.
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osumosan

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #50 on: August 28, 2007, 01:36:05 PM »

Just a general comment about the IMP's:

When I hear choices in other people's mixes, my first reaction is to not like them only because they're different. (I've only had time to listen quickly through the ones that were posted when I put mine up.) But after listening and making a few mental notes, I listened to mine and whoa! I heard so many things that my ears just passed by when I was working on the mix. I think listening to other perspectives on the song really opened my ears a lot and I think if I revisit my mix, it'll get a whole lot better. So thanks everyone.

darkhorseporter: I have to go back and listen for the pumping. I know the mix is squashed, but I like mixing through a buss compressor, it helps get the levels right, and I used a compressor to do a quick and dirty balance the vocal tracks. Please listen to it loud (remember that advice on your LPs back in the day?)

Thanks. I hope to make some comments about the mixes in coming days.
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M Carter

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #51 on: August 28, 2007, 02:28:34 PM »

The thing I noticed the most about the mixes was peoples' tendency to add a lot of upper mids to the guitars.  At times it helped a little, but most often it put the guitars in a separate space from the drums and made the whole thing sound smaller.  I'll get more specific later.  So far my favorite mixes are mcsnares and iCombs'.  I actually like mine this time around which is a new thing for me...

Matt
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Matt Carter
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ryst

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #52 on: August 28, 2007, 03:44:00 PM »

I just wanted everyone to know who will be listening to my mix, I only worked on it for 1 whole hour.  No more.  I was so busy but I wanted to put something up.  Anyway, time to listen to everyone's mixes.
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Nathan Schreier

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J-Texas

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #53 on: August 28, 2007, 04:20:03 PM »

Audio Geek - Did the front get chopped off man? Sounds like the drums are in the other room (except the snare). Dirty vox. Not really a good dirty for me. I like the backup panning thing, but the backup is not up loud enough. Not a great balance. The distorted backing vox are WAY to low! That would have sounded great out front. Big floating bottom end that I like. I also like the editing on the segue parts. Just mix needs some adjustments.

J. - Cool drums as usual. Thick. I really hate the delay man. You know, one thing I've noticed is that your snares always sound dark. Your style? This is obviously a starting point for you, so need to hammer it. I like the Queen sounding breakdown though.

J-Texas - Sure is midrange-y, but seems to work when everything comes in. I would have like a little more beef in the snare and kick. I would turn this up if I heard it on the radio. Better on the low end, but still not there dude. I like the vocal balance.

H.Labb - This has a hair or metal in it (pun intended)  Very Happy OH are a tiny bit fatiguing to me. I like the breakdown editing. Backup vox could come up a tad. The single and double vox could use a little dB as well. The stacks are great. I like the Faith No More segue. GREAT buildup to finish it off.  

Soul Fire - Holy Crap! Now that's some mids! This kind of sounds like a couple of mics setup in the back of a show at a club. There needs to be some taming here. The vocal is in and out. Are you a guitar player? I'm one. I like guitars to kick ass, but I had to learn to control it in the mix. It's like the guy that plays in the little club with a full stack and you don't know why.

macbraddy - More mids. I like the editing. Those vocals are cool, but they need to be out front. Did you use alot of the underneath snare mic? Lots of hi hat. I don't know why this kind of midrange really bothers me. Mine was midrange-y but in a different way. I need to dissect that later. I like the segue. A little fatiguing man.

DevinK - Man I like it so far. The kick is a little muddy. I know it's there... but where exactly? I'm not sure the guitars have enough balls or just volume for the rest of the mix. WHOA. Except for the Dick Dale rundown there. Cool editing in the segues. I'm still not a fan of the delay on the vocals. Here come the monks. Oh shit! They're angry... run!

Sing Sing - Vocals. Cool. Bring up the backing voc man! Snare needs work dude. Whoa. Background vocals are lost. This started out like mine... really midrange-y... and then it works. Need more drums period (except the cymbals... there's enough there for two songs). BACKGROUND VOX MAN. I'm straining and I don't want to. I like the eqs on the piano and bass in the intro. Interesting heavy compression/eq'd vox. Like the buildup. Like the edit at the end dude.

Baddo - I like this. WOW. That tripped me out. Nice snare. I think the vocals could come up a little. OK. That tripped me out too. Hats are harsh man. Nice buildup. Just a few tweaks for me.

Southbound - Metal mania. On the fence on the panning situation. Wow. Godzilla just stepped on the scene! Weak snare man IMO. Compression. compression. compression. Whoa. There that damn Godzilla again. Can somebody get him out of the studio? Nice toms. Interesting bridge. I would have cleaned up the fade at the end, unless that's what you were going for.

Adam Miller - Solo is kind of buried. I like this. Nice vox. Just like mine, I wish our snares were a little beefier man. Good sound though. I like the edits. I like that you didn't over use those weird samples in the segue. A little bit more on the backups man. Delay is a tiny bit off for me in the bridge.  

ChrisJ - What the hell?  Very Happy That guitar lazered through my forehead. I like drum segue. THAT GUITAR IS KILLING ME. A little tiny on the snare man. Where's the kick? AHHHH THE TORTURE. THE HUMANITY! MAKE IT STOP!! Very Happy I see where you were going with the snare, it's has crack but no beef. I feel sorry for the rest of the guys I have to critique... my ears are about to fall off. Tell me what freq you bumped on that lead guitar so I'll know what to roll off in the future!  Very Happy

ATOR - Rock. Maybe less on the hats? A little less at 10k (give or take). I like the vocal treatment. It reminds me of Maynard from TOOL. Neat that you don't have to guess where it is. Could have used a little automation here and there (compression maybe). I like the tricked out piano. The verb is pretty big man. It makes it lose a little definition. Kind of washy. Big sounding though.

Osumosan - Man you really like that crushed sound! Listen to the difference of the intro and the rest of the song though. It's appropriate there, but then ends up way too much. It's this pumping mosh pit of frequencies man. You did a good job of not killing me with that hot hi hat. That would normally get on my nerves immediately, but I have bigger fish to fry in this mix. Maybe you could consider doing that kind of compression BEFORE that big reverb. It's like somebody at sound check before bodies suck up the reflections.

iCombs - Man I wish my snare was that big. I personally don't like the delay. But I've said that earlier. I'd like to hear a little thicker guitar and then the vocals up. Sounds great though. Whoa dude, not the stoner boys choir! That's too much for me. Delay is really weird IMO only! It didn't sound as "tough" as it did in my head man. Opinions. Opinions. Great track!

mcsnare - KICK ASS. Dont' like the delay dude. I want my drums to sound like that. Wahhh.  Sad That's a perfect choice for reverb dude! Balanced. Thick. You suck.  Very Happy Great mix. I wished that last tom would have rung out in the bridge. Cool piano treatment. Great Buildup. Hair less piano at the end?

Boedoconstrictor - A little low end heavy. I like this. I'm oviously not a fan of the delay vox on this track. I like out front vocals. Maybe just a dB or 2 down though. Or just some buss compression? I like the reverb. Nice mix dude.

maxim - I like the sounds but the blend seems to me a little off. WHAT WAS THAT? Wicked. Reverb is washing this out too. Blending man. The sounds are there I think, just needs some more here, a little less there, you know? I do like the delay and vocal treatment on the bridge. The vocals get lost there though. The piano takes over. Well, there are some vocals. Just work on the levels man. Good sounds.

Brian Lloyd - Nice snare crack. I need the kick to match that pizazz! Whoa! Samples jumped out there man. Could use some more bass. Pleasant bridge. Vocals are hot to me man. It just needs some balance work.

Ryst - Huge round butt. This delay doesn't bother me. Another guitar player, huh?  Very Happy (it takes one to know one). The vocals need to cut over those guitars man. The cymbals don't even do it. What does that tell you? More snare dude and I would have made rock horns. More drums period. Wait... less guitar. Cool bridge. Couple of tweaks... I like it.

fantomas - Solo is buried. Vocals don't hold up IMO. There are some really muddy things going on in the low end. WHOA! VERB! Backup vocals? Snare is too distant for that cymbal sound. OUCH. Somebody help that bass, it's on fire! Actually the vocals levels are all over the place man.

darkhorseporter - Man, do you have some metal skeletons in your closet?  Smile Pretty harsh 5k and up... and up... and up. I want more kick dude! A really clicky one at that! If you're gonna go there... go all the way my man. Take it easy on the vocal reverb yo! Backups need some steroids too. Another stadium, lighter blazing bridge! I like the "hair" direction you went.

MCarter - Cool sound man. I like the editing. (but do you really want to start that up again?)  Twisted Evil Although the snare is cool, it overkills the track. Can you tell the groupies in the hall to shut up while we're trying to record this bridge? Nice, just bring down the snare and undo all of your edits. LOL  Laughing

briefcasemanx - I love the dry vox. I thought that's all they needed on this track. We had a very similar approach I think. Midrange. Out front vocals. I need more of your drums though. Especially kick. The low end needs to meet up with the rest of it. Nice vox overall.
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Jason Thompson
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J-Texas

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #54 on: August 28, 2007, 04:25:45 PM »

darkhorseporter wrote on Tue, 28 August 2007 08:47

jason thompson - I like the edited intro.  I wish I had done the same to my mix.  The  instruments sound good.  The vocals need to sit better. actually, while I like the sounds and levels of the instruments, they aren't playing nice together.  bus compression might help.  hmm.  I think the bass is way too loud in the bridge.  wheres the piano?  I'd say you're 3/4 there.


I don't know if I agree man about the vocals. To me, that's what most people really listen to, especially in a radio tune. You don't have to strain to hear them, but they don't jump out either. As far as the piano, I didn't like the fake sample sound of the piano, and for my mix, I couldn't imagine a dude running out and jamming from the bridge to the end. It didn't fit for me. There was enough going on in the outro. Thanks for the input man!

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M Carter

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #55 on: August 28, 2007, 04:28:15 PM »

J-texas -

Curiously enough - the edits were the brainchild of Ryan (of S H I T C O P T E R fame)

I do agree that the snare needs to come down, and I feel i should've put the drums WAY back in the verb on the arena rock part.
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Matt Carter
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J-Texas

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #56 on: August 28, 2007, 04:30:11 PM »

M Carter wrote on Tue, 28 August 2007 13:28

The thing I noticed the most about the mixes was peoples' tendency to add a lot of upper mids to the guitars.  At times it helped a little, but most often it put the guitars in a separate space from the drums and made the whole thing sound smaller.  I'll get more specific later.  So far my favorite mixes are mcsnares and iCombs'.  I actually like mine this time around which is a new thing for me...

Matt


That's what I thought about mine and commented on about others. It's really jarring at first, but I think it worked really, really well when everything kicked in.
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Jason Thompson
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M Carter

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #57 on: August 28, 2007, 04:45:59 PM »

I felt the opposite on the addition of mid range, I felt like it flabbed the mix up a bit and the guitars didn't chug along like they have to.
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Matt Carter
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J-Texas

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #58 on: August 28, 2007, 05:35:30 PM »

That's so weird man how people can have opposite opinions. To me, it sounded wimpy. I like the harsh, raw sound. I didn't want to make it teenie-bopper.
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Jason Thompson
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Eric H.

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Re: IMP14 discussion
« Reply #59 on: August 28, 2007, 06:07:24 PM »

it would be interesting to know, now that we've made our mix, how the song was tracked (i really liked the drum sounds and bass also). it's all well recorded and that helped much.
It would also be interesting to know with what config did we mix.
I, for myself, did it all in PT, lots of plugs, compression groups, and many delays.

Eric H.
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eric harizanos

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