songblog

Mix mix and mix again

And here I thought I was done...

As I have related, my friend Cass Anawathy remixed my song 120 Ways, and did a fabulous job of it. However, I have changed some things, gotten a new preamp, and re-recorded everything. The basic tracks sound much better, most of them in stereo, a tip from Jay at YourMusicForums.
Now comes the hard part: making it sound as good as the original remix. You know that one of the typical things that is said to be done when trying to make a good master of a song is to listen to songs that you like and try and match the mix.
I am in a different situation here, unique in that I am trying to match a better mix of my own stuff. You'd think it would be easy - unless you are trying to do it.
One problem is that I don't have all the mixing resources that Cass has - but I can't let that stop me,right? I did get one great advantage lately, that of a free and amazing set of fx plugins from Luxonix, the freeware LX1310. This is a great set of plugins, especially since each instance can contain up to 3 seperate plugs - and are really low on CPU usage. On my old Athlon 800, I am running 8 instances of this thing, plus two more insert effects, and the CPU usage is 52% - plenty useable.
So I have done things like run seperate compressor/eq/reverb or some such combination on 8 tracks - what a difference to control each channel indivdiually!
I was able to get a much better mix on most everything, but listening to Cass's mix, it still isnt there, I still don't have the clarity I am after, and the punch he got.
I also tried to duplicate some of the voice tricks he did with varying success.
I could go into long and laborous details of what I have done - but I think it can wait until Labor Day, which is tomorrow. I fear that I am losing site of the whole picture, so I need to let my poor ears rest until I can hear it all fresh.
It all just boils down to having the patience to persist until I can achive at least a rough simulation of what Cass did. I have to believe the end product will be worth it!