Old 06-08-2017, 06:19 PM   #1
sammydix
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Default Electronica???

I got a wild hair and wanted to try to mix something I've never done before: Electronic. I turned to OPI and he was cool enough to send me the project from an old song of his. Here's my first attempt:

https://app.box.com/s/f51jnoh3z09pzm528s8nbrhxf479jb27
From post #15: OPI's Remaster/edits:
https://soundcloud.com/lukeswansonmu...-vines/s-2h96R

Since I'm a virgin, I didn't do anything fancy, just a straight mix of the tracks. I think I touched, just touched, on a bit of organic electronica.

OPI: all music

Last edited by sammydix; 06-11-2017 at 10:12 AM.
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Old 06-08-2017, 10:40 PM   #2
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I have to be straight with you, I don't know sh!t about Electronica, EDM or any other genre or sub-genre along those lines. That being said, my uneducated ears both agree this sounds really good !! Clear, nice separation, great !!

Don't know what the tracks were like before you mixed them

but every single thing I've ever heard from OPI has sounded Fu@kin Great
so I imagine the tracks provided were very nice to work with
(unlike some of the things I've sent you)

I dig it,

Great Job Sammy
and
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Old 06-09-2017, 12:56 AM   #3
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Holy shit Sammy!

Really job well done.

A couple of things...


1.) Is there distortion on the guitar chops and intro pad downlifter thingy? If so I would bump it down just a touch. During the breakdown, the distortion is way too obvious. I think it would give it a more glued feeling.

2.) Something is going on in the second drop and I'm not sure, maybe I gave you something that was muted? There is deffinitly some off times parts in that bit. Not sure what I did

3.) Not really sure if it needs it but some more longer reverb would be interesting to hear. Scratch that, just listened again.

Other than that this mix sounds really awesome. I still have so much to learn. Very humbling really. First time mixing electronic and you fu3king nail it. I think what you learned is that mixing electronic aint so different then acoustic after all huh?

IF you want, you can send me the project and Then ill use this mix of the track instead of mine. I'd be proud to use it on my profile and eventually find vocals for. ( You up for it? )
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Old 06-09-2017, 06:29 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BCF1 View Post
I have to be straight with you, I don't know sh!t about Electronica, EDM or any other genre or sub-genre along those lines. That being said, my uneducated ears both agree this sounds really good !! Clear, nice separation, great !!

Don't know what the tracks were like before you mixed them

but every single thing I've ever heard from OPI has sounded Fu@kin Great
so I imagine the tracks provided were very nice to work with
(unlike some of the things I've sent you)

I dig it,

Great Job Sammy
and
OPI
As usual, I specifically asked OPI to keep everything as raw as possible--no fx aside from whatever synth's built in fx. But you're right, even unprocessed the stems sounded good, so it was fairly easy and fast to mix them.
Like you, I'm not that familiar with the genre, but mixing this made me a little more open to what can be done (with any music style). Learning/growing never ceases.
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Old 06-09-2017, 06:54 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OPI View Post
Holy shit Sammy!

Really job well done.

A couple of things...


1.) Is there distortion on the guitar chops and intro pad downlifter thingy? If so I would bump it down just a touch. During the breakdown, the distortion is way too obvious. I think it would give it a more glued feeling.

2.) Something is going on in the second drop and I'm not sure, maybe I gave you something that was muted? There is deffinitly some off times parts in that bit. Not sure what I did

3.) Not really sure if it needs it but some more longer reverb would be interesting to hear. Scratch that, just listened again.

Other than that this mix sounds really awesome. I still have so much to learn. Very humbling really. First time mixing electronic and you fu3king nail it. I think what you learned is that mixing electronic aint so different then acoustic after all huh?

IF you want, you can send me the project and Then ill use this mix of the track instead of mine. I'd be proud to use it on my profile and eventually find vocals for. ( You up for it? )
Thanks man for helping me out firstly! And with a pretty damned good tune too. The guitar is pretty hot, so I'll tone that down before sending you the project back. I'm not sure what you mean is happening on the 'second drop' area. I didn't touch anything in the project you sent timeline-wise. Can you pinpoint the specific time?

And you're right--mixing this was like anything else. I was really unsure how my mix would sound to folk more in tune with the genre because (of non-understanding thinking), I didn't smash the shit out of anything. Except for the kick and bass, hardly any track has more than 1 or 2db of compression or light limiting. I didn't try smashing until the "mastering" part. I did that a LOT harder than I usually would, but really, I don't think it sounds as 'lifeless' as I would have guessed. But of course, my 'smash' still leans on the conservative side.

Now when you say send the project back, do you mean burn in everything I did and do the reverse of what I asked: leave all fx in place as though I was sending this out to an ME? Should I include the mixbus fx or strip them off and just send the processed stems (that would leave you free to "re-master" the stems).

Actually, I did try coming up with vocals while I was mixing, but nothing really worked. I still have to acclimatize. Thanks again man. It was kinda fun doing this.

EDIT: oh, and concerning the rim shot/snare, where it starts slow then builds, mine still sounds like a snare and is pretty boring. Yours, on your original mix 'reference,' had some sort of fx that made it more exciting. How'd you do that?

Last edited by sammydix; 06-09-2017 at 07:01 AM.
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Old 06-09-2017, 08:08 AM   #6
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I'm hearing some random synths being triggered or something during the first 5 seconds of the second drop. Screwed notes or something not sure. I don't think it was anything you did, maybe I fudged something on the export. Around the 2:06 mark

Yeah, id say the tone of the guit's don't vibe with the overall smooth mix you have going here. Also, is the synth downlifter distorted in the intro and breakdown? I'm hearing some crunching there as well.

What I'm kind of realizing is that there is a nice quality to sound that isn't super compressed. In my version, I slammed almost everything and the result is a bit harsh. This has a nice organic feel to it that just feels right.

Also, You boosted the volume of sounds that I left quite low because I just didn't know how to mix them. Sounds great actually having all the elements intended put to use.

hmmm.. You know what, I accidently removed a couple fx from the snare and conga that should have been burned into the mix I sent you. Simple, slowly rea-pitch up and take out a touch of low frequencies of the snare during the build.


So yeah just burn everything in after you get that distortion taken care of and send it my way! I'd be proud to use it.
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Old 06-09-2017, 08:29 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OPI View Post
I'm hearing some random synths being triggered or something during the first 5 seconds of the second drop. Screwed notes or something not sure. I don't think it was anything you did, maybe I fudged something on the export. Around the 2:06 mark

Yeah, id say the tone of the guit's don't vibe with the overall smooth mix you have going here. Also, is the synth downlifter distorted in the intro and breakdown? I'm hearing some crunching there as well.

What I'm kind of realizing is that there is a nice quality to sound that isn't super compressed. In my version, I slammed almost everything and the result is a bit harsh. This has a nice organic feel to it that just feels right.

Also, You boosted the volume of sounds that I left quite low because I just didn't know how to mix them. Sounds great actually having all the elements intended put to use.

hmmm.. You know what, I accidently removed a couple fx from the snare and conga that should have been burned into the mix I sent you. Simple, slowly rea-pitch up and take out a touch of low frequencies of the snare during the build.


So yeah just burn everything in after you get that distortion taken care of and send it my way! I'd be proud to use it.
I feel dense; I still don't hear what you're saying about 2:06. Maybe, once you have the stems, re-edit those parts? I've got no probs with you fine tuning/re-editing to taste.
I don't know what a "synth downlifter" is. ha But I didn't intentionally distort any synth parts. Can you give me the time--just when it kicks in--of the one you mean? Or better yet, the name of the track.
I'll prob fix and send this eve, but one last question--include or exclude the mixbuss?

EDIT: Since I'm a noob, I'm pretty sure I'll botch the snare. Maybe, if you want to keep your original fx, re-add them to mine?

Last edited by sammydix; 06-09-2017 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 06-09-2017, 10:55 AM   #8
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weird. Now the distortion is gone lol. But I still here the 2:06 part Which I can definitely fix so no worries. Send it over and also pm me your name so I can give credit where its due. And again, really good job. Thanks a lot. Ill upload the final here tonight.... Uhh I'm in Bulgaria so fairly soon.
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Old 06-09-2017, 11:05 AM   #9
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Bulgaria???! And here I was thinking something like California as a wild guess.

Still didn't answer this--include or exclude the mixbuss?

I need to know because it determines which rendering option I need to choose.
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Old 06-09-2017, 11:06 AM   #10
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woops. Yeah just the mix not the master.
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Old 06-09-2017, 02:10 PM   #11
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Nice job Sammy and OPI, on something unusual, as usual. I don't know squat about electronica myself and I dig this. The synth at the end drops off too abruptly for my taste, I would have faded it to inf, but that's just me. I would have dropped an Udu in there somewhere. I kept thinking that while I was listening. Really cool man, great groove Sammy and OPI.
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Old 06-09-2017, 02:36 PM   #12
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Hey man. This will be in OPI's hands soon, so maybe he'll re-edit and fade. Glad you stopped by.
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Old 06-10-2017, 03:21 PM   #13
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Sounds really good, nice dynamics in there as well, cool vibe, cheers.
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Old 06-11-2017, 04:46 AM   #14
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With enough practice, I just might get it "right." I'll never go solid square wav loud, but it did break me out of the mode to go louder than I usually would. I learn quite a lot working with others.
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Old 06-11-2017, 10:05 AM   #15
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Thanks for all the support guys. Sammy is a very talented mixer and i owe it to him for saving my mix!

That being said, I did change a few things... Things i think should have been left in the mix i sent him ( Like pitch effects etc. )

Things i changed...

- Well the master obviously Hopefully its not too compressed. I was going to completely smash this with compressor but dialed it back more then im used to. Now the track has about -10 to -9 db DR.

- I really wanted the intro bird sounds and congas to open up rather then just full blast from the get go, So i gave em a ramp up. (Which is a performance decision, not mixing decision.) My bad on that part. Sammy was very respectful in leaving literally everything how it was given to him.

- Reverb. I hope i didnt cross the line with this one. I asked sammy if he used reverb and he said very subtly on some mix busses. It seemed to me atleast for the intro and breakdowns it wanted some verb. Didnt want to drown it in verb but did wanna give it some space and a sense of reality. Some of these sounds are very obviously "Fake" so i figured it might trick the listener for the duration of the track a bit.

- I deleted a pad sound. I had 2 pads and i got rid of one. I realised it was just too much and this decision imo left the mix much more open and clear! Again, sammy being respectful and not getting rid of what is obviously junk.

Other than that the mix in terms of balance and eq etc is virtually the same. I did have a problem with the mix he sent me where two tracks ( that werent in folders) lost their level. Not sure why but i hope i atleast got somewhere in the ball park of what sammy had.


Enjoy and let me know what ya think sammy.

https://soundcloud.com/lukeswansonmu...-vines/s-2h96R
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Old 06-11-2017, 10:12 AM   #16
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I forgot to mention, During the master the lead and kick weren't coming through enough so i boosted them by a couple db.
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Old 06-11-2017, 10:20 AM   #17
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I updated the OP to point to your re-master.
I hear more weight and beefier. I think mine has a little more front to back while yours is wider.
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Old 06-11-2017, 11:12 AM   #18
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Yep, and it's louder so keep that in mind while judging

I spread out some upper harmonics, compressed it, multiband compressed it, eq'd out some low end from the sides, clipped it just a touch, and applied 2 limiters... One for tiny peaks and the second for smashing.
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Old 06-12-2017, 12:27 PM   #19
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And here all I did was a broadband limit.
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Old 06-13-2017, 03:00 AM   #20
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Think your link broke
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Old 06-13-2017, 06:05 AM   #21
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Quote:
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Think your link broke
Mine is still there. Yours says file's gone. Did you remove it?
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Old 06-13-2017, 06:32 AM   #22
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Nope.. I can send you the link again
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Old 06-13-2017, 07:00 AM   #23
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Not sure what's going on, but my link takes me directly to the player. While yours give me either "Oops Sorry" or "Not found. Maybe it has been removed."
It's doubly weird because the link I copy/pasted gives me the "Oops". While the one in your #15 post gives me the "Not found." You'd think the error messages would be identical.
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Old 06-14-2017, 04:19 AM   #24
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Great job Sammy.

Don't usually listen to this type of music but its well done and produced(like everything you do).

Cheers
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Old 06-14-2017, 07:29 AM   #25
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Thanks Hugo. I'm still not "there," but I try to sound a little bit better with each post. Slow going.
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Old 06-18-2017, 10:34 AM   #26
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Damn this sounds good! So clear and loud.
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Old 06-18-2017, 11:56 AM   #27
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this should work. working here on chrome and edge

https://soundcloud.com/lukeswansonmu...ines-1/s-CBtdD
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Old 06-18-2017, 11:59 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_442 View Post
Damn this sounds good! So clear and loud.
Another MIA. What's up man? Thanks for listening in.
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Old 06-18-2017, 12:01 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OPI View Post
this should work. working here on chrome and edge

https://soundcloud.com/lukeswansonmu...ines-1/s-CBtdD
Works fine here.
Is this different? It maybe just the space between the last listen, but it sounds better to me.
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Old 06-18-2017, 12:18 PM   #30
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Both mixes sound really good. Luke's sounds more refined, and a tad more mid-range. Where Sammy's is little more dynamic. Wish I could get that clarity in my mixes.
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Old 06-18-2017, 05:22 PM   #31
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You can with two words: don't overprocess. Or better yet: don't over-anything.
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Old 06-18-2017, 11:53 PM   #32
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Works fine here.
Is this different? It maybe just the space between the last listen, but it sounds better to me.
it is the same exact file

maybe songs age like wine?
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