COLIN BRITTAIN: Mixing Genre-Bending Tracks, Taming the Low-End, and Avoiding Over-Processing

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Welcome to the Unstoppable Recording Machine Podcast, brought to you by Jay-Z microphones. For over a decade, Jay-Z microphones has combined all the critical elements of World Press, microphone manufacturing, patented capsule technology, precision electronics, and innovative industrial design. Microphone's. Deep understanding of technology is informed by their open-minded, innovative approach. Trust us, sound can be glorious recorded. For more info, please go to JayZ mike.com. And now

Speaker 2 (00:33):

Your host Eyal Levy. I want to take a second to tell you about something that I am very excited about and it's the URM Summit. Once a year we hold an event where hundreds of producers from all over the world come together for four days of networking, workshops, seminars, and hanging out. This industry is all about relationships and think about it, what could you gain from getting to personally know your peers from all over the world who have the same goals as you, the same struggles as you, and who can help, inspire you, motivate you, as well as become potential professional collaborators? This year's summit is on November 9th through 11th at the Las Vegas Westin, which is just one block off of the strip and it's going to be even bigger and better than ever. We're anticipating even more producers plus a lineup of amazing guests like Jenz, Borin, Kris Crummett, Mac Machine, Forrester, Seve, Michael Legian, Dave Ro, Billy Decker, Chris Adler, Mary Zimmer, Mike Mowry, Jesse Cannon Blasco, Jason Berg, Jessica Lohan and more. And of course, our musical guest, the one and only api. So get your summit tickets now at URM summit.com and we will see you in Vegas. Welcome to the Unstoppable Recording Machine Podcast. I'm Eyal Levi, my co-host John Maciel. Hello. What's going on? Hanging out. We're actually doing one of these in person.

Speaker 3 (02:05):

Yeah, dude, it's like

Speaker 2 (02:06):

I can look you right in the eyes.

Speaker 3 (02:08):

It's almost like we're doing a voiceover for a cartoon right now and we're acting against one another.

Speaker 2 (02:14):

I know, it's weird.

Speaker 3 (02:14):

This is like podcast improv.

Speaker 2 (02:16):

It is kind of strange.

Speaker 3 (02:17):

Yeah, I don't like it.

Speaker 2 (02:19):

Fuck

Speaker 3 (02:19):

This. Let's go do

Speaker 2 (02:21):

Something else. So here's another episode of Mixed Crip Monday where we're going to talk about Papa Roach mixes that were submitted to us in the Octagon, and as for the song, not the only one, this was an interesting one. This was on Nail the Mix for people listening in the future. This is August, 2000. Nineteens Nail the Mix and it's an interesting track because it's like three musical genres in one. It's produced like a pop song, it's got elements of dubstep, elements of pop, elements of, I don't know if to call it punk or what that ending. It's just nasty and heavy and it's just lots of different stuff going on. It's not produced. Your standard rock, drums, guitar, bass, the way that rock and metal is kind of built is not how this is built. This is built in layers the way that pop is created. And so I think it threw a lot of our students for a loop because they're so used to the way that rock and metal is traditionally produced and given to them that they kind of didn't know what to do with this.

Speaker 3 (03:39):

Yeah, this one was really, really for me, when you told me we were getting this track and I listened to it, I remember messaging you and being like, this is the hardest song we've ever had on Nail the Mix and this month has definitely proven that point and it was really interesting when people saw the announcement, they're like, oh, this sounds pretty simple. They were very, what's the word?

Speaker 2 (04:02):

Cocky.

Speaker 3 (04:03):

Yeah. They were just really confident and listening to these mixes and the Octagon Post and doing the one-on-one calls this month, it was very evident that it wasn't as easy as I thought it was.

Speaker 2 (04:16):

There were two things that I thought were really funny. One was when I said what was coming up before I announced it, I said, we have something that breaks boundaries. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was like genre bending. It definitely breaks through musical boundaries. There's stuff in it that's completely unique and it was along those lines and I think that people thought that I was saying that some progressive band was coming on Dream theater or something. No.

Speaker 3 (04:50):

Was it Devon Townsend? A lot of people thought that this was that month.

Speaker 2 (04:54):

Yeah, exactly. They thought that it was something along those lines because I think that a lot of people think that mainstream music can't be genre bending or progressive or I guess ahead of the curve or whatever, but I actually think that that's the hardest thing to do is to take mainstream music and make it sophisticated and make it a work of art because you have to do that within the tight confines of what's acceptable.

Speaker 3 (05:27):

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:28):

So that was number one. That was the first thing I thought was funny was that nobody expected it to be this band when I said what was coming up. And then when they heard it, like you said, they thought it was going to be easy. They thought they had this in the bag.

Speaker 3 (05:44):

Yeah. It was like you and I would not say this is going to be a challenging month if we legit didn't believe it. It was like, how do you think this is easy?

Speaker 2 (05:56):

Yeah. Well, I think every month is challenging if you want to make it sound, but this is a whole other level and so it is weird. I don't want to in any way diminish how well other nail the mix months have been tracked or produced or it's in no way a knock on anybody else's artistry. This is just done in a way that's so unique to Colin Britton, the producer, and it's so not normal for heavier music.

Speaker 3 (06:30):

Yeah. Well you mentioned it jumps genres. I feel like one thing you've spoken about in a previous podcast was if you don't actively listen to different mixes and genres of music, when you are handed something like this as a test mix or something, if you don't understand how to actively listen to other genres, you're going to bomb it because you have to resonate with the song in front of you, but also take all these cool elements from different genres and make it its own thing also in its own right. And that's a true skill of someone who is a mixer that can listen to multiple genres and be like, oh, I understand pop, I understand trap, I understand punk. This all makes sense now the basic elements are there, let's knock it out the park. And if you don't actively listen to things outside of your little bubble or niche or whatever you want to call it, something like this seems easy, but then you realize very quickly it's not as easy as it sounds and a master makes it sound easy.

Speaker 2 (07:32):

I think that someone who wants to be a professional mixer or a producer should spend a portion of their formative years when they're getting better as a professional listener just trying to analyze music. I know that I did that. Everyone I know did that. If all you're doing is working on the actual techniques of production, but you're not expanding your palette to understand music, really, really understand music, you're going to hit a wall or a glass ceiling or something, I'm going to hit an immovable object once you get handed something that's just slightly outside of your comfort zone.

Speaker 3 (08:15):

100%. And even like you were attesting to previous nail, the mixes, they all have their challenges too. And this one just happened to have four different genres in it and the other ones, it's like they do crazy. It's so fun every month this year or almost for a year now or a year and a half where every other month changes and it really, like you said, if you don't get outside of that world every month, it's like a new challenge arises, but that's what makes it fun and fresh is like you see all these different songs and you're just like, oh hell yeah, bass starts making sense because you start seeing the little similarity with all these different genres and things. So this was a cool month, but I think we're ready to listen to some mixes.

Speaker 2 (08:58):

So I'm just going to say that before we get into it and we can't play it on here or we'll get flagged, but you should go listen to the original mix. I think it's very, very important that you have the original mix to reference off of because again, it's so unique that unless you've heard it, you may not understand why we're saying what we're saying and it'll be very hard to understand what it's supposed to sound like because some of these are just off. And if we're critiquing say a standard metal song, you don't necessarily need to hear the original mix to know if what you're listening to is good or not. Just because you know what metal should sound like, especially if you're a metalhead. But this because its own unique thing that blends genres in a way I've never heard done before. You should hear the original. So I would suggest everybody stop listening, go listen to the original, then come back. Alright, I'm going to assume that you guys all did that. Let's dig into our first student mix. This is by Bryant Fulton. This is not the only one by Papa Roach. Here it goes.

Speaker 4 (10:23):

I was screwed up. I was angry at the world. I feel like I was a loser. I had a chip on my shoulder, them in a low place wishing I was anywhere else on the California highway. I was broke by the always at times,

Speaker 5 (10:49):

Hard times always come easy, but they never last long. If you feel alone when you're down just now, you hard times always come easy, but they never last long alone when you,

Speaker 2 (11:44):

All right. That was the Papa Roach mix by Brian Fulton, and I'll just read you my notes. I didn't have many, but I think the biggest problem I heard was that the base was too tubby. I think overall Brian did a pretty good job. There are a lot of elements of this that sound like a rough mix of Colin's mix and that's good. I was actually talking to Colin, the Colin Brit, the producer, the mixer of this yesterday, and he said that when he went into the octagon he heard some mixes that just sounded like a rough version of his and that to him was really, really good. He wouldn't expect anybody to match his because they're probably not working with $50,000 worth of gear and having Ted Jensen mastering and all that. But he gave very specific instructions at the beginning of the month about how to go about mixing this. And so for it to sound like a rough mix of Collins mix, that means they paid attention, which is great. But I will say that I don't really think that this one hits hard enough. I think it's the low end's not very tight, it's just kind of tubby. It's the low end of the kick and the bass guitar and I just don't feel like it explodes into the outro. So I'll say pretty good job kind of tubby, not very explosive. What do you think?

Speaker 3 (13:13):

Yeah, I think the balances were kind of weird in the transitions. The base for me in the beginning was tubby. It wasn't tight, but then when the heavier sections came in or as things were building up, the base kind of disappears to me. I can feel the essence or hear the sub stuff, but the actual note and representation of the base just gone. And then I noticed too on the, well,

Speaker 2 (13:38):

I feel like it was getting swallowed, the note was getting swallowed by the dubs.

Speaker 3 (13:44):

The tubus came after, what is it? Pacman basically

Speaker 2 (13:49):

Busted through a wall

Speaker 3 (13:51):

And then when the chorus hits with everything, I felt like the mix just started to distort and sound really weird. And then all the transitional layers were just not used to create the transition. So it was like static jump to each section for me, which was really strange. And I do think he did listen to the notes and he probably did what I heard many people do this month, which was they oversaturated and didn't tastefully saturate, and I think that's where the distortion came in and the chorus, when all these layers were then hit with saturation, all of a sudden those harmonics just build up and then the mix is distorting and then when everything goes away it cools off again. But saturation's very dangerous if you don't know how to be gentle with it. And that's really all the stuff I heard on.

Speaker 2 (14:38):

Well, what's interesting is that Colin did say to use saturation on this, I remember he said Distortion is your friend. I believe in one of the comments. But you're right, it can be dangerous and I think it's very easy to overdo it, especially when it's on multiple elements. It just has this cumulative effect to where you're no longer saturating, you're distorting and destroying and there's a fine line and I think you kind of got to understand where that line is and be listening for that. Possibly automating for that too.

Speaker 3 (15:12):

Yeah, 100%.

Speaker 2 (15:14):

Yeah, depending on the arrangement. Alright, let's move on. So this one is by Dakota Caldwell.

Speaker 4 (15:24):

I was screwed up. I was angry at the world. I feel like I was a loser. I had a chip on my shoulder down in a low place. Wishing was anywhere else but on the California highway I was broke by times.

Speaker 5 (15:50):

Times always come, you always never you

Speaker 2 (16:43):

All right. That was the mix of not the only one by Dakota Caldwell. I think the snare balance sounds strange. I feel like I'm hearing the wrong snares too loud. And again, we said this song is built up in layers. It's not like one snare mic going from start to finish. Every single sound is made up of a bunch of little sounds that are supposed to be blended properly. And so I think that some of the blends here, especially the snare just kind of weird. I'm not hearing the really melodic baselines in the verse. One of the things that was really cool in this verse is that there's this counterpoint that happens with the bass guitar where it'll play these runs that are just really, really interesting. I didn't hear them at all. In some ways they help really make the verse and then when the chorus comes in the low end, it's just overwhelming and straight up jarring.

(17:49):

It destroys the mix. It's just too much. It's just way too fucking much. I don't want to hear the entire mix disappear the moment that the low end of the chorus comes in. And then when it goes to the heavy ending, I'm kind of going section by section, so many, like we said, genres in this. Then the heavy ending, there's way too much piano in it. It's supposed to sound nasty. It is supposed to sound like this punk rock metal thing that's just raw and gross in the best way. But the way it sounds with the piano that loud, it sounds like blues rock,

(18:29):

Not some nasty punk metal hybrid, but that blues rock they'd hear in eighties action movies in the opening scene or when they walk into some biker bar or something. I hate blues rock so much, I just hate it, so I can't tell you how much I hate it. And so I just hear that piano and it's so I am not saying get rid of the piano. Obviously it's there for a reason, but listen to the original, that piano is totally just a texture. It's not like it's not the main instrument. So turn that piano down, watch those lows and also clean up your tracks. I feel like I was hearing noises in the gaps all over the place. It could be because the compression was just blasted, but regardless, clean up your tracks.

Speaker 3 (19:21):

I literally have all the same notes, but one thing I want to add is

Speaker 2 (19:25):

You blues rock, dude,

Speaker 3 (19:28):

No, blues is cool. Whoever's listening that loves blues. Blues is cool actually. Just kidding. I really don't care about blues either, but I have sub buffet written down for

Speaker 2 (19:38):

Us, sub buffet

Speaker 3 (19:39):

For the chorus and the rock parts like you mentioned, and it's like

Speaker 2 (19:43):

A all you can eat

Speaker 3 (19:44):

Sub. Yeah, all you can eat sub man. It's gnarly because I didn't hear any bass for pretty much all the intro and the verse and buildup, but then when the rock part hits, all of a sudden it's like Sub nation just pushing it down and I'm like, what's happening right now? Where was that before? Because these tracks, I've gone through 'em. Every section has drums and it has bass and the cool part is there's five layers to bass and it's there for a reason. You need to blend and get a healthy bass line going throughout the whole song, through the sections. Think of the bass as the concrete that you're going to build this house on. That's a constant. It shouldn't change the articulation of the no fundamentals should in this track was just like no bass then so much subs and bass and then no bass again. It was just super jarring and distracting to listen to.

Speaker 2 (20:31):

It's almost like when you're listening to someone's iPhone video of a concert and it's just like, what the hell is going on? Why did you record

Speaker 3 (20:42):

This? Yeah, yeah. Or have you ever watched one of those? Me, it's sidetrack, but when it's like the audio's like that and then there's a dip in audio for a second and then it's back and you're like, what the hell? What happened for them? Now I want to know their story. But anyways, that

Speaker 2 (20:55):

Happens.

Speaker 3 (20:56):

It's so weird. And yeah, I do feel like this one was compressed in a really weird way that pumping is so it was when you're compressing tracks, these that are so well done, this song to me, Colin was really great with all the notes he gave. I legitimately was like, he's giving you guys the blueprints. It's your job to kind of build the house now because it's all there. And that was a lot of information. You saw the notes too. It's like you use this saturation, you posted a video of the Neve settings and it's like you see there's not really much being done, so why are you adding this much compression to a song that already sounds great at this point? You're adding your challenge in the octagon was to do balance, use the automation to bring the elements and the dynamics into the song. Yeah, have your bus compression and other things, but hitting a compressor as hard as this one was being hit or whatever was going on was just like, dude, you got to know when to change

Speaker 2 (21:57):

Chill. Yeah. So turn that throttle back, you know what I'm saying? Cool. Those jets

Speaker 3 (22:03):

Automate that threshold, bro. But yeah, that's really the notes I have on it was where was the base and so much sub and consistency. Again, I feel like that's going to be a common thread. That theme that we talk about today is just consistency.

Speaker 2 (22:18):

Colin did the heavy lifting, the production and he pointed that out too in his notes. He took the time to get the sounds that he was really looking for and you can hear it in these tracks. And so that's why his instructions were that when you're mixing this first, just try to get the balance and from there, once you get the balance, just a little tweaking, maybe a little saturation, a little bit of this and that. But because he did all the heavy lifting, you don't need to try to shape it and people just did not listen to what he was saying and I feel like you should ask yourself if this went to some big shot mixer and the big shot mixer, I don't know, Andy Walls or something like some heavyweight.

Speaker 3 (23:15):

He's a famous blues mixer.

Speaker 2 (23:17):

I don't know. I wouldn't know any of 'em, but no seriously, this went to some heavyweight and they talked to Colin about the production. Do you think that that heavyweight would then try to totally recreate this thing or he would try to work with what he's been given to maximize it? I have a feeling that obviously everyone's different, but that if this went to a heavyweight, first of all they'd be really relieved that so much work went into the production and then they would just try to make what they were given sound as even and awesome as possible without destroying the essence of it. I think people need to have a little more respect. So alright, moving on. This is by John Carl,

Speaker 4 (24:14):

But so does everybody else when turn heat up, it's like in hell, tired of everybody preaching that ain't doing my shit for themselves, talking to me. I needed maybe because I said that I needed hell.

Speaker 5 (24:35):

You know how times always come me save, but they never last long. If you feel alone when you're down, just you, not only one, you lot times always come easy but to never last long if you feel alone when you down just now, you not only one.

Speaker 2 (25:27):

So I was not expecting that and I guess I had to say I respect this because it's a totally different take on the song and I guess my only main issue is that I don't feel that things harmonically resolve in a pleasing way. Again, I really do respect John car taking this in his own direction and I think overall sounds pretty good, but I mean there's some problems like the vocoder sounding harmonies in the chorus are a bit distorted, but still this is one of those times where I really would say E for effort and mean it like in a non condescending way. I was not expecting it, it was refreshing, but I would put time into the harmonic resolutions. There's nothing wrong harmonically, but what was emphasized just didn't have the payoff I was looking for. If you're going to go that far to change it and do your own thing, go all the way. I feel like it was harmonically, it didn't go all the way. So you got to the chorus and it wasn't like the chorus. I knew it was the chorus, I know the song, but it wasn't, I feel like if I had heard this on its own and not heard the original, I would've been wondering if this was now the chorus?

Speaker 3 (26:42):

Yeah, this one. So I wasn't expecting this one either when it got picked, so it was very interesting, man, I've got to be honest, I think part of what you're talking about is, okay, this to me just sounded like a bad eighties remix type of thing. Didn't a lot of these, I can hear that. Yeah, a lot of these sounds, I can hear where they were inspired from, but it was like you just said, if you're going to do it, commit. This just sounds kind of lazy where it wasn't taking the full route. And if you're going to take tracks like this and you're going to take Colin Brand's tracks and Papa Roads tracks and you're going to remix it or take it your own direction, commit and really do it well and if you're going to be this ballsy, fucking do it. Don't have acid,

Speaker 2 (27:30):

Own it.

Speaker 3 (27:31):

Yeah, this just sounds like, oh, I'm going to try something and see. It's like, no, you've got to go all the way. Otherwise it's kind of like an insult to the artists. If you go on Spotify and you were to listen to a remix of a track and a lot of us have done it, when you hear one that you can tell has been, you're like, dude, why'd you even bother? Go for it. I gave you 30 seconds of my time. Go for it. Don't just get to the chorus and like you said, what's happening? Why isn't it doing that thing where I want that excitement, that vibe.

Speaker 2 (28:00):

If you're going to take something that was crafted this well and basically throw it out and do your own version, you don't want people to hear it and be like, nice try kid, whatever. You don't want people to have that reaction. You want people to be like, whoa, holy shit, what the hell was that? And whether they love it or hate it, you want to leave a real strong impression but not nice try and that's kind what I feel

Speaker 3 (28:31):

Like. It's like when you

Speaker 2 (28:32):

A nice try.

Speaker 3 (28:32):

Yeah, like a remix or a cover when they do exactly what you just described where you're like, damn, maybe it wasn't your favorite track but you respect that they committed. So yeah, anyone listening or whatever, when you're going to do something like this and take your own liberties, you better knock it out the park. Otherwise just don't even attempt it. Or if you do listen to it yourself. Have your friends listen. But I don't know, for me this was kind of like, I was like, damn, wow. At least go for it. If you're going to do a ska part and a ska song or a blues part and a blues song, commit, do it.

Speaker 2 (29:06):

Just going to take a quick break and I promise it's going to be quick, but it's important. I need to remind you guys, so please forgive me. This episode is brought to you by the URM Summit, four Days of networking workshops, seminars, and hanging out with your URM friends and dozens of the industry's best pros. It's November eight through 11 at the Las Vegas West and tickets are available right [email protected]. Alright, back to the episode. I think a perfect example is Marilyn Manson's version of Sweet Dreams because yeah, it's a cover so of course it's going to be different, but he totally adapted it to his style and it sounded a hundred percent authentic to his style and people should go back and listen to that. It was what made him famous and he had a really good song to begin with, but he a hundred percent made it his own. There was nothing half-assed about it and that's why it worked so well. And the reason the Marilyn Manson one came to mind was because I was trying to think of when have I heard a cover that was really different than the original,

(30:19):

But that was super impressive, not just a death metal version of a Britney Spears song like everyone used to do in 2005. What's a cover? I've heard that artistically stands on its own but is nothing like the original that Marilyn Manson Sweet Dreams is one and I think that's the right way to do this.

Speaker 3 (30:44):

Yeah, arguably I would even say it could be put up there as better than the original. Could be the Ataris, what is it that cover they did the Boys with Summer or whatever it was of the original. That song is a cover and it's arguably as good as the original track and it's like, yeah, if you're going to do it, do it. Don't just half ass it. So yeah, that's all the notes I got on that

Speaker 2 (31:06):

One. Alright, this one is by Justin Jackson.

Speaker 4 (31:11):

I was screwed up. I was angry at the world. I feel like I was a loser. I had a trip on my shoulder then in a low grade wishing I was anywhere else but on the California highway I was broke but always had time to spare

Speaker 5 (31:35):

You. Times always come but never last long. It could when you down just know you. Times always come easy, but never

Speaker 6 (32:16):

Back. When I was go around the I could back when the only was

Speaker 2 (32:25):

Only All right, you just heard Justin Jackson's Papa Roach mix. Here are my notes, zero low end, and I can't tell if out of phase or not, but usually when things have that little low end, there's some weird phase shit going on. And also because I get that weird feeling between my eyes that happens when things are really out of phase. You know what I mean? You kind of feel like you're getting attacked physically between your eyes. It sounds very, I don't know how to describe it. It's just this weird feeling. It sounds very mid heavy and pinched. The balances are all weird, so weird. In the chorus there's this weird symbol just clanging, just like clang, clang, clang, clang.

(33:24):

Okay, so the thing about this track that's so easy to fuck up is that because it's done in layers, a lot of these layers don't really sound great on their own. They're totally just supposed to be textures or touches or they're not all supposed to be out front like that. And so yeah, there's like clang, clang, clang. The vocal effects are all over the place. They're so loud, way too loud, distracting. You'll hear a vocal and then you'll hear a delay that's louder than the vocals. And the thing is, in Collin's Mix, you can hear the delay throws, but they're not louder than the lead vocal. Also, it's inconsistent between the parts. The verse sounds bigger than the pre chorus. It actually gets smaller in the pre chorus, which it's not supposed to because you listen to the arrangement of this song, it's a buildup. It starts with an acoustic guitar, then the electric comes in, those drums come in, then the bass and shit comes in and gets bigger and bigger. Then it goes to that pre chorus, it's even bigger, and then the chorus is massive, but this is going in the opposite direction. It starts small and then gets smaller. I don't understand how that's possible. And the chorus comes in and yes, it's bigger, but it's distractingly bigger.

(34:52):

It doesn't make any sense bigger. We're listening to two different mixes bigger and the drums get loud, but the vocals stay the same volume as before. So it's like, yes, the mix gets bigger, the drums get louder, but then if you have the vocals of the same volume as when it was quiet before, it is just discombobulating and then the low vocal comes in and it's louder than everything else. So balance, that's like the key word here. Balance work on balance, and let me just say it loses all power when it goes to the end and you got that blues rock shit happening again. The piano is just way too loud, so I give this one a redo.

Speaker 3 (35:38):

Yeah, I just want to make a note that I'm going to go back and get that clinky clink sound that you made and make that a ringtone. That was phenomenal. Yeah, this one for me, vocals were so were super muddy too. I don't know what was happening with the vocals, but here's the weirdest part is there was a cloud of just fogginess in the midst and I couldn't understand where it was coming from. I

Speaker 2 (36:06):

Hurt. Was it attacking you between the eyes?

Speaker 3 (36:07):

It was attacking me, not in between the eyes. It just slapped me in the face. When you wake up and you're groggy and trying to get through, oh, I'm waking up the moment. It was like that in a mix basically. I'm like, I don't understand where this cloud came from because I've heard these tracks. There's nothing that would create this masking or whatever's happening. So that was weird. Then sub, when the rock stuff come in, it just gets really disco discombobulated is the best word to describe what was going on with the rock section. I was really surprised and there's just a weird pump in compression or something throughout the entire mix. It's really rough, honestly. Yeah, this one's the first one where I'm like, just redo it. Oh man. It's like, I want to kind of talk about this. I think we need to talk about everyone who feels like they know how to balance and gain stage.

(37:06):

This track to me took all of them to school and the best way possible of showing, it's very easy to think you have it when you've done similar rock genres, but here we are with a track that bounces around. If you don't understand how to get a balance of a drum that sounds consistent from one section to the next bass, again, you're not going to have a good foundation for your mix. And it doesn't matter what other, the guitars aren't guitar guitars until the rock part hits. They're more like pop layers where they're doing little things to excite the mix for the transitions,

Speaker 2 (37:37):

But they're not the meat and potatoes like in rock.

Speaker 3 (37:41):

Exactly. So if you don't know how to balance and or gain stage properly, this song is going to escape you. And it escaped a lot of people and it just proves to me that not everyone should be as confident in balancing as they think they should be. And it's okay. It's not the most attractive thing I don't think. For me, starting balancing is never fun. But when I get a good rough balance and it sounds sick, I'm excited. I know that every move that I make afterwards is going to be great. And assisting Bo and getting the mixes balanced to a point where I know he's going to be happy and then seeing how he takes it to the next level, that's the payoff that's worth it. So take more time balancing. It's not exciting at first, but the reward is so worth it if you have to balance for two or three hours balance for two or three hours because the end result puts you that further ahead than anyone else.

Speaker 2 (38:36):

I mean if you don't do it, good luck getting a good mix.

Speaker 3 (38:39):

Yeah, that's

Speaker 2 (38:39):

The truth. Anyways, it's kind of essential. Yeah, we have a balanced fast track. If you're not a member of URM enhanced, I would like to give you a free month of it, Mr. Justin Jackson, so that you can work all the way through to our balanced fast track and get that in your head because it's needed. So just hit myself up or hit Maceo up. But yeah, free month of U arm, I'm enhanced for you. So, so nobody says that we just like to talk shit. No, we want to help you get better. Balance is the way and the light. Alright, next man. I don't know how to pronounce this name Petta. Here it goes.

Speaker 4 (39:22):

I was screwed up. I was angry at the world after lack. I was a loser. I had a chip on my shoulder, them in a low place wishing now was anywhere else but on the California highway I was butter. Always had time to

Speaker 5 (39:47):

Times always come, but never long. If you feel when you down just now, times always come easy but never long if you feel when down just now,

Speaker 6 (40:30):

The only thing we that was nothing and not the only one.

Speaker 2 (40:40):

Alright, I'll just call him PEW. That was Pew's Papa Roach mix. The vocals are so loud compared to the drums in the intro, so loud, there is barely any drums and then just vocals and I get it. Vocals need to be loud in this style of music, but there's nothing driving those drums need to be driving. The vocals are also pushed way too hard. I can hear every little inflection and breath and not in a good way. In that intro, I'm hearing every little thing going on in dude's throat and I don't want to, then the pre chorus comes in and the vocals are still way too loud and I'm not hearing that subtle buildup of the guitars in the bass. I brought this up earlier that this whole beginning of the song is a buildup. It goes from acoustic and then it adds the electric and then base and then more layers and more.

(41:39):

I'm not hearing that buildup. And it's so important. If you listen to the original, there's a definite buildup in the arrangement. Then there's no power in the chorus. Very little low end. So that kind of weirded me out because when the chorus comes in and one of the other mixes, it was too loud like discombobulating on this one. It's just no power in the chorus. And so it's not doing what it's supposed to. And then what's even strangers that after the chorus, the verse comes back in and it's louder than the chorus. So it's just the energy is off, the transitions are off. In the song you're not getting, we never talk about this, but the energy balance right between the sections, the energy needs to be managed on a song like this. And you can't have a verse like a soft verse that's more intense than this chorus. This chorus is meant to be massive sounding. I don't think that PEW was really paying attention to the dynamic energy in this song. And however, I do think he got the energy right going into the ending. It was the first time I heard the ending done pretty well. So good job on that. It explodes into it, it should. That ending should be the nastiest, most explosive part of the song that comes out of nowhere and just ends it with teeth. I don't know how else to say it and it does that. So good job with that.

Speaker 3 (43:17):

Yeah, the outro is probably what he's comfortable in because I

Speaker 2 (43:20):

Heard Yeah, you can tell.

Speaker 3 (43:22):

Yeah. And what was funny about this track this month was I could tell the rock sections and a lot of the mixes I heard were always okay and everything else was always off. And it was really fascinating. I was like, I can tell everyone's a rock mixer. This is just what you guys are comfortable with and that's fine, that's cool, but everything else matters too. And I'm glad you brought up the whole feel and energy part of the balancing and the transitions in the song. This song is so well orchestrated. So the movements, the fade ins, the special little synths that are in there, those all carry emotions to the vocal and what the song is doing. And it's like if you bounce those right, that feel is kind of there for you and you're just there to take it over the edge. Part of the vocal issues, I feel like this is a listening environment or something type of thing. It just sounds too weird to me to not be PEW. If you can reach out to me on Facebook, John Maciel, and I want to find a little bit more about your listening environment and what's going on, because this one, I just feel like you need a little bit of help and that's what we're here to do. So reach out to me and let's have a conversation.

Speaker 2 (44:38):

Well, you might be right, because not just the vocals being way loud, the buildup in the arrangement in the beginning being totally missed and not being, it didn't have any of that in there. Somehow I think that maybe he just really isn't hearing levels right. I think you're right about that.

Speaker 3 (44:58):

Yeah. Well, if he's used to mixing rock, it would make sense that, and even in a bad environment, if you're used to a certain style of music or mixing a certain way, you kind of know where things sit. But yeah, when you have a very dynamic arrangement, that's where the room or headphones can really start messing up your whole game essentially.

Speaker 2 (45:15):

Alright, next one is by Simone Sifi. Hope I got that right.

Speaker 4 (45:26):

I was screwed up. I was angry at the world. I feel like I was a loser. I had a chip on my shoulder wishing anywhere else, but on the California highway I was

Speaker 2 (46:20):

Alright. That was Papa Roach mixed by Simone Sifi and the acoustic sounds almost lo-fi in a weird way. Weird mids, almost lo-fi. But the drums aren't tight enough. If you listen to the original, you hear that those intro drums are very tight sounding. They're just kind of like flubby. However, I will say they did capture the buildup of the instruments and most people did not. So this one builds up the way it should. Props to that, that means that he actually listened to the song and paid attention to how it's supposed to feel energy wise. So good job with that. However, I do think the balances are weird in the pre-chorus. I feel like we've talked about mixes like this before where maybe it's not a very good mix, but you could tell that artistically there was an understanding, I forget which month.

Speaker 3 (47:16):

I think that was Rivers of not a nail or is that

Speaker 2 (47:19):

Rivers of N? Yeah,

Speaker 3 (47:21):

I feel

Speaker 2 (47:22):

Like, yeah, the saxophone song.

Speaker 3 (47:23):

Yeah, it sounded like a producer mix, but the feel was right.

Speaker 2 (47:28):

Yeah. Yeah. It was not a technically good mix, but it was artistically in the right direction. I feel that way about this one, at least for the beginning of the song. And so now I just think that needs to work on actual balance and technical issues. But overall, the direction is good until the chorus and it dips out of control in the low end out of control. But I will say this, at least it's bigger than the pre-chorus. So it is not getting smaller than the pre chorus. Good. It is going in the right direction. And it's not so loud that it sounds like an iPhone at a concert or something. It's going in the right direction. It's just got to get that base under control, got to get that low end under control and fix the balances, learn how to control low end better.

(48:29):

And I'm hearing way too many noises in the spaces, which again tells me that compression or saturation or whatever is just jacked. So either clean up the tracks more, get the compression under control, good transition into the ending. And that's another thing is I didn't feel like too many of these mixes transitioned into the ending. Well, this one did. And that kind of fits with what I've been saying, that I think that he understood the way that this song is supposed to flow energy wise. However, the low end on that ending is unruly. But I think we'll survive. I don't think this is a redo. I think this is a tweak. What do you think?

Speaker 3 (49:15):

I don't think I'll survive.

Speaker 2 (49:16):

We'll survive condolences.

Speaker 3 (49:19):

Yeah. Thanks. Alright, so for me, okay, so this one was, the balancing was off, but it wasn't off in the sense of the parts transitioned and made sense. I think the base was part of why the transitions or the parts got weird. The base was buried in the first part, and then the chorus in the rock section, it gets a little bit better. I think if he would've spent a little bit more time on that and gain it really locked in, he would've been in a great place. And that noise sound that you are describing in the gaps is there in the entire song though. And I think he probably read Collin's notes and added some tape emulation on everything. And that shit is just building up. And when those clean sections happen, when you guys have tape plugins on, it's really crucial to automate, to turn them off or mute your tracks. Otherwise you get that sound in the between and there's nothing worse than having a really cool sounding mix or something that's working. And then you have that weird sound in the background and you're just like, what the hell is that? And that's on the whole time too.

Speaker 2 (50:24):

Yeah, a layer. Just a layer of dirt.

Speaker 3 (50:28):

Yeah. It's good dirt though. I mean it's like putting mud on your face. But yeah, I think he has tip emulation or something going on and then, yeah, there's definitely some compression going on, so that brings the noise floor of that up as well. I feel like the guitars were a little weird in the chorus. Not crazy weird, but there was just some weird midrange thing. And again, I think there was some saturation or something on play on a guitar bus or something. Vocals in the low mids to me were kind of off. I felt like they could have used some thickening up with Saturn or something. But other than that, that's out of today's, I feel like this is one of the ones where I feel like if he had another good day or two, he could get into a good spot

Speaker 2 (51:15):

And maybe some feedback like we're providing now. If

Speaker 3 (51:19):

He would've had a one-on-one, I'm pretty sure it would've been good.

Speaker 2 (51:24):

Do you know Simone? Have you guys spoken before?

Speaker 3 (51:27):

I do not know. This is the first time I have seen this name that I know of.

Speaker 2 (51:32):

Why don't we give him a month of enhanced so he can get that one-on-one?

Speaker 3 (51:35):

Alright,

Speaker 2 (51:36):

Cool. I feel like with the other one, I just feel like the balance was so off that it's kind of like a rescue operation in this case. I feel like the art side of it is so pretty much right that I want to help get 'em over the hump really. Or at least help 'em identify what the technical problems are so that it can be dealt with. Because I feel like the hardest thing to get right is the art side of this. And that's the thing that the fewest number of people tend to understand because it is real hard to teach that. But the technical side that can be taught and that's where this goes wrong. So I already got the part you can't teach figured out. That's great. So we'll help try to get him over the hump.

Speaker 3 (52:30):

Cool. Yeah. Hit one of us up, man. And we got you.

Speaker 2 (52:33):

Yep. All right. It's been grand. We'll do this again with a flesh, God apocalypse.

Speaker 3 (52:40):

That one's going to be fun.

Speaker 2 (52:41):

Yeah,

Speaker 3 (52:42):

I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (52:43):

Yeah, kind of like you said, every month we do something different. Flesh. God apocalypse is the most intense, brutal orchestral metal on the planet. Totally. Totally opposite of this.

Speaker 3 (52:55):

I don't think there's ever been orchestra like this on an vanilla mix either.

Speaker 2 (53:00):

No, there hasn't. Yeah,

Speaker 3 (53:01):

That and then super crazy double bass. It's going to be a fun one.

Speaker 2 (53:04):

Yeah, it's a two 70 BPM.

Speaker 3 (53:07):

It's

Speaker 2 (53:07):

Fast. Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Speaker 3 (53:08):

That's it. That's all it's at.

Speaker 2 (53:09):

Yeah, it's pretty slow.

Speaker 3 (53:10):

Oh, isn't that considered like a ballad speed for this type of music?

Speaker 2 (53:14):

It's funny, when I was playing it at two 70, it was considered really fast.

Speaker 3 (53:19):

I don't think that's the case anymore. I

Speaker 2 (53:20):

Think this song's in 2010. So I think for 2000 10, 2 70, it was just blazing.

Speaker 3 (53:26):

Oh, all right. Well, times have changed, man.

Speaker 2 (53:28):

Yeah, API happened.

Speaker 3 (53:30):

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:31):

Alright. No, it's fast. Alright, talk to you then.

Speaker 1 (53:35):

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