09/03/2024
The Virtues of Mixtering {Type III} | Simple Example
We have just remastered an old song from an old tape transfer that had 2 main mix issues:
1.- The bottom end was thin, and could not be fixed/revised from the original session mix.
2.- The lead vocalist had parts that were too low to hear clear his lyrics, and other parts that were a bit loud in the mix.
We wanted the lead vocals stable but still highly dynamic, where the low level parts could still be audible, and the loud parts by not so much.
Yes, you could probably achieve similar results in conventional mastering, but not with this level of precision.
The process was extremely simple and illustrates why mastering should be evolving into 'mixtering' if it hasn't already done so in 2024 .
A new video describing the process is being made as a tutorial, so if you are interested in getting more details {e.g., settings, before/afters, etc.}, make sure to search the EV Sonic Lab channel on Youtube or on Rumble.
Because the recording came from the original mix analog tape, I decided the process should be 100% ITB.
Here is what we did:
Mixtering Stage 1
We first unmixed the digital file of the song {WAV 44.1kHz/24 bit} into 3 stereo stems: vocals, drums and everything else.
The stereo vocal stem was processed with the Focusrite Red compressor plugin. Then the channel was raised by +1.5dB
The drums stereo stem was also processed with the Focusrite Red compressor plugin, but their relative levels remain unchanged.
The entire stereo mix was then processed by a plugin compressor by Brainworx {BX Sub Filter} to fatten the bass up a bit.
Rendered a stereo mix {WAV 44.1kHz/24 bit} for stage 2.
Mixtering Stage 2
We processed the stereo mix one more time, this time to give it a bassier, smoother finish, especially across the middle range frequencies where the vocals reside and that were a bit grating to my ears, by using the SSL EV2 compressor.
We then boosted the master level to around -10 LUFS {-0.3 dB peak/ -0.6 dBTP} using the DMG Limitless peak limiter.
Here is the result:
Footprints In The Sand
This is truly a riveting, dark upbeat romantic ballad worth a listen. Comment below if you liked the lyrics. The music production sounds pretty awesome and features world class musicians like Brian Bonhomme (former electric guitar player for Roman Holiday, UK) and Premik Russell Tubbs, world renowned saxophonist {gigged with Santana, Sting, Lady Gaga, Ravi & Anoushka Shankar, etc.).
Lead vocal by David (Grant) Rosen, known primarily for his political fashion, art and activism, from his anti-apartheid designs in the 1980's.
Together with Edward Vinatea, formed the music group "Broken Codes" in the late 80's.
Find the lyrics in the description.
A truly a riveting, dark upbeat romantic ballad worth a listen. Comment below if you liked the lyrics. Featuring world class musicians like Brian Bonhomme (former electric guitar player for Roman Holi
