Bondax Gold (Snakehips Remix) – Bass Management

Upon critically analysing previous pieces of work I had done, it has become apparent to me that there are some issues regarding the mixing of my bass synth and sub bass.

Here is a previous piece of work of mine:

There is unwanted digital distortion on the bass from using too much Maxbass (waves). This was due to an attempt to get the bass to transfer onto smaller speakers easier.

Here is an example of that task being accomplished much more effectively –

The bass appears to have a slight crunch in it, without any distortion, which gives it presence across different speaker sizes. After researching into the topic of sub bass management, and speaking to Mark Atherton, one theory for what they have done here is that they have used a low-passed square wave. The added harmonics of a square wave help to give the bass more presence in the mix compared to a straight sin wave, and a result requires less distortion in order to be heard.

In the future, I will try this technique to see if I have success with it.

 

Sub Bass control and Management – SBTRKT – Living Like I Do

Above is a track from a producer I highly admire, and is a mix that I enjoy greatly. When listening on laptop speakers, the sub bass line is inaudible, and so the intro sounds like complete silence to a listener in this form. However, when listening on a playback system with a good low end response, it is apparent that the bassline is a key element of the song, and is executed very cleanly I feel.

This is a good example of a well controlled, modulated reese bass. The movement of the LFO’s modulating the bass gives the bassline interest and groove. I will have to study further into reese basses in order to try this out for myself.

However, as I highlighted before, the bass does not transfer well across systems without good low end response. One could argue whether or not engineers should take into consideration the “casual” listeners that will listen on laptop speakers, especially in a genre that is not necessarily radio focused, and is more at home in a club.

 

Above is a screenshot of the full track response in the first 6 seconds of the track, no filters applied. You can seee that there is a large amount of sub frequency content, and does not appear to be distorted in order to create harmonics higher up the frequency range.

After studying this piece of music, I aim to try using less processing to distort the bass frequencies on tracks that are intended for club use. It is important to regard the environment in which the end product will be played most.

Vocal Arrangement and pitching – James Blake – I never Learnt to Share

Continuing on my research into creating interesting vocals, I have been listening to this song.

In my AST feedback, one of the comments was that the vocals lacked interest. The above song is a great example of vocals being interesting, both as a result of arrangement and pitching effects. The backing vocals are either a result of pitching software, or being played through a vocoder – I’m not quite sure which. The result is an electronic feeling vocal, which is highly appropriate to the synth driven music style.

The vocal is also arranged in a highly interesting fashion musically, something that is not technically relevant, but possibly much more important to the overall feel of the track

I will aim to use pitching software in order to create interesting backing vocal arrangements, and add electronic feeling to them

Effects: Delay – Calvin Harris – You Used to Hold Me

In response to the feedback from my AST recordings, I have been listening to how different effects are used in order to create interest for the listener, and take a mix beyond that basic foundation level.

Here is a track from globe trotting DJ Calvin Harris. This song is from earlier on in his career, but is a great example of vocal processing taking the track beyond the foundation level, and creating an interesting and immersive experience for the listener. For the sake of my study, an acapella would be really helpful to listen to….

Ah, how convenient:

This is very interesting to listen to. You can clearly hear the vocal layering and effects he uses on the vocal. For the sake of this post, we will focus on the delay.

There is a heavy amount of delay, which is applied in a rhythmic fashion, and is in time with the beat. There is also variation between the left and right delay timings, with the two changing between crotchet, semi crotchet and minim delays.

The interesting part is how he applies the delays. The delays are not always applied to the whole phrase, but are in fact applied to single words or phrases that he wants to emphasise. This has a greater impact effect on the listener, and means that the voice becomes a huge arrangement.

He combines this with some reverb to create a massive, anthemic vocal sound. There is also great layering and lots of compression, but overall it makes the vocal stand out amongst an already hectic mix.

I aim to try these delay tricks myself, using the soundtoys echoboy plugin – a very versatile and powerful creative delay plug in.

Listening games – Quiztones

On the recommendation of my friend Ben Chick, I have downloaded an app called quiztones. This app is essentially a game for guessing the frequency of different sine tones.
Playing the game in expert mode, you are given 10 different sine tones, and you are asked to pick an answer from the four available. The point system works as follows: you receive 100 points for getting it right first time, 50 for second time, 25 for third. etc.

I have been playing this game for the past two weeks now, and have recorded some scores as follows.

 

1st game – 550

2nd game – 500

3rd game – 600

4th game – 675

5th game – 650

6th game – 725

7th game – 725

8th game – 850

9th game – 750

10th game – 800

 

The results show an overall vast improvement in my ability to recognise frequencies so far. I will continue to play this game to further tune my ear.

EQ – Approaches to tackling EQ

After analysing the feedback I received for my AST recordings, one of the core areas I have decided to focus on is EQ’ing.

I have been reading Paul Stavrou’s mixing with your mind, and as a result have acquired some useful theoretical knowledge regarding my approach to using EQ.

Stavrou emphasises that when finding the frequency you want to EQ, you should never sweep around the frequency spectrum in order to find the frequency you are after. Instead he suggests the process of “guess > listen > compare”. This trains your ear to know what the frequencies across the spectrum sound like. Sweeping for the right frequency is “like a piano player strolling up and down the keyboard looking for the next note”.

He also details his method for “EQ’ing with hindsight”. By this, he explains why you shouldn’t EQ everything while solo’d – instead, EQ (for instance) the piano and the lead vocal together – The way you EQ the piano will have a large tonal effect on the lead vocal. By EQ’ing in this context, you EQ in comparison to the sounds in the mix, and end up with an overall more balanced mix.

These approaches makes sense to me, and I will aim to use them next time I am in the studio.

Feedback Analysis

 

Area for Improvement 1: Recording + Processing Vocals

 

As highlighted by the 2^nd core recording coursework feedback, we struggled with the recording and processing of the vocals in the recording. Vocals are a vital element of modern pop music, and as someone who aims to improve my skills as a mix engineer, achieving a great vocal sound is a skill I wish to achieve.

In order to improve my knowledge and practical skill in mixing vocals, I have obtained the book “mixing with the mind”. The chapter “Superstar Lead Vocal Sounds, a wide range of sub-areas are covered regarding both vocal recording and mixing. This will help improve my knowledge and method in this area, and as a result help my method.

I will also analyze the vocals of existing commercial records that I admire In order to familiarise myself with the consistent features of vocals that occur across the electronic music genre.

 

Area for Improvement 2:  Mixing Bass

As someone who wishes to someday work as a mix engineer in the genre of electronic music, getting the Bass just right is arguably the most important element of the mix. Feedback suggested this was an area I had struggled in, both in core recording and other coursework submissions. I plan to Analyse a range of records within the genre of electronic music, listening to them through a Low pass filter in order to compare how the sub frequencies behave when somewhat isolated, and how they differ.

 

Area for Improvement 3: EQ

 

In the feedback, there were several issues regarding both individual EQ’ing of elements in the mix, and overall EQ balance of the overall mixes. I believe that EQ is an area that I have given minimal research, and am unable to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different EQ units, both in the digital and the analogue domain. I plan to address this:

A)   By reading several relevant chapters in “mixing with your mind”, and Bob Katz “Mastering Audio”, I aim to improve my knowledge of Eq’ing techniques used in the mixing process.

B)   By using the outboard in the studios at LIPA, I aim to familiarize myself with the strengths and weaknesses of different EQ’s, and achieve appropriate selection of Eq’s in the mixing process.

C)   Improve my ability to identify frequencies in the frequency spectrum by doing the critical listening activites supplied on Moodle. This will improve my ability to pin point trouble frequencies and address the issues. 

Welcome

Hello and welcome. If you have stumbled across this blog, chances are you are a LIPA sound tech, Paul Stakounis, or my Mum (Hey Mum!). For anyone else, here’s the low-down. This is a blog where I will be documenting various aspects of critical listening, with the objective of improving my analytical skills as an audio engineer. In other words, I will slowly make listening to my favourite records unbearable as I pick up on their minor flaws. Believe it or not, this actually causes me a great deal of excitement, so if you’re as sad as me then enjoy reading…