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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | jchasin@nyc.rr.com |
| Subject | Re: The Art of Mixing |
| Date | Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:13:07 -0400 |
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Rob:
Interesting post. If you prefer Exile (as I do), I'm curious what you mean by "train wreck;" this would seem to imply something bad. Although often woords like "sloppy" seem to have a negative connotation, but are in fact used in a flattering way in describing some music.
When some Girls came out, it was "new Stones;" whereas Exile was the classic stuff. Hard to believe Some Girls is now 27 years old (to put that in context, 27 years BEFORE Some Girls was 1951...)
----- Original Message -----
From: rob@splitsville.com
Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 1:53 pm
Subject: RE: The Art of Mixing
> Probably the best pair of albums by one artist to contrast the
> 'music vs. vocals' styles is the Stones 'Exile On Main Street' vs.
> 'Some Girls'.
>
> Jimmy Miller's production on Exile had Keith and Mick Taylor's
> guitars up front, with Mick's vocals buried in the mix. This is
> hardly surprising, as these tracks were recorded at Keith's home
> in France, and he was the biggest 'driver' of these recordings.
> And yes, Miguel, this album is, for the most part, an absolute
> freight train.
>
> Mick's vocals are high in the mix in Some Girls and he's easier to
> understand, because, he claimed, he 'simply liked the lyrics
> better'. The more probable reason is the fact that while the
> production is credited to the Glimmer Twins, Keith was coming off
> the Toronto bust and Mick was more fully asserting his leadership
> of the band.
>
> As for a preference, I prefer the former.
> Rob
> www.splitsville.com
>
> >----- ------- Original Message ------- -----
> >From: "Miguel Motta" <motta_m@firn.edu>
> >To: <audities@smoe.org>
> >Sent: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:04:54
> >
> >In my personal pursuit to become a better recording
> >engineer especially in the area of mixing the final
> >tracks I've had some thoughts...
> >
> >Lately I've been listening to music, actually have
> >been "studying" the music I listen to attempting to
> >grasp a better understanding of how "the masters"
> >mix their music (this includes lots of indies'
> >recordings)... In my case my main musical influence
> >goes back to, you guessed it, The Beatles...
> >
> >Upon carefully listening to The Fabs' mixes (read
> >as George Martin's) I find that a lot of them were
> >"in-your-face" bold upfront instruments especially
> >during the first four or five albums (perhaps they
> >set instrumentation back around the Rubber Soul
> >period...and even then the instruments played a
> >major role in the mix)... I hear a lot of groups
> >that tend to lay back (compress) their instruments
> >allowing more headroom to the vocals... On the
> >other hand I've listened to mixes in which the
> >vocals are hardly audible due to the instruments
> >dominating the spectrum...
> >
> >After this long-winded preface I guess my question
> >to anyone interested is what type of mix turn you
> >on the most? I know this can vary from song to
> >song but I'm trying to figure out what was
> >partially responsbible for The Beatles' success as
> >recording artists (we know that it was due to a big
> >number of factors) but speaking about the mix does
> >anyone think that it was due to that "in-your-face"
> >instrumentation approach that I perceive? When you
> >listen to songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and
> >"She Loves You", man the sound was like a freight
> >train just rolling over you... and I honestly don't
> >think (correct me if I'm wrong) that there has
> >hardly been another band since that has tried that
> >approach again (arguable of course becaue grunge
> >rock could be classified as "in-your-face" upfront
> >music)...
> >
> >Ok so after all this I still don't know what I mean
> >to say... hopefully someone out there might... In
> >any case I got this off my chest...lol
> >
> >Cheers,
> >
> >Miguel
> >
> >Meet "The Michaels" @
> >www.myspace.com/themichaels
>
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