pushing emotions through mixing

[strauss]

In my experience, when mixing, you can really enhance/change the emotions and mood of a song with technique's like the use of certain processing (or the lack of it), altering the balances, panning, etc.

I was wondering if you would care to share some of your aproaches on this subject.

Also are there certain projects you have done which in your opinion are good examples of this? (or any records outside your catalogue)

Everyone else besides Dave is also welcome to chime in offcourse!

[NeoVXR]

"grandpa, how did you know that a horse was inside the big stone?"

you feel and hear before others feel and hear it. then you show them, by making it clearer and let it come out from the noise...

OTOH, to create something that was not in the song before, is arranging, not mixing.

+0.02

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally posted by NeoVXR
OTOH, to create something that was not in the song before, is arranging, not mixing.

+0.02

If a song transmits when played with a guitar and vocal.. It's a good song, the rest is just our own goofing off.

I also think, that good arrangements without a good mix is worthless.

[strauss]

Originally posted by NeoVXR


OTOH, to create something that was not in the song before, is arranging, not mixing.

It sure is!

But sometimes people get called in just for the mix and you have to make the best you can with the tracks you get!

I have witnessed some rigorous stuff going on in the mixing proces where songs got a serious 'Jenny Jones Makeover'!
Stuff like taking out sections of the song and putting it somewhere else to change the flow of the mood over time, adding extra overdubs and all type of stuff like that has happened during mixing.


Though I was more talking about stuff like, for example, making the vocals totally dry on certain sections to make it more intimate, or adding distortion on certain parts to make it more agressive, or putting delays on certain parts to create certain feelings (the tempo of the delay can also really alter the mood!), or changing the eq of the drums on certain sections to make it more aggresive/mellow. etc.etc.etc...


I hear stuff like this going on on lots of records and these are 'technical' production technique's which often happen at the mixing stage.

Like lots of other things in our work, this IS subjective , so I tought it would be an interesting thing to discuss as I think these are important things to make a mix special and interesting.

[NeoVXR]

the question is a very good one and IMHO deserves a long and insightful thread... thumbsup

in non-classical (non-jazz..) music mixing and since not long also mastering is not an external but an internal process that belongs 100% to the part of creativity.
genres like dance or DnB even can't exist outside of mixing. the raw tracks and samples alone do just nothing.
an effect needs to be seen as an instrument, and much of the technical work has in fact co-composer status. I think of stockhausen and all these great teachers of modern music.
these laws about authoring and all are way backwards, music has become more than 12 tones and a text written on a score sheet.

academic gurus and other educated pros can write down music that consists of door slamming, footstomping, howling and all kinds of other noises.
so, in this context, a protools session with all these effects automation should reside within the package of composition, together with the midi information and sound description, and vocals, if there are any. just print it out following a formula like classical do-re-mi scoring.

after accepting these remarks, emotion could be seen as a result of music, and this music consists also of effects, panning and sounds.

not so easy is, how to make the distinctions, that help to document the product and share the "points" among the authors, arrangers and mixermen.

also the "two track" discussion has a role here, because such a project it has the composition and arrangement ready. and then again it happens to be deconstructed and re-done, because the artist wants to change or add something.

[Jose Mrochek]

Neovxr, you are right. 4/4 Rock, is what came to mind when you posted. Sure other types of music are nothing without arrangements. (which is probably the reason they will never be timeless) A song to me is Melody and Structure. Period. If that part is good anything you put over that should not alter the end result. You can put a trillion effects, the outcome will be a more pleasurable sonic result, but the melody and structure will make it or break it. Not the effects, nore the arrangements. Paul Mcartney, can sit down with a accoustic and play "yesterday" and that is all he needs to convey the same emotion you hear when you hear the full blown production on the album. The thing with arrangements is to always compliment the melody, or you can get in trouble by "overproducing" a song. It's very easy to put in parts into a song, the hard thing is know what NOT to put in. Same things goes to effects. My rule is, if you need arrangements... you didn't write the song correctly. (applicable to 4/4 rock, which is the only thing i THINK I know about)