Pop Folk (Jason Mraz, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, etc)

[luctellier]

Hola,

Here's a song I produced, recorded, mixed and mastered for a young artist from Montreal. You might like it if you’re a fan of Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper.

Tech infos:

Drums:
-DW Kit (26 inch kick, 14x6.5 snare)
-Kick : Audix D112 -> Vintech X73i -> Apogee AD16X
-Snare: Shure SM 57 -> Vintech X73i -> Apogee AD16X
-Toms: Sennheiser MD 421 -> API 3124+ -> Apogee AD16X
-Overheads: Neuman KM184 -> API 3124+ -> Apogee AD16X
-Hi-Hat: AKG C 451 B -> API 3124+ -> Apogee AD16X

Bass:
-Fender Precision American
-Universal Audio 610B
-Universal Audio 1176LN

Guitar:
-Fender Telecaster -> Bogner -> Marshall 4x12
-Shure SM 57 -> Vintech X73i -> Distressor -> Apogee AD16X

Vocals:
-Mojave Audio MA-200
-Universal Audio 610B
-Universal Audio 1176LN

The mix was done in Cubase 6 using Cubase & Waves plugins, and an external API 2500 bus compressor.

Hope you guys like it!

Thanks
LT

[Andreas G]

Hey, sounds good!

[luctellier]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

Hey, sounds good!

Thanks Andreas!

[PaulMac]

Great mix, dude!
Very clean and suitable for the genre. I like everything... I almost can't critique it at all! I think a little more attack on the bass would work well - just a little. That's pretty much it.

Good job

[theBackwardsman]

Hey Luc, can't listen at work but quick question:
Your snare sounds are often very snappy and transient rich.
How well do you think this plays with the vintech?

My impression of the likes of 1073 is pretty much the contrary, very rich and meaty sound but somewhat dulling the transients compared to chandler and API-like pres.

[CaptainHook]

Originally Posted by theBackwardsman

My impression of the likes of 1073 is pretty much the contrary, very rich and meaty sound but somewhat dulling the transients compared to chandler and API-like pres.

Uhh.. which chandler pres are you referring to? I have the LTD-1 and as far as i know it's based off the 1073. And the others are TG (Emi) based from what i've read and the Neve at York St is an EMI Neve with 4 TG limiters that again chandler did remakes of. (York also has an original Zener limiter that again chandler remake..)

The chandler i have seems like a slow slew rate similar to neve for me, and i dont think that means "dull transients".. in it's own way i think it can exaggerate them when pushed a bit and it starts to saturate. You can definitely get a snappy, punchy snare sound with a neve pre. The API's (i have a 3124+ like Luc) are faster as i think you allude to, so you get a cleaner, more aggressive transient but honestly use either one and it will do the job great. The drummer/room/mic/song will all play a bigger roll in the snare sound than if you use a neve or api pre.

p.s nice work as always Luc.

__________________
=> York Street Recording Studios <=

[theBackwardsman]

Originally Posted by CaptainHook

Uhh.. which chandler pres are you referring to? I have the LTD-1 and as far as i know it's based off the 1073. And the others are TG (Emi) based from what i've read and the Neve at York St is an EMI Neve with 4 TG limiters that again chandler did remakes of. (York also has an original Zener limiter that again chandler remake..)

The chandler i have seems like a slow slew rate similar to neve for me, and i dont think that means "dull transients".. in it's own way i think it can exaggerate them when pushed a bit and it starts to saturate. You can definitely get a snappy, punchy snare sound with a neve pre. The API's (i have a 3124+ like Luc) are faster as i think you allude to, so you get a cleaner, more aggressive transient but honestly use either one and it will do the job great. The drummer/room/mic/song will all play a bigger roll in the snare sound than if you use a neve or api pre.

p.s nice work as always Luc.

__________________
=> York Street Recording Studios <=

Don't want to hijack the thread, but I was referring to germanium which is the only chandler I've used,
maybe a bad example but def. faster than 1073 to my ears. But I think the question came across anyway..

On topic, great mix as usual LT. This is your best vocal mix to date IMO

[andrea19837]

very nice work

but i need some mid low bass and also a bit too high.

Pass everything on tape, and try to mix the next time on API 2500 and a preamp LINE from the start

good work

[Beatworld]

catchy song

nice mix

a little more dynamic range would open it up for mine

well done

[luctellier]

Originally Posted by PaulMac

Great mix, dude!
Very clean and suitable for the genre. I like everything... I almost can't critique it at all! I think a little more attack on the bass would work well - just a little. That's pretty much it.

Good job

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by theBackwardsman

Hey Luc, can't listen at work but quick question:
Your snare sounds are often very snappy and transient rich.
How well do you think this plays with the vintech?

My impression of the likes of 1073 is pretty much the contrary, very rich and meaty sound but somewhat dulling the transients compared to chandler and
API-like pres.

Hey Joakim! I hope you're doing great buddy! For example, in this song, there's absolutely no drum sample and the drum sound I got is all coming down to the drums I used, the drummer who played and the mics placement. The snare/transient you hear came from the drummer hitting constant rim shot. There's only about 2 or 3db of compression on that same snare track during the mixing process. I didn't use compression on the way in. I often heard people claiming that the 1073 dull the transient because of its slow response but so far, I never had a problem with snare transients using it.

Originally Posted by CaptainHook

The API's (i have a 3124+ like Luc) are faster as i think you allude to, so you get a cleaner, more aggressive transient but honestly use either one and it will do the job great. The drummer/room/mic/song will all play a bigger roll in the snare sound than if you use a neve or api pre.

p.s nice work as always Luc.

CaptainHook is absolutely right about what he said above. The snare punch, attack and tones comes also a lot from my overhead tracks and the room mics. I used the API 3124+ for the overhead and I can guarantee you that the snare is sounding really great, snappy and punchy. The combination of the good drummer, good mic, good placement, nice sounding room is really important. You just CAN'T get decent natural raw drum tracks if one these element is missing. Obviously, you can rely on drum samples later during the mix but this is not what were talking about and definitely not the music style that needs drum samples.

Thanks CaptainHook by the way!

Originally Posted by theBackwardsman

On topic, great mix as usual LT. This is your best vocal mix to date IMO

Thanks man! Check out my website has been updated and the music section contains a lot of my new stuff!

Originally Posted by andrea19837

very nice work

but i need some mid low bass and also a bit too high.

Pass everything on tape, and try to mix the next time on API 2500 and a preamp LINE from the start

good work

Tape? NO! But thanks!

Originally Posted by Beatworld

catchy song

nice mix

a little more dynamic range would open it up for mine

well done

Thanks!

[Salivan]

Probably my opinion won't matter to you (since I'm a noob), but I just loved it =D congrats, great job

[luctellier]

Originally Posted by Salivan

Probably my opinion won't matter to you (since I'm a noob), but I just loved it =D congrats, great job

Every opinion counts! Thank you very much!

[audioawake]

Hey Luc,
for a long time I've been listening to your mixes, and I just wanted to say that you are the best mixing engineer out there! I adore your every mix and you have been great inspiration for a lot young guys like me
As for this mix, I love how well it is balanced. It is punchy, but still retains continuity and smoothness. That's a masterpiece

[keyboardwizard]

Beautiful mix!
If anything - I would maybe changed the Hammond B3 with another one (but the hammond itself certanly belongs in the mix).

But that's a personal opinion only

[luctellier]

Originally Posted by keyboardwizard

Beautiful mix!
If anything - I would maybe changed the Hammond B3 with another one (but the hammond itself certanly belongs in the mix).

But that's a personal opinion only

We tried about 60 different B3 tones and that's the one the artist prefered and you're right, it's always a matter of taste! Thanks for listenning buddy!

Originally Posted by audioawake

Hey Luc,
for a long time I've been listening to your mixes, and I just wanted to say that you are the best mixing engineer out there! I adore your every mix and you have been great inspiration for a lot young guys like me
As for this mix, I love how well it is balanced. It is punchy, but still retains continuity and smoothness. That's a masterpiece

My god, thank you very much! You have no idea what it means to me and how I really appreciate your comment bro! Thanks!