datamusicata

It is a year since I started Datamusicata and I am amazed at the reception it has had from the cyber community. Without any publicity or advertising it has grown into a site that helps over a thousand musicians and artists a day. I just wanted to thank you for your continued support and input. And for those of you who were kind enough to give Datamusicata a link, more thanks indeed.

I was thinking that I should do something special for the first anniversary. I considered all kinds of things, but have settled on you all guessing the exact date at which we will actually cross the 365,000 hits mark. Just send your guesses in to the comments section of this post; one guess per person; and the winners will receive a copy of the new remixed and remastered version of Traces of the Old Road, by way of thanks. So let the guessing begin.

Today I want to talk about mixing, as I have been remixing and readying for remastering my 2002 CD, Traces of the Old Road. I want to explain first why I am doing it, because it is not often that an artist actually remixes a CD that was already released, particularly in this climate of decreased CD sales

When I originally finished Traces, I thought I had gotten it right, but after the second pressing, realized that the order was actually not as strong as it could be. That was the real impetus for getting out the old multitracks. The album now starts with a song entitled, Last Day of Summer, a song that I wrote to commemorate September 10, 2001. That was for my generation our last day of innocence, and I wanted to write something that conveyed that day before…

The song starts with the sound of thunder and rain which fades away as the song begins. At the end of the song the thunder comes back and then the rain, which fades into Dylan’s Just Like Thom Thumb’s Blues, which begins with the lyric, “when you’re lost in the rain…” It was a perfect way to lead into that song, so I decided to reverse the order from the original, which was Thom Thumb followed by Last Day of Summer. So that’s the real reason I started to rethink the recording.

As I listened to the new order, I realized that the sound of the bass was a little too aggressive for the song, so I decided to redo it with a fretless. Then I decided to redo a few of the vocal lines and then felt that the guitar playing could be even more in the pocket and I ended up practically redoing the entire song, which led to a rethinking of the whole album.

I listened to it with these new ears and decided to fix anything that I didn’t like. I redid something on Last Day of Summer, One Heart Falling, Stolen Season, Harris Creek Shuffle, Long Way From Home, and Anywhere Love Goes—fully half of the CD. I wanted to maintain as much of the performances as I could but there were things that I wished I had done differently, which leads us to the mixing tip I wanted to convey.

There were little things that I played on the bass or keyboard or guitar or percussion that I really liked and always looked forward to in each song. As I played the CD for people, I would point out what I was listening for and they would as often as not say that they didn’t really hear it.

I know that with repeated listenings, you learn everything that happens in a recording, but how can you make them want to give it repeated listenings. I realized that I wanted to hear every single thing that I put in the recording, otherwise, why is it there?. If there is something that is particularly hooky or interesting or simply something that I look forward to, I needed to bring that forward in the mix. So the tip is to feature the hooks when they show up; feature the little things that you think make the recording special.

You do that by first choosing a level for everything that leaves room for everything. What is the most important thing in the mix. That has to be out front. Then everything else supports that. And remember, you want the track to groove; to feel good and solid all the way through, so make certain that the bass and drums are solidly there as the foundation.

Then you pick a spot in the stereo field for each instrument. I know that lots of folks are doing 5.1 mixes, but I don’t subscribe to that except for soundtracks that accompany visuals. Then it makes sense. For me, when I listen to music, I am usually sitting in front of the whole band or performer and just listening with two ears. There is no other player or players behind me and all my focus is in front of me, so that is the experience I want to present to the listener.

So first levels, then positioning in the stereo field, then EQ, if it is needed (and I tend to do more subtractive than additive EQ), and finally effects such as reverbs or delays. I don’t like the real gimmicky effects as they don’t last in the long run. Ten years down the line, you probably don’t like that gated snare as it sounds dated. I always go for a timeless place for my recordings. I would like to be able to listen to them in any decade of my life and have them work.

And I like the effects to be subtle, more like you would only notice them if they were gone, but you don’t notice that they are there. These kinds of uses of effects will give the recording a longevity that heavy handedness simply will not. (Check out All Wood and Stones. We recorded that four years ago and it still sounds like it came out tomorrow.)

Okay, now listen to the entire song. If there is a lick that you love that doesn’t stand out, then write a volume or EQ lift right there to make it stand out, but only enough to be noticed. And remember, these little stand out hooks have to be floating above a track that grooves, so that you never lose the momentum and feel of the track.

I should be finished Traces of the Old Road today. For those of you who have the old version, I hope you will like the new version even better, but you will be the judge of that. The CD will be available September 11, 2008.