Aquamarine

Paid in full $649

Reference: State Champs

Production

  • 1:06 Devin screams? Play with it
  • Harmonies for Matt
  • Whoas
  • Double up snare sample
  • Time correct bass
  • Cut guitars
  • Time correct guitars
  • Bounce snares
  • Export
  • Import to Reaper
  • Edit Matt’s pitch and timing: Melodyne Help
  • Listen through all vox
  • Figure out how to Render in place
  • Correct Matt vox timing
    • 1:23
    • 1:27
    • 1:31
    • 1:36
    • 1:45
  • Import Devin’s vox
  • 1:17 add stutter filter sweep like Memphis Mayfire The Unfaithful
  • Integrate new tracks
  • Tune any Lucas tracks

Pre-Mix

  • Fix
    • RX on instruments
      • De-reverb
    • Pocket instruments
    • RX on vox
      • Mouth de-click
      • De-reverb
      • De-plosive
    • Tune vox (Melodyne)
    • Pocket vocals
    • Clean up breaths & silences
    • Ride vox
    • De-resonate
    • De-ess
  • Enhance
    • Channel processing
    • Tape processing
  • Pre-render
    • Randomize channel strips
    • Oversample
    • Render stems

Mix

  • Balance
    • Balancing workflow
    • Fix submix routing
    • Balance GANGBGV and AH
    • 1:11 & 1:53 bring out harmonic
    • 2:11 more guitar picking
  • Fix
  • Enhance
    • Drums buss
    • Drums para comp
    • Bass split band
    • Guitars
    • Bring Lucas dbl vox
  • Shape
    • Trackspacer
    • More glue
  • Space
    • Room verb
    • Width
    • Depth
      • Mid-side delay
      • Pre-delay on room verbs
    • Big gtr delay on “on and on”
    • Vox delays
      • Bridge whoas
      • Throw delays
  • Automation
  • Pre-render
    • Randomize channel strips
    • Oversample
    • Dither
    • Render

Mix 1 notes

Very solid first mix to be hyped on. 

In terms of notes, I’d like to increase the volume and clarity with all of the vocals, including the screams, which are getting lost in the mix. I’d also like to bring down the bass a bit and create more clarity to some of the syncopation throughout the track, especially for the breakdown/chugging sections — I think my initial thoughts and notes might have made the first pass a bit bottom-heavy and muddy.

Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything you want to try!

  • Balance
    • Bring down the bass a bit
    • More volume on vox
  • Fix
  • Enhance
    • More clarity on vox
    • More clarity in low end on syncopation, esp chugging sections
  • Shape
    • More room for screams, which are getting lost in the mix
  • Space
  • Automation
  • Pre-render
    • Randomize channel strips
    • Oversample
    • Dither
    • Render

Mix 2 notes

Thanks for the quick turnaround! Notes below:

  • Let’s make the bass drum more present and punchy to reinforce the syncopation throughout the song. Some of those lower tom-tom hits can also be more present, like on 0:25 right before the chorus (“i want you to be there THROUGH it all”)
  • We can pump up the gang vocals a bit more (i.e. “so let me know”)
  • During my chorus, could you pitch up my “that” in the line (“a splash of sunshine in THAT aquamarine”)? I’m pushing it flat when it should be the same note as “the” in “i swear these colors are THE brightest I’ve seen”

Those are the only notes I have at the moment. I also want to pass this over to Michael to get some of his feedback and balance recommendations.

Thanks for your patience here. Including Michael’s notes below. I’ve also CCed him in case there’s anything you want to chat about more directly, as my acumen and tech-speak pales in comparison to both of you.

  • More snap in the kick, to match what’s in the snare, it’ll help sections like that pre-chorus 2 really land
  • Vocals feel a little hot, and I think if I were mixing, I’d explore the stereo imagery for all vox overall. In the bridge particularly they’re pretty stacked in the center channel
    • I admittedly might have been mishearing with my initial note to turn up the vox, based on what I was using to review mix1
  • Balance
    • More low tom hits, like at 0:25
    • More gang vox “so let me know”
    • Lower vox
    • Lower the lead vocal by about 1.5db across the board.
  • Fix
    • In Matt’s chorus, pitch up my “that” in the line “a splash of sunshine in THAT aquamarine”
  • Enhance
    • Punchier, snappier kick drum, it’ll help sections like that pre-chorus 2 really land
    • Give all guitars a wide-boost between about 160hz-800hz of about 2.5-3.5db
    • The snare could also use a subtle narrow boost around 200hz, maybe 1-1.5db, so we get a bit more thud
  • Shape
  • Space
    • Wider vox, esp in bridge?
  • Automation
  • Pre-render
    • Randomize channel strips
    • Oversample
    • Dither
    • Render

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