Hi,losthighway wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2019 6:56 pm- Does everyone in the mix get the same reverb (i.e. plugin, or box setting, or spring, same model of a room, hall, or plate etc)?
- Does the lead get mixed dryer to be in front of some wetter backups, or ever visa versa?
- Do you shift decay times and predelay to set these apart?
This is what I do when mixing any new project, whether an entire album, or a single.
1. I LISTEN. For a day, sometimes more. Nothing else. No trying out things, no decision making about any processing whatsoever. For an album, it may take me up to three days just to sit and LISTEN. This is why I do not charge by the hour for mixing services. I can and do LISTEN with respect to the material provided by the artist. I LISTEN objectively. Meaning, I listen to what is actually recorded. I listen to each track both in isolation, and withing the rough mix provided. I listen to the concerns from the artist, to their vision of where they ultimately want their music to get to. I make notes as to what I perceive, objectively, as impediments in the recordings themselves, which may stop or delay us from getting to the final destination desired by the artist. But I do not actually do any processing whatsoever.
2. I ASK QUESTIONS. I ask about their vision, the artistic direction of their music. It is NOT my music, so I have to 100% support the artist's vision.
3. I have a conversation with the artist, and I reveal any technical problems with the recordings themselves, if they have not been made apparent by the artist by now. I also try to find any possible solutions to these technical issues, taking into consideration expenses and budgets for solving the worse problems, which usually are most cheaply and quickly resolved by re recording those. We decide, together, on the course of action to resolve any technical issues that need to be solved before any mixing occurs. That needs to be done before mixing, no exceptions.
4. Once all this is done, usually some time passes between solving problems, and the mixing sessions beginning in earnest. I take this time to experiment with my available tools, to find processing that is going to be needed to achieve the artists' vision. I do this on my own time, and usually, only for special processing needed for certain aspects of each song. I ask for further references when needed, to know better what processing I can use or invent to achieve what they want.
OK, that said, IF the album or song is a recording where the band played TOGETHER, or the illusion that they played together is what is desired, THEN I do assign a common delay and a common reverb for everyone. Otherwise, no. These effects HAVE to realistically follow the EXISTING ambience contained in the recordings themselves, so that they blend in properly with the material. This is why I spend so much time listening before mixing: I am taking notes as to reverb / delays / effects used on the recordings themselves. So I do not introduce the wrong type of effects, and ruin what is already there.
Usually, the song artistic direction will dictate the dryness or wetness of the lead vocal, and of any other element in the song. Not what I think should happen, but what the song and its elements both allow and demand, to get to the desired goal.
I never use "immediate" reverb (reverb with zero predelay), for vocals, as it makes it MUDDY. EXCEPTIONS: When the artistic direction demands muddy vocals, then yes, I use that. See Radiohead, and similar sounding artists.
Cheers!!!