#434232 - 03/28/00 11:30 PM
Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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nuke_dup1
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Registered: 01/17/01
Posts: 205
Loc: düsseldorf,,GERMANY
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It seems like a common question is how to get a "big" sound that really stands out in front of the mix.
But, I'm finding the opposite situation a bit more difficult to conjure. I've got "big" sounds all over the place.
I'm trying to get a nice, narrow but clean sounding acoustic guitar that fits well in a stereo panorama but doesn't occupy the whole space. (Hopefully, that makes sense it is hard to describe sounds in writing sometimes).
Like if you had a nice vocal upfront, and it covered most of the space between the speakers, and you wanted an acoustic guitar to sit in a nice narrow notch off to the left side of center, so that it had it's own space to occupy but didn't cover a wide part of the whole. (sounds like I'm babbling)
I've tried a few things and I think it will boil down to mic placement to get that right kind of stereo image, but I don't know quite how to get there. Certainly a mono-mike and pan-pot ain't gonna do it, but I'm not sure how to stereo mike to get the effect I'm after.
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#434233 - 03/29/00 04:54 AM
Re: Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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mikecazz
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Registered: 03/26/00
Posts: 11
Loc: Chicago,IL area
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Exactly!!!!! This is my trouble with many things I record and mix. How to keep the clarity of the big in your face sound yet fit it all into its own space. In my case it may be lack of experience mixing projects with busy arrangements.
I.e Wilco, Beatles,
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#434234 - 03/29/00 12:08 PM
Re: Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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gm
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 02/10/00
Posts: 2184
Loc: Williamson County, TN, USA
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Guys,
Smaller is easy.
"Narrowing" a sound can be as simple as eqing or filtering to pull out only the musical fundamentals.
For instance, for bass (assuming a limited musical range) it would mean filtering out the often-muddy low octave(s) and eqing to focus on the low-mid (hopefully the fundamental) bass region.
For guitar it might again mean filtering to get rid of lows (which conflict with the bass) and highs (which step on vocals).
But sometimes simplifying a mix demands changing the musical arrangement...trimming chaotic guitar parts...throwing out stupid and/or indulgent percussion ideas. Even going so far as replacing the drum/percussion tracks with sample sequences to reduce the 'noise' level....
Beatles arrangements are, to my ear, pretty un-busy. Often just simple rhythms playing against each other and, until big orks come in, not much layering of conflicting ideas.
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#434235 - 04/01/00 04:41 PM
Re: Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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not Cereal
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Registered: 02/19/00
Posts: 4424
Loc: FARGO NORTH DAKOTA
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perhaps try sidechain compression, or subgroup compression. these two techniques have saved my butt a few times in a tough mix. (something i learned from live sound)
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#434236 - 04/04/00 01:56 PM
Re: Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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Bruce Lash
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Registered: 01/25/00
Posts: 86
Loc: Chicago, IL USA
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I believe that Geoff Emerick addressed this issue in the Jan, 2000 EQ. Something about giving each instrument, each voice, its own part of the frequency spectrum. He would mix in mono, making spectrum mapping the most effective way of making each voice heard. From there, the stereo mix would just be a matter of deciding where in the stereo field each voice should go. The clarity of the thing was already established by the spectrum map. Add to this the fine, simple, cleverly constructed arrangments (a hallmark of any good pop recording, if you ask me), and the results are the classic recordings we have come to know and love.
Bruce Lash
http://home.att.net/~bblash
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#434237 - 04/04/00 09:31 PM
Re: Getting a nice "narrow" sound
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gm
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Registered: 02/10/00
Posts: 2184
Loc: Williamson County, TN, USA
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Bruce,
Agreed on all points.
George
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