Hi gang,
Here is my submission for MC049:
WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yxqxfwzm25soe ... d.wav?dl=0
MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7j2llsy2tmnj ... d.mp3?dl=0
Here's how it went down (NB- all was done ITB in Logic Pro X, no samples or additional tracks were added):
First things first:
Since this session was recorded without a click, I decided to add a tempo track. Smart Tempo in LPX makes this easy enough, and so I did it in anticipation of any tempo-dependent plugins I might need to use down the road. Then I went through and did my gain staging and basic high-/low-passing on the individual tracks to get rid of any unnecessary frequencies.
Drums:
I started with the drums. For the kick & snare tracks I added the Smack Attack (Waves) plugin to help the transients poke through. I also added Smack Attack to the overheads to try to keep the cymbals from washing away. And then one last instance of Smack Attack on the room track with the sustain cranked to fill out the overall sound. Masarati DRM (Waves) was added to the kicks, snares, and h-hat for some subtle tweaking. And REDD17 (Waves) was added to all of the drum tracks (except for the Room track) for added color.
I then created a Track Stack (summing buss) of all of the drum tracks. The snare tracks got panned slightly to the left (-20), and the hi-hat a bit further (-40). Ozone Vintage EQ (iZotope) was instantiated for some subtle dips and boosts. And there are two sends on the stack: 1) ChromaVerb (LPX stock) with a Dense Room setting, and 2) Ozone Vintage Compressor (iZotope) followed by Devil-Loc Deluxe (Soundtoys) for some gritty parallel compression.
Bass:
The bass was probably the most problematic for me. There was a lot of string clicks that I found to be distracting from the overall mix, so I opened the track in RX (iZotope), and tried to attenuate them a bit (I didn't want to kill them completely because I think it would have come out sounding too unnatural). Once I got the clicks leveled out, I added U73b Compressor (Audified) with a fairly quick release for smoothness, and Radiator (Soundtoys) for warmth.
Guitars:
Both Guitars 1 & 2 have an instance of Radiator (iZotope) for added warmth. Guitar 1 has an instance of IMPusher (Waves) that kicks on during the solos for some added presence. I had originally thought I was going to pan Guitar 1 fairly hard left and Guitar 2 fairly hard right, but I tossed that idea out the window. More on the in a bit...
Vocals:
I first ran an instance of Vocal Rider (Waves) to try to even out the level. Then I added two compressors (LPX stock) in a series, the first to emulate an LA-2A, and the second to emulate an LA-3A.This was to smooth out what the Vocal Rider missed, and to add a bit of harmonic distortion. An instance of Radiator (Soundtoys) came next for a bit of tube warmth, and then finally J37 (Waves) for that vintage tape delay effect.
Finishing it up:
I created four busses (4-track tape recorder, anyone?), Drums (all the drum tracks with the reverb send), Bass, Guitar (both guitar tracks), and Vocals. Each buss got an instance of Neutron 2 (iZotope) - tracks were checked for masking, and subtle adjustments were made. This was also the point when I summed the guitars to mono. It sounded vintage-er (if that is a word, lol) to me, and so I left it that way. Each of the four tracks also got an instance of NLS Channel (Waves) for added color and drive. Finally, the Stereo Out channel got an instance of Abbey Road Vinyl (Waves) - wow, flutter, noise, clicks, and crackles were turned off, but the TG Desk was enabled and the tone arm was set about 50%. Ozone 8 (iZotope) is at the very end with the Compressor engaged (single-band, 1.5:1, just for "glue"), and Equalizer for a bit of subtraction in frequency areas that were spiking.
I think that about sums it up. Feel free to hit me up with any questions/ comments/ concerns. Thanks for listening, and good luck to all.
Best regards,
Jeff
PS - Turkish Blues, who knew??
. One thing led to another, cutting and boosting like a madman, and voila!
