3 Comments The Mysteries of Mixing

1. Dale J. Mayer

   June 17th, 2005 at 7:29 am

   1

   Hey John…
   
   Thanks for posting this link.
   
   I just popped over to your blog while listing to “God of Me”… awesome song, love it!
   
   One of the things that I always admire about your music John (and “God of Me” in particular) is the professional quality of your mix. I was wondering if you might be willing to share here some of your own “mysteries of mixing” and recording? Such as…
   
   1. Re recording… do you record in a “pro” studio or a “home” studio? What equipment do you use? Which instruments are real and which are synths? The drumwork is awesome(on GoM)… are they real? Do you use other musicians or track everything yourself? etc.
   
   2. Re mixing… what equipment/sw do you use? What kind of processing goes on (fx, compression, etc)? How do you get that “in your face” sound? etc.
   
   3. Whatever else comes to mind.
   
   I really appreciate your music John and your willingness to share with us. God bless… Dale

2. Dale J. Mayer

   June 17th, 2005 at 8:08 am

   2

   Hi again…
   
   I just noticed that you answered a few of my questions above on your song page, but I’d still be interested in more details.
   
   God bless… Dale

3. John

   June 17th, 2005 at 11:27 pm

   3

   Dale, I sure appreciate the kind words. I’m not sure I’d be ready to call it “professional quality”, as I still hear alot of deficiencies. I finally have to get to the point where I say “that’s enough - no more tweaking” and just move on.
   
   Anyway, I’m not sure I have any “mysteries” to share - other than try to study what the big boys are doing (do frequent A/B comparisions between your mix and one you are trying to be similar to).
   
   As far as my setup, I have a real modest computer-based DAW. Cubase SX3 with various plugins, and, well you can see more details about what I’m using on my “links” page at my website.
   
   Generally, the “real” instruments are almost always the vocals and guitars. Bass varies…I usually put a MIDI scratch track down using SampleTank Free with the intention of going back to record real bass. But sometimes the scratch track works well enough to where it doesn’t bother me. On the new song that you mentioned, “God of Me”, it’s a real bass.
   
   95% of the time, I track everything myself. Occasionally, I may have a friend contribute something and when that happens I notate that on the song page.
   
   When you say “re mixing”, I assume what your talking about is mastering. I’ll be the first to admit that doing your own mastering should be a last resort, but I’m not pulling down enough $ (YET!) to have it done professionally. Generally, I just run it through a maximizer to get the levels up there to compete with commercial CD’s, do some subtle EQ and also use the RGC high-frequency stimulator to give it a little sheen. To me, though, that’s the most frustrating part of the whole process and I’m almost never satisfied with the results.
   
   Okay, well, I hope that answers your questions. Thanks again, Dave, for your support!
   
   God Bless,
   John

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