This post is for mix veterans, preferably using Waves plugins.
I am mixing a recording of Inuit Canadian traditional music that was recorded recently in Nunavut.
The session has 2x MS matrix stereo channels, one directed at the source, the other placed in the corner for a room channel.
The material itself consists of a group of singers and a single deep resonant drum.
The room is pretty live.
My main question is: how to mix this to bring out the best qualities in both the voices and the drum?
I am using Waves plug-ins, with one of the large bundles (130+ plugins), so lots of great processing to choose from.

Should I use be trying to isolate the voice freq band and percussion freq band to highlight them separately, then re-combine out in a bus? If yes, what are some tips for doing that?

The live-ness of the room, and the droning vocals have a trance-inducing effect, that leads to listener fatigue. How can I brighten the sound, and enhance the dynamics in a droning source like that?

All tips are welcome.

Thank you!

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Ted Strauss
Musician & Producer, Montreal

I would not split the channels for voice / perc - just get the best balance you can and use EQ to remove or boost anything in the mix - it's hard with out hearing anything but I'm guessing you won't need much of the room mics. You may fine multiband compression can help for the percussion but I'd be gentle with everything otherwise it will just sound un-natural. I would have used your mic's differently but I guess it's too late now!

Good luck - could you post a clip?
JP

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Mac Pro, Logic Pro, lots of software and 17 hard drives!

FWIW I've heard a few field recordings where the atmosphere and authenticity have been compromised by rather obvious and unnecessary manipulation. In most cases the value is in the performance.

I've got some old Breton recordings on CD which would have benefited from some gentle EQ and multiband compression but the 'dirt' does give it a sense of time and place and it's not really designed for extended listening anyway, more an archive.

I'd be interested in hearing it as well if possible.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

hi JP,
here's a sample of the main pair (no room): http://snd.sc/oPvAnY
when you say you would have used the mics differently, can you elaborate?
I might be doing more sessions like this.
cheers

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Ted Strauss
Musician & Producer, Montreal

hi shufflebeat,
here's a sample of the main pair (no room): http://snd.sc/oPvAnY
let me know if you have any further advice on hearing it.
thanks for taking the time to comment.

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Ted Strauss
Musician & Producer, Montreal

i don't know much about the technicalities of mixing but i am a fan of field recordings of ethnic/'true' folk music and if i was mixing such a project i'd ask myself 'what would alan lomax/deben bhattacharya do?' and i'm tempted to believe they'd probably favour authenticity of sound if possible, and i'd be very cautious to not get too carried away in the mixing process (ie using loads and loads of eq and compression)

also welcome to the forum!

Having listened to the sample, I'd say there's already more than enough room sound in the recording.

It depends on what your intention is, but if you are trying to represent the performance as authentically as possible, then absolute minimum of processing should be used.

What's all important in this scenario is mic placement. Once it's in the can, that's pretty much it.

Bob

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www.bickerton.co.nz

There have been a few comments about the importance of using as little processing as possible because this is a field recording. Unlike field recordings of the past, though, the market for these recordings is the community where the music originated, and not ethnomusicology buffs. Because of that, I feel that the purist approach of not processing the material does not apply. Rather, I want a mix that will withstand repeated listening. So my goal is a clean mix, flat frequency spectrum, & wide dynamic range, regardless of how many plug-ins it takes.
It's very interesting how the context of a recording and its intended audience affects our beliefs about how to approach a mix.
Thanks for your comments so far.

Once i'm done the mix, I'll post some before/after clips of the material.

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Ted Strauss
Musician & Producer, Montreal

Your comments raise more questions.

If the 'market' for these recordings is the performers themselves, then surely you should have already have had a conversation with them about how they want the music produced and would have set up the recording to satisfy their requirements. As an example, if they wanted an intimate produced studio sound then you would have recorded the the session in a well treated studio with close miking as required.

As it turned out you recorded them fairly ambiently in a live room that itself doesn't sound too good, so it's a little after the fact to talk about considerable manipulation using plug-ins to try to create something different to what actually happened.

So the issue really isn't to do with ethnomusicology buffs, but rather having a clear target of production outcomes before the recording is made.

If the recording you posted is of the close mics without any input from your room mics then you're stuck with an ambient sound, end of story.

My approach to such things is the visualize where I want to be, as a listener, relative to the performers. Do I want to be close to them in a small intimate space? Do I want to be inthe front row of a nice auditorium listening to a performance? In a Cathedral feeling the space around me but still being close t the action? Being almost part of the group, surrounded by the dancers? My perceived listening position with your posted recording is that they are performing across the other side of the room.

The perceived listener position is largely created (with acoustic instruments) by mic positioning and technique, not mixing. Obviously it's possible to place close miked instruments into a bigger space using artificial reverb, but it's very difficult to go the other way.

Bob

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www.bickerton.co.nz

Sounds great to me. Apart from BB's advice on choosing your room (although in the future the people will remember the sound of the room, even when the room no longer exists), the only thing I'd add is a big bag of cough sweets.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".