Audio files to accompany the article.
These files accompany the Mix Rescue article in the November 2015 issue of SOS
Mix Rescue: Audio Examples
The audio files on this page accompany the Mix Rescue article in SOS November 2015 about the track ‘Red Envelopes’ by The Travis Waltons. As well as the final mix of the track I’ve supplied some before and after audio examples that demonstrate the effect the processing had on different elements.
01 Red Envelopes Final Mix
The final mixed and mastered version of ‘Red Envelopes’. The vocal duet arrangement discussed in the article begins at around 2m15s.
02 Drums Pre-compression
This is the sound of the drums with no compression applied.
03 Drums Post-compression
The drums with the compression described in the article. Notice how the overheads are able to breathe, whereas the kick and snare have been firmed up and pushed forward by the compression.
04 Guitars Raw
The hard-panned guitars prior to any EQ and compression.
05 Guitars Processed
The guitars with their EQ boost at 3.3kHz and a little dip in the low mids around 250Hz. 1-2dB of compression was also applied. Notice that the guitars sound a touch harsh when heard in isolation — but not when heard in the context of the mix.
06 Dan’s Vocal Raw
Dan’s duet vocal part, without any mix processing.
07 Dan’s Vocal Processed
Dan’s vocal was deliberately thinned using EQ to prevent it clashing with the lead vocal. The part was also fairly heavily compressed and was treated to a little reverb.
08 Paul’s Lead Vocal Raw
Paul’s lead vocal without any mix processing — despite being a great there’s some problematic hiss and lip noise.
09 Paul’s Lead Vocal Part Processed
Notice the reduction in the level of the hiss and see if you can hear the effect of the high-pass filtering, EQ, de-essing and some fairly heavy compression. To help you hear these things, this clip doesn’t include any of the spatial effects.
10 Paul’s Lead Vocal Full Processing
Paul’s lead vocal with all the mix processing applied. As well as the EQ and compression described, a tape-echo-type effect was deployed and a little was sent to the shared mix reverbs.