mane
New member
Hi everyone,
I thought to make a thread to post mixes we like, highlighting the reasons for it. Focusing mostly on the mixdown, although lines might blur into sound design, composition, etc.
I'll start with: Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Starting with the intro, the hiss from tape that contributes an appealing texture, was probably a happy accident. Leakage from nearby channels of the tape let in some faint synth lines that give a sense of depth and contribute to set the emotional ground of the song as well as the harmony.
As the first verse enters, the arrangement remains sparse, with a thudding kick drum that even though it has some sort of delay, it remains present, full and carries on the low end registry of the track throughout (except for a low frequency 808 drums that enters later on). Wish I would know how to make kick drums sound like these!
The tape hiss disappears a couple of bars later, drying up the space, allowing the incoming cymbal to take the place of the highest register. IMO mixed a tad high, but probably done in purpose as nothing else is occupying that space and it gives the song a sharp edge, almost harsh, that contributes to the aggressive sense in the music.
The chorus breaks into a complete different set of instruments: rock-inspired drums with high compression, a slapped bass, distorted vocal right at the break down point during the most intense moments, yet the vocal mixed low in order to sink it into the music as if it were surrounded by the instruments. It invites the listener to raise the volume to get closer. A key stylistic choice of NIN. The lowest register is not as present in this section and the stereo field and depth are much bigger than the previous section, again immersing the listener.
The push and pull of the two contrasting sections, the first one with its sparse, dry, up-front style, and the other one with the wide, deep, immersive style work together to f-up the listener into getting hooked to the overall crescendo of the song, as an endless amount of instruments keep coming in on both sections, making them less sparse and more intense on each iteration. I find impressive that even though both sections are so different, they still sound like the same song, a feat for the composition and the mix as well.
The low-level mix of distorted effects keeps them out of focus, but reminds the listener that even though some synth lines are clearly taken from the synth pop aesthetic, this is NIN.
I'm doing this mostly because I want to read about other ppls favorites, so I can learn
feel free to contradict my views of this mix also!
Hope you feel like contributing to this thread, cheers!
I thought to make a thread to post mixes we like, highlighting the reasons for it. Focusing mostly on the mixdown, although lines might blur into sound design, composition, etc.
I'll start with: Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Starting with the intro, the hiss from tape that contributes an appealing texture, was probably a happy accident. Leakage from nearby channels of the tape let in some faint synth lines that give a sense of depth and contribute to set the emotional ground of the song as well as the harmony.
As the first verse enters, the arrangement remains sparse, with a thudding kick drum that even though it has some sort of delay, it remains present, full and carries on the low end registry of the track throughout (except for a low frequency 808 drums that enters later on). Wish I would know how to make kick drums sound like these!
The tape hiss disappears a couple of bars later, drying up the space, allowing the incoming cymbal to take the place of the highest register. IMO mixed a tad high, but probably done in purpose as nothing else is occupying that space and it gives the song a sharp edge, almost harsh, that contributes to the aggressive sense in the music.
The chorus breaks into a complete different set of instruments: rock-inspired drums with high compression, a slapped bass, distorted vocal right at the break down point during the most intense moments, yet the vocal mixed low in order to sink it into the music as if it were surrounded by the instruments. It invites the listener to raise the volume to get closer. A key stylistic choice of NIN. The lowest register is not as present in this section and the stereo field and depth are much bigger than the previous section, again immersing the listener.
The push and pull of the two contrasting sections, the first one with its sparse, dry, up-front style, and the other one with the wide, deep, immersive style work together to f-up the listener into getting hooked to the overall crescendo of the song, as an endless amount of instruments keep coming in on both sections, making them less sparse and more intense on each iteration. I find impressive that even though both sections are so different, they still sound like the same song, a feat for the composition and the mix as well.
The low-level mix of distorted effects keeps them out of focus, but reminds the listener that even though some synth lines are clearly taken from the synth pop aesthetic, this is NIN.
I'm doing this mostly because I want to read about other ppls favorites, so I can learn
feel free to contradict my views of this mix also!Hope you feel like contributing to this thread, cheers!
