![]() I tweaked the sound's synth and filter settings (as well as the frequency and slope of a high‑pass filter on the existing bass track) to home in on the most satisfying low-mid range for the layered sound. ![]() Reinforcing the bass part's fundamental was also a case of adding something new, namely my usual sub‑bass synth patch, running from the ReaSynth plug‑in that's part of my Cockos Reaper‑based mix system. This took a little work, but the resulting layered kick‑drum then survived virtually unprocessed to the final mix, with the only further tweak being a broad 2.5dB boost at 750Hz for more 'knock'. As always, though, I was careful to time‑align the two waveforms to get the best‑sounding combination. Remodelling the kick was simple: I just lined up a new super‑pokey kick alongside, from Big Fish Audio's Platinum Essentials 2 sample library. As it was, I figured I'd better rework things more in line with my expectations of Dr Dre's sound. If Dr Dre hadn't been mentioned, it would probably have been sensible to leave the kick's pillowy nature unchanged, drawing some long seismic rumblings out of it to fill the spectrum underneath the bass. In addition, the bass sound had a strong 100‑200Hz region, which is usually where the kick tends to poke through in up‑tempo Dr Dre productions, whereas the important sub‑100Hz fundamental frequencies were undercooked. Unfortunately, Preslin's raw kick and bass sounds weren't fulfilling these criteria.įor a start, the kick drum was really soft‑sounding, and even with a shot in the arm from Stillwell Audio's Transient Monster it was still light-years off target. I'm a long‑time fan of Dr Dre's production style, so I already had an idea what the basic requirement at the low end was likely to be: tight punchiness and lots of 100‑150Hz body in the kick, plus very carefully controlled sub‑bass, usually from the bass line. One of the biggest changes I made in the remix was in managing the way the kick drum and bass combined. Several different analogue emulation plug‑ins were used to fatten up the bass sound: Universal Audio's 1176LN FET compressor and Silverspike's Ruby Tube valve limiter on Preslin's original part, and Universal Audio's Fairchild 670 valve limiter on the separate sub‑bass track. The remix ended up being quite involved, so rather than just skimming over everything, let's look in detail at some of the more interesting issues: how I developed Preslin's basic beat how some editing helped with the mix and how one particular sound went through multiple revisions between my first draft and our final, agreed version. We don't get many hip‑hop tracks sent in to Mix Rescue, so when I happened across a forum post on the SOS web site from reader Preslin Davis asking how to achieve a Dr Dre‑style mix of his latest track, 'Side Effects', I immediately offered to help out. Preslin had set the bar pretty high for Mike, name‑checking Dr Dre's productions as the primary reference point for his target sound. We go hip‑hop this month, as we aim for a Dr Dre‑style sound with Preslin Davis' track 'Side Effects', and highlight the importance of artist‑engineer dialogue.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |