These audio files accompany my article on tackling issues in lockdown recordings, in SOS April 2021.
www.soundonsound.com/techniques/lockdown-mixdown
Play the SoundCloud MP3s below or download the ZIP file of hi-res WAVs and audition them in your own DAW.
Wish You Well original timing.wav
Wish You Well corrected timing.wav
These two mixes are identical, except that the first uses the files as supplied, and the second has my timing corrections. As you can hear, there’s enough timing slop in the ‘original’ version to make a polished-sounding mix almost impossible. It took several hours’ work to achieve the right level of tightness in the ‘corrected’ version but it makes all the difference.
RTNC raw drums.wav
RTNC processed drums.wav
RTNC full mix.wav
‘Round The Next Corner’ is a tasty R&B workout, but from my point of view as the mix engineer, it wasn’t ideal to have the drums supplied as a single mono WAV file!
The raw drums sound muddy at the low end and harsh in the treble, and the kick drum is not loud enough to cut through the mix. To tackle the harshness and mud I used Oeksound’s Soothe and FabFilter’s Pro-Q3, while Oeksound’s unique Spiff plug-in allowed me to bring out the ‘thump’ of the bass drum. In the context of the full mix, the results are a big improvement.