New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Bubba
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New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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About a year ago I used to mix on good headphones the majority of the time because I was mixing in the living room. When the wife went out, if I could refrain from onanism, I would check and tweak my mixes on my Yamaha HS5 monitors. I would also play them in the van, which is my best listening environment. All well and good, I like my mixes from that time and I think they still hold up now.

When my son went to college last September, I decided to move into his study room and commandeer his study desk. I got a nice little setup there, and modified the desk to have a speaker and TV monitor shelf made out of the same beech melamine. There wasn't much treatment in there, but I brought a couple or three of bass traps down and made what I thought were a few decent mixes. I haven't been checking them in the van, though. :facepalm2:

Scroll forward to this week. I'm buying some nice new HS8s, and I decided once again to move my setup. I've packed my lad's drum kit away and moved into the drum tracking room. This room is really well treated acoustically.
One downside to moving into a properly treated room has made itself apparent to me. Some of my recent mixes sound muddy and bassy, even on the HS5s. Lord knows how bad they're going to sound on the 8s. 😞 It's almost impossible to believe the effect that the room and treatment has on the sound. There must have been loads of phase cancellation, hyping of the highs, me sitting in the node point of the room.....

My recent mixes sound really muddy and shit, to be frank. 😞

And I thought that Triple M, Tad, Greg and others were just being a bit picky with their comments about the bassiness. :WTF:
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by Greg_L »

Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:39 am And I thought that Triple M, Tad, Greg and others were just being a bit picky with their comments about the bassiness. :WTF:
Lol. No worries man. Take it as a positive. You hear things now you didn't hear before. It can only get better now. :coolstorybro:
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JD01
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by JD01 »

That's a pain in the arse. I wish I could have a proper room. Have you got space to set the drum kit up in there too? Or will you have to make more changes next time you get Frank tracking drums?

I just have to make do with listening on my AKG headphones, Focal monitors, stereo and earbuds.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Greg_L wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:52 am
Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:39 am And I thought that Triple M, Tad, Greg and others were just being a bit picky with their comments about the bassiness. :WTF:
Lol. No worries man. Take it as a positive. You hear things now you didn't hear before. It can only get better now. :coolstorybro:
Yeah, that's definitely a positive. I have to remix my last few tracks and replace them on my Soundcloud, though! :facepalm2:

It will be good practice at getting my ear in with the new boxes, at least.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by Greg_L »

I'm about to rearrange my room. I'm dreading it because the way it is now I know I can track well and make one mix and have it be perfect to me. I really should do it though to maximize space an make it all more efficient. I'm sure I'll adapt...I just don't want to.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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JD01 wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:52 am That's a pain in the arse. I wish I could have a proper room. Have you got space to set the drum kit up in there too? Or will you have to make more changes next time you get Frank tracking drums?

I just have to make do with listening on my AKG headphones, Focal monitors, stereo and earbuds.
If I knock out the wall between the drum room and bathroom, I will. :nyuk:

:lollers2:
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Greg_L wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:58 am I'm about to rearrange my room. I'm dreading it because the way it is now I know I can track well and make one mix and have it be perfect to me. I really should do it though to maximize space an make it all more efficient. I'm sure I'll adapt...I just don't want to.
It's a real dilemma, but this experience has shown me that sometimes things have to worsen before they can get better.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by JD01 »

Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:58 am
JD01 wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:52 am That's a pain in the arse. I wish I could have a proper room. Have you got space to set the drum kit up in there too? Or will you have to make more changes next time you get Frank tracking drums?

I just have to make do with listening on my AKG headphones, Focal monitors, stereo and earbuds.
If I knock out the wall between the drum room and bathroom, I will. :nyuk:

:lollers2:
haha, that probably won't improve your mixing environment!

I tend to get mixes as good as I can get them on my AKGs as I have most spare time late at nigh or early in the morning.
Then I listen quite loud on monitors and tweak a bit more.

Then I leave it playing loud on monitors and wander around the room and the downstairs of the house. Its weird how you sometimes pick up weird shit that just doesn't sound right when you do this - good mixes still sound good from the next room!

Then I play things on the stereo and then I'll generally end up going for a walk and listening on earbuds.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by Greg_L »

Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 8:00 am

It's a real dilemma, but this experience has shown me that sometimes things have to worsen before they can get better.
Yup. Exactly. My room is very well treated already so I'm thinking moving the mixing position won't be that big of a deal...hopefully. I'm sure you'll find in no time that you can adapt and things will be better than ever.

Save same of your old mixes and post em up for an A/B against the new room.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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JD01 wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 8:04 am
Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:58 am

If I knock out the wall between the drum room and bathroom, I will. :nyuk:

:lollers2:
haha, that probably won't improve your mixing environment!

I tend to get mixes as good as I can get them on my AKGs as I have most spare time late at nigh or early in the morning.
Then I listen quite loud on monitors and tweak a bit more.

Then I leave it playing loud on monitors and wander around the room and the downstairs of the house. Its weird how you sometimes pick up weird shit that just doesn't sound right when you do this - good mixes still sound good from the next room!

Then I play things on the stereo and then I'll generally end up going for a walk and listening on earbuds.
I think it's a really good ideat to listen on as many different sets of equipment as possibe. I haven't been listening in the van for two reasons.

1. The CD player isn't reading discs properly just now.

2. Hubris. I got to thinking I was getting pretty good at this game.

Number 1 is an easy fix, it's just a matter of getting a cleaning disc and putting it in (I hope); number 2 is more awkward because I've had to come to terms with my fallibility. Pride comes before a flying kick to the testicles, in this case.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Greg_L wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 8:04 am
Save same of your old mixes and post em up for an A/B against the new room.
That's a very good idea - I will try to remember to do that. :coolstorybro:
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 8:28 am I think it's a really good ideat to listen on as many different sets of equipment as possibe. I haven't been listening in the van for two reasons.

1. The CD player isn't reading discs properly just now.

2. Hubris. I got to thinking I was getting pretty good at this game.

Number 1 is an easy fix, it's just a matter of getting a cleaning disc and putting it in (I hope); number 2 is more awkward because I've had to come to terms with my fallibility. Pride comes before a flying kick to the testicles, in this case.
I haven't got a choice - 'cos I don't have a good listening environment. I quite often listen to True North and In Utero when I'm procrastinating about mixing too - just to get two of my favourite mixes stuck in my head before I take a stab at a bit more mixing.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by rayc »

Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:39 am to be frank. 😞
To be Frank would be to be peeved when he has to set his drums up when he gets home wouldn't it?

Yes, it is amazing how a room can create gloom.
I still need a cloud in my room as it's the only flat surface left. Though I've used books on shelves etc to break up waves and so forth and still don't have a proper bass trap system.
Glad you have a good spot to mix now, just don't go over too many old mixes and try to re tweak them until you're used to the new set up.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by Bubba »

rayc wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 10:21 am
Bubba wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2017 7:39 am to be frank. 😞
To be Frank would be to be peeved when he has to set his drums up when he gets home wouldn't it?

Yes, it is amazing how a room can create gloom.
I still need a cloud in my room as it's the only flat surface left. Though I've used books on shelves etc to break up waves and so forth and still don't have a proper bass trap system.
Glad you have a good spot to mix now, just don't go over too many old mixes and try to re tweak them until you're used to the new set up.
LOL, Frank actually helped me to pack it all up! It's the first time they've been in the cases for about five years. He'd already taken his best snare drums and all his cymbals to Manchester, anyway. :frown:
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by rayc »

Ah, true drumber - have snare & cymbals - will travel. Do you have a project for his return?
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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rayc wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 7:32 am Ah, true drumber - have snare & cymbals - will travel. Do you have a project for his return?
Not at the moment, Ray. He left me a drum track for the Pixies' "Bone Machine" but I fear it's going to be too difficult to do. I posted a clip of the drums I mixed so far in the Drum and Drummer section the other day. I've been trying to get close to that Steve Albini sound. Other than that I have no projects on the go. There wasn't enough drum kit to record with when he was here last weekend so I saw no reason to keep it set up. I may have to get a midi drums program.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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Bubba wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 8:07 am Other than that I have no projects on the go.
Give me a shout if you want to collab on anything to keep your recording Mojo up. You're welcome to sing on Young Tories if the mood takes you!
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

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JD01 wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 8:25 am
Bubba wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 8:07 am Other than that I have no projects on the go.
Give me a shout if you want to collab on anything to keep your recording Mojo up. You're welcome to sing on Young Tories if the mood takes you!
Cheers, James. I'd be happy to collab on some stuff. That last project was lots of fun. :) I'm on Garden Leave now and finishing work at the end of May, so I have lots of free time.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by rayc »

You could do a Stray Cats cover. That only needs snare & cymbal.
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Re: New mixing room - an "Oh Bollocks" story.

Post by JD01 »

Bubba wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 8:44 am
JD01 wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2017 8:25 am
Give me a shout if you want to collab on anything to keep your recording Mojo up. You're welcome to sing on Young Tories if the mood takes you!
Cheers, James. I'd be happy to collab on some stuff. That last project was lots of fun. :) I'm on Garden Leave now and finishing work at the end of May, so I have lots of free time.
Cheers, I don't have that much spare time as I'm trying to concentrate on my own stuff but it would be cool to chuck a cover in amongst it too - although if you also want to try and collab on an original that would also be fun and something that doesn't get done so often (I mean writing one - not just performing on someone else's track).

I'd quite like to do a cover of Video Nasty but that would probably be a bit of a busman's holiday for you.
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