Observations on remixing old tracks

[Armistice]

So, rather than jump straight into the fourth Honey Hunters album that no-one asked for, I decided to revisit the first Honey Hunters album and remix it. And by remix, I don't mean any major differences, but I did want to work on drums and drum reverb in particular - mainly the sounds but I'm tidying up a bit here and there, making fills sound a little better, evening out toms etc., changing the attack on kicks and snares - stuff only I'd notice.

Also spending a lot of time on more de-essing of vocals and smoothing out vocal volumes and rebalancing harmonies. I'm 4 songs in now. 7 to go.

I'm not going to post the songs, this is just a private project. Probably when I finish I'll do a slightly altered version of the cover, send it all to Kunaki and kill the first version there, and just send myself a copy or two so I have them.

Anyway, it's an interesting process - bearing in mind that the first Honey Hunters album was not the first, but the second album I'd recorded using Reaper / PC, The Jongleurs "Absence" being the first.

As I dig into the entrails, I keep coming up with things and wondering just exactly what the fuck I was trying to achieve at the time. And finding other things where I clearly didn't understand how this or that process or plug in or whatever, actually worked properly, or should be deployed.

Amazing just how much more evolved my recordings have become in a few short years. And how much more time I spend on them to get them that way.

[JD01]

Being short on time and sleep I've been recording a lot of covers lately. Including some tricky ones, the idea being that I'm gradually working up a template that I'll later use for remixing older songs. I'm intrigued to see how bad they are!

[rayc]

ONE of the reasons I get my songs mastered is to prevent myself from going back and reworking things. The thought of wasting the money already spent is a great prophylactic ... I've only reworked three songs in the decade or so of using an M.E.

[Greg_L]

I'm pretty good about letting go when I'm done with something. I've got old stuff that I don't particularly like anymore but it's not like I'm gonna re-release any of it...or first-time release any of it. A remix might be fun...but also, why?

[JD01]

I'm pretty good about letting go when I'm done with something. I've got old stuff that I don't particularly like anymore but it's not like I'm gonna re-release any of it...or first-time release any of it. A remix might be fun...but also, why?

Its just a completist thing. I've got a bunch of old songs that I've written, some of which I think are genuinely pretty good... but I listen to them and don't like the way they sound - they don't sound like a "real" recording to me - just something that was knocked up at home on the cheap. My recent records are much better quality and I'd like to produce something that I'm proud of.

[vomitHatSteve]

I've got old stuff that I frequently think about re-visiting, but I would end up completely re-recording it, and when I think about that I'd rather just work on new material.

[JD01]

I've got old stuff that I frequently think about re-visiting, but I would end up completely re-recording it, and when I think about that I'd rather just work on new material.

Ah, I don't mind the idea of rerecording stuff. I like the process... its the thought of copying and pasting files into a new template and spending hours fucking with mixes that really puts me off.

[CrowsofFritz]

I'm pretty good about letting go when I'm done with something. I've got old stuff that I don't particularly like anymore but it's not like I'm gonna re-release any of it...or first-time release any of it. A remix might be fun...but also, why?

I don’t really remix. If I go back to a song, it’s to completely rework and re-record it.

[Armistice]

I'm doing it to this album in particular purely because I've learnt to do lots much better since I released it. And I always want to get stuff sounding as good as I can, if I can. And I can.

And also to stop myself immediately starting a new project... This will only take a few weeks anyway, depending upon whatever else is going on in life.

[Bubba]

I haven't heard any of these remixes, but I welcome them. What I hope is, that all the snare velocities other than the main hits in each bar have been severely reduced, making them more like the ghost notes that they should have been in the first place. The overwrought drum programming was the only gripe I had with that record.

[Armistice]

I haven't heard any of these remixes, but I welcome them. What I hope is, that all the snare velocities other than the main hits in each bar have been severely reduced, making them more like the ghost notes that they should have been in the first place. The overwrought drum programming was the only gripe I had with that record.

You should stop obsessing about my drum programming.

[JD01]

I haven't heard any of these remixes, but I welcome them. What I hope is, that all the snare velocities other than the main hits in each bar have been severely reduced, making them more like the ghost notes that they should have been in the first place. The overwrought drum programming was the only gripe I had with that record.

You should stop obsessing about my drum programming.

Hey, you're an independent musician - just be glad that someone is obsessing over your music.

[Greg_L]

You should stop obsessing about my drum programming.

This is Bubba's new life. Popping in sporadically to rip people that actually do music.

[vomitHatSteve]

Hey, you're an independent musician - just be glad that someone is obsessing over your music.

'struth

[Bubba]

You should stop obsessing about my drum programming.

This is Bubba's new life. Popping in sporadically to rip people that actually do music.

Me and Armi stay in touch outside this site.

[Greg_L]

Me and Armi stay in touch outside this site.

That's cool but what I said still stands.

[Bubba]

Me and Armi stay in touch outside this site.

That's cool but what I said still stands.

1: I'm not ripping Armi - he's a mate.
2: I've posted four pieces of music on here since August. I would call that "actually doing music".

[Armistice]

Chill everyone. Bubba is always on at me about my "drums" and I always listen to what he, and anyone else with drum knowledge, has to say about them because I know they're not my strongest suit. Redid the chorus on Kafka on the last album based on Greg's feedback. Always happy to hear feedback on drums!

On this occasion, I didn't particularly need reminding... I'm well aware of what to do and where on the first album in drum terms and am working my way through it all on a track by track basis. Lots of other stuff besides drums... I was relying heavily on ReaVerb and a large hall on a single bus, which I've moved away from and gone towards plate and other reverbs and multiple buses for different instruments. Lots of additional de-essing on vocals via the pre-volume envelope. Lots of rebalancing of harmonies in terms of EQ, reverb and volume. Looking at guitars in terms of balance and EQ. Looking at bass similarly and fixing up some shitty bass playing via editing. etc. etc. etc.

Lots to do. I'm not posting the tracks because that wasn't the idea and I don't want to be second guessing myself at this point. When I'm done, probably in a month's time I think I'll retire the old album on Kunaki and make a new copy for myself and leave it at that unless anyone particularly wants one. Will give new MP3 files to anyone that has the old ones etc.

Keeps me away from starting something new, which is a good thing just now as I have too many paths I can head down and don't even want to think about which might be the best one.

[Greg_L]

1: I'm not ripping Armi - he's a mate.
2: I've posted four pieces of music on here since August. I would call that "actually doing music".

Lol ok then

[WhiskeyJack]

I'd be ok with mixing anything once tbh.