Demo: Wind | How I recorded, mixed, and mastered

Another song by Thailabor that I absolutely enjoyed working on. The track is driven by an acoustic picking line giving the main melody, supported by a thick wall of hi-gain rhythm electric guitar layers and ambient tracks.

Check out the track on my Music: Recording & Mixing page here.

Recording

Drums

1. Kick in: Shure Beta 91

2. Kick out: Shure Beta 52

3. Snare top AKG D40

4. Snare bottom: AKG D40

5. Hi-hat: Shure Beta 98

6. Tom 1: AKG D40

7. Floor Tom: AKG D40

8. Crash: AKG C430

9. Ride: AKG C430

10. OVH L: Shure SM81

11. OVH R: Shure SM81

Bass

1. Close mic Condenser: Shure KSM44

2. Close mic Dynamic: AKG D40

3. Active DI

4. Amp direct out: Ampeg Micro-VR head

The song required the low B from a 5-string bass tuned down half step. We needed to capture plenty of low end yet maintain clear note definition.

While the 2 mics provided the body and low end, the key element of this bass recording was the Amp Out channel. This really pushed the upper harmonics and the "metal clanking" part of the content, improving the clarity of the bass track in the overall mix.

Acoustic Guitars

1. Shure SM81 L (XY stereo setup)

2. Shure SM81 R (XY stereo setup)

3. Shure KSM44 Room L

4. Shure KSM44 Room R

5. Active DI

The rhythm acoustic guitar tracks are dub L & R for a thick, chorus-y vibe with very little processing. The picking track is recorded the same way without dubbing.

Electric Guitars

1. Close mic Condenser: Shure KSM44

2. Close mic Dynamic: AKG D40

3. Room: Shure KSM44

4. Active DI

The 2 rhythm hi-gain tracks are the Orange CR120 channel 2, with added reverbs and delays in Pro Tools. The other electric guitar tracks used the ZOOM G3N multi-effects unit for gain and effects.

Having both a dynamic and condenser mic selections would make the mixing process so much easier with plenty of harmonic contents to pick and choose from. The Active DI was used for blending in the pick attack.

Mixing

Drums:

I added the CLA-3A compressor to both the kick and snare busses. Except for the kick buss, every track has HPF at different center frequency (snare 100Hz, hi-hat 830Hz, Toms 70Hz, crash & ride 1kHz, OVH 90Hz with 485Hz narrow Q dip to remove the airy honk).

In the drum bus, I tend to boost 7kHz point for clarity and attack, and throw in the SSL G-Master Comp for a very mild compression.

Bass:

Shelf EQ to slightly cut at 94Hz, some CLA-3A compression and that's it...

Acoustic Guitars:

HPF at 130Hz and boost the upper mids (2kHz) with 5.7kHz shelf boost to add presence in the mix.

The rhythm lines have mono reverb tracks with mirror-image panning. The picking line has reverbs and delays effects for added body.

Electric Guitars

HPF 120Hz, cut 500Hz, and boosted some upper mids 2.5kHz. While mixing the electric guitars, cutting the 500Hz a little made the bass more clear.