Bon Iver Mix Breakdown
Added 2024-10-08 14:53:42 +0000 UTC
Comments
It really depends on the song! For example Elliott Smith always doubled vocals but would never pan them to the same location in the stereo field, Bon Iver (and indeed most of my own mixing) typically leaves doubles in the center and pans harmonies. That said, with this particular mix I actually spend well over half of it mixing in mono anyways. Figured it would really solidify the track and it did!
Ricky Young
2025-04-07 14:45:33 +0000 UTCLoving the channel and mixing tutorials. The recreations are so damn good. I’m currently working on something Bon Iver like and can’t wait to try some of what you did out. I did have a question about these doubles and doubles in general. It looks like these are centered except for what I assume are harmonies in the chorus panned a bit left and right. Is it typical for you to have doubles all dead down the middle or does it depend? I know Phoebe Bridgers does that for sure. Also are you switching these vocals to mono or do you keep them in stereo?
Curtis
2025-04-05 17:03:27 +0000 UTCAny recommendations for making a normal acoustic sound like/close to a vintage arch top? I already have a piece of paper covering the sound hole, and i'm using nickel wound strings to help deaden the sound a bit. My mic is positioned pointing towards the last fret towards the sound hole, and this is about as close as I could get it. Im also using a match eq (matched to the guitars from the original recording of flume) and cutting off additional high and low end with a stock band eq.
Colin Bagwell
2025-01-29 19:17:47 +0000 UTCPanning a guitar 100% left and right is definitely A technique, but its definitely not the only answer, there are no rigid rules. There are strengths and weaknesses to any method. Hard panning guitars is pretty common in rock production, but doing so can sometimes overly widen the mix, make the mix sit worse on mono speakers, or leave vocals exposed if there isn't instruments supporting it in the center of the mix. At the same time, sometimes moving from a narrow verse into a really wide chorus can have a massive and very successful effect. It depends on the song structure in my opinion. Generally I think the best idea is to CHOOSE the instrument you want to be wide based on what the song calls for. Wide drums + 100% panned guitars might be a little much, maybe keep one of these more central if the other is taking a lot of space. I've found myself moving my mixes into much more narrow stereo widths. Helps with phase coherency in mono speakers, and generally seems like it "glues" together better. That said there is still almost always something hard panned, but I've found that it tends to less in less be the main elements of the song like the guitars, drums, or vocals.
Ricky Young
2024-12-08 15:46:34 +0000 UTCIncredible. I'm a begginer and i've noticed that you positioned your acoustic guitars (and most of the vocals too) in the central position of the pan. Recently i have seen a lot of people talking about how we should always put one guitar 100% on the left, and the other in the right. That is my main doubt at this point, cause it makes me feel like my vocals lose a lot of presence. And i'm very curious about what you did, because listening to bon iver's songs, i really tought that the vocals were fully spreat trought the pan.
Pedro Savoldi
2024-12-08 13:55:52 +0000 UTCHey Jesse! For my own stuff I use more of a mix, my primary EQ is always Ableton's EQ, and I use the glue compressor on almost every project. But I tend to use a lot of Goodhertz and UA plugins as well :)
Ricky Young
2024-11-12 14:52:12 +0000 UTCFirst off, this is fire. Secondly, I see you intentionally used the stock plugins heavy here. Im curious to know is this something that you do even for your own stuff? Or was that intentional just for this song in particular?
Jesse Boone
2024-11-10 23:51:31 +0000 UTCI bounced it with the mix bus chain on yes!
Ricky Young
2024-10-12 00:44:20 +0000 UTCThanks Tony! So glad dude that makes me so happy :) and welcome to the Patreon!
Ricky Young
2024-10-12 00:44:02 +0000 UTCI think you killed this production. One question! When you jumped between mix and master did you keep the mix-bus chain on, bounce, and master that... or did you turn the mix-bus chain off, bounce, and then master with fresh ears? (Mixbus chain was Fairchild + EQ8 x 2 + pultec x 2 + TDR + Gulfoss (and maybe some other stuff)
Alex Richards
2024-10-10 18:16:05 +0000 UTCIncredible. I learned so much I became a Patreon member to learn some more. Thank you.
Tony Cardinali
2024-10-10 16:03:56 +0000 UTCThanks dude :)
Ricky Young
2024-10-09 14:28:35 +0000 UTCThanks Mihail!
Ricky Young
2024-10-09 14:28:28 +0000 UTCWhat a phenomenal job holy shit!
Mihail Piperkov
2024-10-08 22:07:27 +0000 UTCBlown away by this. Good work bro
Nathan Reginato
2024-10-08 20:33:28 +0000 UTC
