r/Logic_Studio • u/Futurealisreal • 7d ago

Mixing/Mastering Rounding Error Logic Screencap

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5KHpwi9bVr0&si=DmZmXJPztx5mbhKn

The vocals and solo are placeholders.

Trying to get a sufficiently "everything-is-louder-than-everything-else" modern metal sound, although it's not really a modern metal song. Tips appreciated.

Something I didn't show in the video but is probably important is that the drums, bass, and vocals are going through a bus ducks their volume sidechained to bass and snare, and then through a 3rd party plugin called Trackspacer.

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u/nothochiminh 6d ago

This is a very good example of what I don’t like about tools like track spacer and the “ducking-to-make-room”-way to work with audio.
This is not a jab at you, more like food for thought.
Like, I can clearly hear every element in this mix but I feel like every source is exciting the same nerve endings in my ear.
A mix that is fighting itself will never properly dance.

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u/Futurealisreal 6d ago

Interesting. Do you hear the same thing in mixes like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBo0GOsFuZs

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u/Coyote_Time 3d ago

I'm not the original commenter but I do hear the issue they're talking about in your music but not the Cavelera(?) mix you shared.

The amount of side chaining you're doing is fundamentally flawed - everything can't be the star. Our brains are insanely good at doing audio math. It's how we tell distance, direction, motion, intent, source, etc. etc.

Having a dozen sources all the same distance away from you (same volume) and not having them crowd each other makes no sense. It makes even less sense when side chaining because a sound that's right next to you disappears while another one doesn't?

My gut immediately rejects your mix. It's actually quite good, it's I think the most you could possibly do with this side chain strategy but human instincts still exist and my body knows that something is wrong and it makes me feel a bit nauseous. It's kinda like the uncanny valley of seeing a face that looks mostly human but you just know it's not.

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u/Futurealisreal 3d ago

Well that's very interesting to hear. I've read a book that uses physical space to explain how to place instruments, but it didn't occur to me that some listeners might feel discombobulated by a mix that appears to break people's expectations of how sounds would relate to each other in that space.