garybrun

Quote

Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections of a recording or performance are audible, sometimes as a deliberate aesthetic choice. The standards of sound quality (fidelity) and music production have evolved throughout the decades, meaning that some older examples of lo-fi may not have been originally recognized as such. Lo-fi began to be recognized as a style of popular music in the 1990s, when it became alternately referred to as DIY music (from "do it yourself").

Harmonic distortion and "analog warmth" are sometimes misleadingly suggested as core features of lo-fi music.
It is characterised by the inclusion of elements normally viewed as undesirable in professional contexts, such as misplayed notes, environmental interference, or phonographic imperfections (degraded audio signals, tape hiss, and so on). Pioneering, influential, or otherwise significant artists include the Beach Boys (Smiley Smile), R. Stevie Moore (often called "the godfather of home recording"), Paul McCartney (McCartney), Todd Rundgren, Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Guided by Voices, Sebadoh, Beck, Pavement, and Ariel Pink.

Although "lo-fi" has been in the cultural lexicon for approximately as long as "high fidelity", WFMU disc jockey William Berger is usually credited with popularizing the term in 1986. At various points since the 1980s, "lo-fi" has been connected with cassette culture, the DIY ethos of punk, primitivism, outsider music, authenticity, slacker/Generation X stereotypes, and cultural nostalgia. The notion of "bedroom" musicians expanded following the rise of modern digital audio workstations, and in the late 2000s, lo-fi aesthetics served as the basis of the chillwave and hypnagogic pop music genres.[3]

Lot of people use the term without understanding what it is.
 

Here is a version I did of Josh Turners "Your Man"
I remixed it as my skills are improving.

Would value your thoughts.
Thanks in advance.

Gary

@Douglas Kirby
Hi Douglas.
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment.

@Lord Tim    Brains are dumb... and so are we!   LOL.

I have been a Plapper for a few years now.
My favourite teacher is Marc Daniel Neilson...  WOW!!

13 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

Here I go, the "guitar player" wants more me.
I'm hearing some things in your mix that are not in Billy's mix.
I'm still thinking there is more "call and response" in the tracks; could be wrong...
Was Billy involved at all in the tracking of this tune?
Who produced the original sessions?

For $57 I get the original sessions?
Might be worth it just to see what you two are missing...

Lots of good advice from Tim above.

t

I left some comments over at BandLab, louder is always better (see Tim above).
Yes Billy's guitars are more present in the mix, and the vocal is "brighter".
How much of that is just "its louder" (well his guitars are more "forward" as well).
This has been enlightening and, well; FUN!

Yes you get the original sessions and two more to work on..  pop and rock.
I recommend it...  you learn a lot.

I think that a lot of this is also because Cakewalk is free.
You used to be able to read tutorials and other interesting items in the main magazines..   now its not even mentioned.
Why is that when a product  is for free and in some cases rivals those out there.
I've been a cake walk user for nearly two decades and I can remember when it was one of the really big names.
I even have the Sonar V Studio system which was a lot of money  quite a while ago.

@Lord Tim thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
brilliant..  I’m going to try some of those things.
I always start with drum and bass and leave vocals to last..

Once again thanks pal.

@Larry T.
HI Larry.
Thanks for commenting.
I am glad you find it informative etc.
That's is why I have posted all the stages and struggles, hoping someone would find it helpful.

I also always used to mix in the green...  but when I discovered how saturation and clipping into emulated analogue gear etc has a huge effect..  it takes it too another level.
You can create different colours and different effects give very different flavours when pushed.
They used to push the old analogue tape to get certain sounds.
I can mix clean..  I just want learn more about what does what and give myself more weapons to add too my arsenal.

Now I have spent 4 days just building a mix template.. adding all compressors and other lovely nice analogue simulations.
Check out ¨Billy Decker Template Mixing

Hopefully now..  I am 70% there when I load all my tracks and stems into a project.

@Lord Tim  Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment...  really appreciated.
Its amazing how everyone hears differently.... great advice thanks.

I am building a new mix template on a coarse I'm on by Billy Decker..  country fella.
Ill post his mix here..
Now my tastes are very different to his..  but look how much his mix is slammed and smacking you in the face.
Everything is so forward....  I have added nothing to this track... this is the original.
Watched this guy mix this in about 8mins from scratch with the template system.

I can hardly hear his backing vocals and his guitars are right up front as you guitarist love!!  🙂

At first thought it was going to be a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne"  🙂
As stated some punch to the drums..

You have a good one coming here.

 

I thought this piece  was really nice .. well done Bjørn.

We all paint very different pictures..
But the lead vocal in the beginning is harsh and cuts through the ears at the beginning with the rotary pan.
Really shows up on my monitors.

We all paint very different pictures..
I hear what Wookie hears regarding bass,
I'm listening on Focal Trios with no sub...  when I add the sub I can really hear it.,, maybe a little too much?

Very nice...
Some mean low end in there...

Very nice...
Well balanced and panned with great eq skills.
Drums have great punch..
Some mean guitar playing in there..
Love the trumpet...  (that the only instrument I am educated in).

1 hour ago, DeeringAmps said:

Also, the first section of the solo lacks a "focal" point. I'm not hearing anything, and I find that surprising.
The second section has that slide work (Dobro maybe). You've got that pretty well centered.

Thanks for that..  I did have it set louder.. the automation on that track was switched off  😞
You get so involved in a project that you miss things...

Ive listened to this track too much!!!  🙂

Think I'll give it a break for a while.

Now back to a few projects people have sent me from the forum 🙂

3 hours ago, Wookiee said:

I have to confess not my field of expertise sorry I can not help.

@Wookiee Thanks O. Furry  One!

I recently requested an additional forum for mixes and maybe mix templates. (not had a reply yet).
Many post their songs up and then post various revisions for advice on mixing etc.
My suggestion it would be good to have a dedicated area.
Its so easy to get lost..  🙂

2 minutes ago, SupaReels said:

Thanks for your ears ./.. I'm sending my ear drums as well with them .........

Btw  Love the mix mate 👍

TURN IT DOWN!!!   LOL

After taking into account @DeeringAmps suggestions with call and response I have now added mix 5.
Again learnt a lot here... as I had never thought about "call and response" before.
Made me look at country music in a different way.
Thanks.


I know this thread is long and un-interesting to some people but I have done it so people can see the thought process that goes into a mix.
The guy who orignally mixed this did it in about 10 mins...   I have taken days!!!  🙂

@DeeringAmps


Thanks for your ears

57 minutes ago, SupaReels said:

That's an interesting problem ( No matter how hard I try I cant get a dry sound ). Of course in this work it would be hard to notice that as it's extremely intricate and so your observations are impossible to detect.

I don't know what sound interface your using, mine is a Scarlett 18i20 which has an 'Air' controller that kinda brings out a sort of toppy value giving the dry signal space more room, personally I hardly use it as I think EQ these days can do almost anything in that field ... my point is are you hearing the I/P dry or have you got something that enhances this signal on your m/d or sound module ?

Anyway couple of beers has cleared me ears ... so that's good 🦻

Take care M8

Steve

I have an Apollo 8xp and I dont have anything between it to add stuff.. just use eq and hardware emulations with the Apollo.
If you listen to modern records they are very dry  and almost around only 5 instruments max.
The Vocal is smashed, so also with the snare and kick.
What Im saying is I cant make my mixes sound dry... I seem naturally add more verb/room etc.
This is more pleaseing to my ear.. Im 58 and remember the sounds.. that was when verb was all over everything.
I cant seem to break that sound in my head.

Glad to hear the ears have cleared.

Now Im going to work on the call and response as suggested in a previous post and work more with automation.

Does anyone know a shortcut to delete all automation from tracks?
Was trying to find it yesterday... had to do each one singular .

10 minutes ago, Hidden Symmetry said:

I would level match 3 & 4 to check the differences between the 2 mixes. If you're hitting any plugins , preamps, components harder or differently between the 2 that's going to change the sound.

LUFS choice could depend on the service you're releasing to or single vs album normalization, the client or label.

I prefer 4 overall, less ear fatigue..again I'm listening on cans, not referencing other material plus  I'm not an engineer.. Great job.

 

Thanks for replying and listening.
Mix 2 was my own Master 1st try.
Mix 3 was how Bandlab mastered it after I put it through my Master Chain. 
Mix 4 was not put through any Mastering chain,

@SupaReels you think your ears are smashed...lol
Ive added the dry tracks I received to the post..  just as is.
I also thought a brighter smashed sound really gave the song energy (Im not singing on this).
When I was mixing vs three I was bouncing in my chair... I think that's a good sign .
Kick, Snare and  tom are samples blended in with original drums..  (used trigger)
The mixes have different panning choices and volume levels on vocals and backing vocals, and guitars as well as the fiddle.
I brought the fiddle up as suggested..

No matter how hard I try I cant get a dry sound.
What I mean by this is that I seem to have more room and a more of a live sound.
The tracks where completely dry.
The only thing I can put this down to is being a live sound engineer for a while  🙂
Mix 4 was done at correct LUFS..  but it just doesn't have that bounce that I wanted,,  but I posted here for peoples opinions.
So there are 4 different mixes... which are all different.
The instrumental shows all of the instruments and I hope they can all be heard clearly.

It was a blast doing this project and a great learning curve.

Mix 4.. with better LUFs ..  not so smashed.

Mix 3... opinions please.

OK... another mix added... 
too smashed...  lol.
Need a break..
Come again tomorrow...  add the suggestions a few made..