April Mixdown: Surveying the Baseline

April was the first song recorded for High Desert Mystery, so now that we are vetting the final mixes, what better place to begin?

This song was completed in a single session, January 20, 2008, with me acting as "producer."  Matt played the drums, which we recorded with only two microphones: kick drum and overhead.  I operated the digital audio workstation (DAW) while performing the scratch vocal and guitar.  I had one mike for the vocal, and the two built-in pickups in my Martin D-1 acoustic guitar: one piezo-acoustic bridge pickup and one internally mounted condenser microphone.

We warmed up with one recorded take of "I Ain't Never" before beginning numbered takes of "April" as follows:

Takes 1-4:  missing (probably deleted immediately)
Takes 5-8:  false starts
Take 9:   complete
Take 10:  false start
Take 11:  missing
Take 12:  false start
Take 13:  complete
Take 14:  false start
Take 15(?):  the master take

As it turned out, my basic guitar track was error-free and therefore usable, so we kept it.  Matt then recorded a second acoustic guitar part using the same internal pickups, plus the Apex condenser microphone, which was our best available mike throughout the High Desert Mystery sessions.  Matt's guitar playing imparted a quasi-swing feel which unexpectedly enhanced the basic arrangement.

My harmonica part was next, followed by Matt's tambourine, and then my bass guitar.  Probably all with the Apex mike, though the bass might have been direct.  I doubt it.  I also don't remember whether it was "Red Bass" or Julian Kingston's Jazz Bass.

Finally, we worked on my vocal track.  We recorded two tracks: one called "crap vocal" - whose chief fault appears to have been a few missed lines - and a second called "double vocal" which includes some drop-in fixes, but intentionally left in a flub that was perfectly doubled from the scratch vocal track.  At the time we liked the flub.  Now we have to live with it, or else revive the "crap vocal" for that line.

Matt's final mix from April 4, 2010 dispensed with the "crap vocal" altogether, which has been deleted from the master project file.

Matt's mix is pretty spartan, without effects or equalization except on two tracks: the harmonica features reverb, as does the main lead vocal, which is also heavily equalized with 3-4 dB cuts around 750 and 6000 Hz, a -8dB shelf at 9000 Hz, and a 12 dB boost below 180 Hz (the "proximity zone").

Matt automated the fader on his acoustic guitar track to bring it as an accent on about half the song, but only on the internal condenser mike.  He also automated the scratch vocal, but muted it out of the final mix.

Overall, this mix sounds pretty decent.  There are a couple of potential edits that are tempting me: I would like to fix the flubbed vocal line by flying in that section from the deleted "crap vocal," and I would also like to eliminate or steeply diminish the final cymbal crash, probably with fader automation rather than editing.

UPDATE: edits are complete!