I am currently in in the final months of a degree course in Audio Recording & Production. As a result, one of the assignments I received was a large multitrack session to mix early on. The track in question is Starlight by a local band going by Korda Marshall, a talented group who had studied previously at the same location as me. Their mix engineer, a Mr B Aisher, had allowed us use of a selection of stems from an early draft of this song. the amount of stems were considerable, including multiple vocal takes for layering, sequenced accompaniment and a plethora of tracks for sound sources that had multiple microphones capturing their sound. some of the stems included mistakes in either capture or performance (denoted by their absence from the official mix) but nothing was flawed enough to require absolute absence and on the whole it was a very engaging session to work on in post.
Please check out Korda Marshall’s official release on their Bandcamp to support them. One of the requirements for the assignment was a video dissection of my mix decisions for submission. I have decided to upload the video here as it is helpful in defining my mix philosophy to an extent. My version of the mix is below for comparison.
I had not heard the official version of this song before committing to my mix. Something I found interesting about the differences in result is that the official release plays very heavily into it’s synthesized elements, focusing on depth and lower mid range. The Simpson Audio approach to the mix was a broad stereo spread and building a soundscape around the guitar elements. Being able to compare my mix with what the artist and official engineers had produced gave me a lot to think about where my influences have taken me recently. As a result, I am making more of an effort to diversify my listening habits once again; giving more attention to lively and sequenced songs.