<h5 class="h5ResourceCategoryLinks"><a href="#contents">TABLE OF CONTENTS</a> -- <a href="#resources">RELATED RESOURCES</a></h5>

<h3 class="h3ResourceCategory"><a name="contents">TABLE OF CONTENTS</a></h3>
<ul>
  <li>00:00 -- Intro<br><br></li>
  <li>01:06 -- <strong>Mix Critique: Benjamin John's 'Better Way': mix by <a href="http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=2648">HBGuitar</a></strong></li>
  <ul>
    <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">02:04 - 04:07 -- [[$podcastDemo]] HBGuitar's full mix</span></li>
    <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">05:37 -- [[$podcastDemo]] build-up into third chorus (HBGuitar's mix)</span><br><br></li>


<a href="http://www.sonofgrace.com"><img alt="New Benjamin John CD: <i>Son Of Grace</i>" src="http://www.root.cambridge-mt.com//SitePix/Ads/BenjaminJohnAdJPEG.jpg" class="imgBannerAd"></a>

    <li>06:23 -- Critique Point #1: vocal timbre</li>
    <ul>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">06:44 -- [[$podcastDemo]] midrange emphasis: mix band-pass filtered at 1.5kHz to highlight overprominent frequency region (HBGuitar's mix)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">06:58 -- [[$podcastDemo]] midrange emphasis: band-pass filter removed to show the 1.5kHz vocal emphasis in context (HBGuitar's mix)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">07:12 -- [[$podcastDemo]] midrange emphasis: octave-wide 3dB cut applied to mix at 1.5kHz (HBGuitar's mix)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">07:47 -- [[$podcastDemo]] midrange emphasis: beginning of mix to show tonal contrast between backing and lead vocals (HBGuitar's mix)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">08:21 -- [[$podcastDemo]] midrange emphasis: raw acoustic rhythm guitar recording (unprocessed track)</span><br><br></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">09:02 -- [[$podcastDemo]] high-frequency challenges: raw lead vocal recording (unprocessed track)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">10:59 -- [[$podcastDemo]] high-frequency challenges: comparing some snippets of commercial references to HBGuitar's mix</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">12:51 -- [[$podcastDemo]] high-frequency challenges: a processed vocal sound for illustration purposes (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">13:17 -- [[$podcastDemo]] high-frequency challenges: upper-spectrum vocal EQ boost (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">13:42 -- [[$podcastDemo]] high-frequency challenges: artefacts of extra de-essing (rough mix by me)</span><br><br></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">15:04 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: step 1 -- de-essed send (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">15:33 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: step 2 -- short, dense, noisy reverb (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">16:19 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: step 3 -- high-pass filter (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">16:45 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: step 4 -- stereo narrowing (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">17:04 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: 'before' mix -- ie. no effect (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">17:16 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: 'after' mix -- ie. ninja air effect added (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">17:34 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: commercial reference of extreme vocal brightness</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">18:12 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: 'before' mix -- ie. no effect (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">18:22 -- [[$podcastDemo]] ninja air trick: 'after' mix -- ie. ninja air effect added (rough mix by me)</span><br><br></li>
    </ul>
    <li>19:44 -- Critique Point #2: vocal balance</li>
    <ul>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">20:01 -- [[$podcastDemo]] transition into the first chorus (HBGuitar's mix)</span><br><br></li>
    </ul>
    <li>21:07 -- Critique Point #3: guitar solo balance</li>
    <ul>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">21:22 -- [[$podcastDemo]] guitar solo (HBGuitar's mix)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">21:50 -- [[$podcastDemo]] guitar solo with 600Hz EQ boost applied to the whole mix (HBGuitar's mix)</span><br><br></li>
    </ul>
    <li>22:07 -- Critique Point #4: bass line tweak?</li>
    <ul>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">22:29 -- [[$podcastDemo]] end of first chorus (rough mix by me)</span></li>
      <li><span class="spanPodcastMiniText">22:58 -- [[$podcastDemo]] end of first chorus with pitch-shifted bass note under "told you" lyric (rough mix by me)</span><br><br></li>
    </ul>
  </ul>
  <li>24:05 -- <strong>Q&A: Should I get a high-end DAC for monitoring?</strong><br><br></li>
  <li>26:38 -- <strong>Budget/Freeware Dynamic EQ Recommendations</strong><br><br></li>
  <li>28:05 -- <strong>NHT Pro Super 2.1 affordable unported monitors -- first impressions</strong><br><br></li>
  <li>29:23 -- Outro <span class="spanPodcastMiniText">(Total Running Time 29:50)</span></li>
</ul>
 
<h3 class="h3ResourceCategory"><a name="resources">RELATED RESOURCES</a></h3>

<ul>
<li><strong>Uncompressed Audio Version:</strong> The player on this page uses 320kbps MP3 quality. If you'd prefer to hear uncompressed audio, <a href="http://www.patronpodcasts.cambridge-mt.com/CambridgeMT_PatronsPodcast1604HBGuitar_HiRes.zip">this ZIP archive</a> contains the podcast in 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV format.<br><br></li>

<li><strong>'Ninja Air Trick' Downloadable Impulse Response &amp; Reaper Project:</strong> If you want to know exactly how I put together the 'ninja air trick' processing showcased in this podcast, then download <a href="http://www.patronpodcasts.cambridge-mt.com/CambridgeMT_PatronsPodcast1604HBGuitar_Project.zip">Reaper Project (2MB ZIP)</a> which you can open in the cross-platform (and fully functional) <a href="http://reaper.fm/download.php">demo version of Cockos Reaper</a>. In the archive I've also included screenshots of all the plug-ins I used (in case you don't have them on your system) and the decorrellated white-noise impulse response I used to generate the super-short stereo reverb. Just one further point I didn't mention in the podcast: I also slightly chorused the reverb effect as well, to mitigate any static comb-filtering effects. I didn't mention it because it's very much an optional extra which only makes a very marginal difference to the end result, and I didn't want to take the discussion too far off-topic.<br><br></li>

<li><strong>Mix The Same Raw Multitracks Yourself:</strong> The raw multitracks for Benjamin John's 'Better Way' can be downloaded directly from <a href="[[~373]]#BenjaminJohn">The 'Mixing Secrets' Free Multitrack Download Library</a>. And make sure you check out the album <a href="http://www.sonofgrace.com/">Son Of Grace</a> from which this is the lead single -- there's lots of other great stuff on there!<br><br></li>

<li><strong>Have Your Say About This Mix:</strong> The original thread featuring this month's critiqued mix can be found <a href="http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showthread.php?tid=14380">here in the Discussion Zone</a>.<br><br></li>

<li><strong>Budget/freeware Dynamic EQ Plugins:</strong> Here are links to the plug-ins I mentioned in the podcast: Tokyo Dawn [[$software_TokyoDawn_TDRNova]], Platinumears [[$software_Platinumears_IQ4]] and ToneBoosters [[$software_ToneBoosters_TBFix]]. For more options, check out the <i>Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio</i> <a href="[[~15]]#links">Chapter 13 resources page</a>.</li>

</ul>