The Importance of Good Mixing / Production

Nitefly

Nitefly

Nitefly

Man of Honour
Joined
24 Sep 2005
Posts
37,354
... is very well demonstrated by this version of Nirvana's most well known song. This is the original mix which was rejected... but it's the same recording as the version that made the album:


:eek:
 
I don't fully understand what you're getting at.
'They' (Record Company!!) rejected the first mix, tried a few more and then went back to the first?
 
Listen to the International and US editions of Come On Over by Shania Twain. Very different albums each tailored to their target markets. Biggest selling album by a female artist. Value of music production right there.

And yes, I'm deadly serious.
 
Sounds a bit 'grimier' than the original mix. I wouldn't expect any professional artist or recording company to be entirely satisfied with a first mix tbh.

EDIT - from about 2'40 it sounds too cluttered, glad it was rejected now.
 
Dimple said:
I don't fully understand what you're getting at.
'They' (Record Company!!) rejected the first mix, tried a few more and then went back to the first?
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My point was that it's the same recording as the version we all know, but it's a different mix and it sounds pretty bad in comparison, just a bit flat on the chorus, the guitars feel clumsy.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Listen to the International and US editions of Come On Over by Shania Twain. Very different albums each tailored to their target markets. Biggest selling album by a female artist. Value of music production right there.

And yes, I'm deadly serious.
Click to expand...

Well it was Mutt Lange and the likes of AC/DC, Bryan Adams and Def Leppard would wait years for him to become available.
 
** Slightly OT **
Wasn't/Isn't Butch Vig in Garbage?
** /Slightly OT **

Again, only laptop speakers here, but the mix in the OP sounds much clearer and crisper (to my ears anyway) than the released version. That version does sound murkier, dirtier and I guess 'grungier' than this one, which I guess is the point!

Agree very much that production can turn proverbial lemons into lemonade but can also do the opposite too. As good as the Stone Roses were, I struggle to see how John Leckie is so revered for producing their eponymous debut album; to me it sounds compressed, scratchy and poor!

On the other hand, you've got producers that are rightly revered such as Phil Spector and more recently Mike Hedges (who did Everything Must Go by the Manics and Yes by McAlmont and Butler amongst others) and Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, Kasabian, Snow Patrol) who can make some truly stunning soundscapes.
 
JonnyT said:
Yes by McAlmont and Butler
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PERFECTION.

There's also the tale of Lee Mathers who was the lead man and songwriter of The LA's and I think their debut album is one of the greatest of all time.
Lee thought it was that badly mixed & produced that he left the music industry for many years until the other year when he did a short set at Glastonbury (!).
 
I can't tell any difference other than what could well be put down to it simply being a Youtube video. Besides, it's Nirvana. There's no such thing as too grunge ;)
 
PermaBanned said:
I can't tell any difference other than what could well be put down to it simply being a Youtube video. Besides, it's Nirvana. There's no such thing as too grunge ;)
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You honestly can't tell a difference? There's a hooooge difference to my ears (well, it's clearly the same song, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as powerful).
 
Dimple said:
Well it was Mutt Lange and the likes of AC/DC, Bryan Adams and Def Leppard would wait years for him to become available.
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And you can see why. Well produced music is a tiny fraction of the total that's churned out each year. Those few are so pleasing to the ears that it makes everything else sound terrible in comparison, to the point that it's difficult to listen to the garbage any more.

Even well produced tracks from the 70's sound better than much of what is released today.
 
The difference is subtle but it can make a difference. This original version sounds too muddled. The guitar is too loud at the start whereas they really needed that killer drum run to get the song started (Drummers opinion :p) :)
 
Alphane said:
Butch Vig was the producer on Nevermind, sounds like an unmastered copy of the album version to me
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Hey may have been the producer, but Vig mixed a copy of the album and nobody liked it, i don't even think Nivrana liked it, then they got Andy Wallace in to mix it.

A good example of mixing is the Album In Utero. It was all recorded and mixed one way, the label didn't like it, but Cobain went nuts. Eventually they remixed Heart Shaped Box and All Apologies cos they would be the singles, and you can tell they don't fit in with the rest of the album.
 
It's been well documented that Nevermind is extremely overproduced. I've heard this version of the song before (on a decent sound system, not my crappy laptop speakers which I just heard it on) and it really is a great deal better. Much clearer, crisper, louder and nastier. I actually prefer it a whole lot.
 
I definitely prefer the version that was finally released. This version may be "clearer" in your opinion, but I feel it's too crowded. It's as if all sounds are trying to be loudest. It would never have become as popular if they released it as the hi hat and the guitar in the album version are a much easier listen, and have a steady continuous rhythm where it sticks in your mind.
 
I saw a program on bbc one night where Butch Vig was demonstrating (on flying faders) the mixing done on Nevermind. The multitracking was so extreme that they can't have got nowhere near it live.
 
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