Interest has seemed somewhat limited here for this but with my client work done, and all the girls playing Warcraft in the lounge, I figured I'd take a quick run at a mix of the tracks. This is about 2 hours' work. I have recorded that into OBS and popped it on YouTube (currently Unlisted) to see if it survives without a copyright strike. I linked to the original Plugin Alliance post and to this post for context, in case anyone looks.
The Mix:
The image above shows the mix across my three screens (thankfully nothing went awol in this session)
The Approach: While I know many approach mixes with the target being how to get things to sound as exactly like {insert song/genre name} as possible according to the number of Tipz n Trix they have in their arsenal, I don't. My approach is simply to listen to the song and see what I feel the song wants to sound - the way it speaks to me. Some of these will be genre things, some simply how I feel the story needs to be told. I will be honest and say I have no idea what Boom Bap really is. It's all just Rap to me. It is possible that these tracks are already fairly tidied up. Or maybe not. I look at this only from what I have here in front of me.
Reverb: Once I have the tracks in functional Buses (already done) I decide where I will start and solo that section (or instrument) and work up what the reverb space seems like it needs to be for this. I already had that pair of spaces short/long so it was a case of balancing them up with the lead & backing vocals. While someone here tried to get up in my grille about how wrong this is, it is how I work and serves a deliberate purpose just as some people mix into compression/limiting to achieve their sound (not a thing I advise for beginners but if you know what you are doing and it works, none of my damn business), I mix into the reverb space/s.
Lead Vocals: I started with the vocals. Selig's DeEsser gets run on each track. In many ways I don't like deessing but a) I know I'm going to drive these vocals and b) I know people get bent real fast in groups when they hear sibilance. The lead I keep pretty simple to keep it present. A bit of Tube from Scream4 to rough it up and add bite. I then compress that to even out the tops and give it a bit more punch. A bit of EQ to keep it forward and on I go.
Backing Vocals: are basically similar but I obsess less on formal details and very much keep in mind how they support the lead/s. Echo is commonly used (in these cases all after the compressor) to help place backing parts behind and around the lead vocal. This gives them depth and space. It stops them from seeming glued to the lead part (esp when the same singer). I make sure every backing part has different echo times and tones to help them feel more full and unique. Whilst being sure they move as a "whole".
Vocal Buses: I wanted Lead and Backing vocals to have different interactions with the room space so leads and backings each have a Bus with more of the shorter and less of the longer reverb on the lead. Opposite on the backings which helps push them behind the leads and gives a feeling of length and fullness to them. Each Bus has an instance of Red Rock C1-L1 as I find it perfect in buses. The compression amount is minimal generally sub 1dB but that is enough to bring it all together. As advised in the first post I keep all reverb sends on the bus and not the track tso room is driven by the sound you hear and not the one pre-Bus as that can fail to connect well.
Rhythm: Vocals done I turn in this case to the rhythm section as melodic parts are rather incidental in this song. I feel a crushed multi-generational-Tape thing so put a Scream4 in Tape mode on the Bus first and push everything into it until it feels pretty "muted". I then added a C1-L1 with a fairly slow attack and release and a low ratio to get a nice vibe. Again, really low gain reduction. I then back off the Scream a bit as I have to allow for the Master Compression etc. lest it sound dull and lifeless.
Drum Tracks: Each Drum track is brought in to see what role it plays and how they balance as they push into the Bus together. There is a Big Kick that appears at the start of each ~16 Bars. I really overdo this to make it hammer the bus. It takes a few goes to get it to "play nicely". The sound in solo is not that nice, but is all about how it creates a drive and swamps the bus (a form of sidechaining without a side serving). The whole idea is simply that it feels OverLOUD at that point. I put a bit of secret sauce on the Shaker Loop as these things being loops can disappear once they become repetitive. It helps a bit - or not if you prefer these things to hang like an abandoned wig in the rain. Overall I want those drums to feel thick more than anything.
Bass: The bass part is similarly repetitive but does sound great. The issue is that there is plenty of bass so the track can play a better role melodically than in mindlessly muddling the 40-60Hz range. So I hit it with Scream4 in Fuzz mode to lift the overall profile a bit and get that punch & clank movement forward. Some EQ to get that though and lose the highs gets me where I want. It is important (to me) to get the drums and bass grooving so the balance into the bus compression is important. You know when it feels like magic.
Melodics: As mentioned earlier, this isn't a piano ballad so these sounds are more ornamentation and secondary-hook than central to the whole process. But they still need to feel important in the end. The organ I like enough as is so simply EQ to let it spear though. The Piano & Rhodes both get unique echo times/tones to place them in the depth of the room - like they're really behind the singer. Rhodes gets a bit of Tube to bring it up a bit as I like it a lot. The Hook Sample is a complete thing, complete with Bass and seems to be what the whole track was based on. I however want to really focus on the melodic part (clarinet, oboe whatever) so give it a bit of Overdrive to bring it into the dirtiness of the overall song feel and to slough off that bass. A bit of EQ and it is there.
sFx: There are a couple of sound effects. Glass is obvious and used like that big drum to mark sections. There is also a Taser sound that crackles in the last section (why I don't really know - maybe as the song seems to be about drugs?). Some EQ to bring each of those through (away from the highs to keep vox clear). Then to stop them from sitting static, I apply some movement to both.
After a potty break and to see how life is in The Realm Of The Virtual Unicorn and Killer Fairy Turtle, I am back to balance it up
Final Balance: Coming back to hear (a bit) fresh I do a final balance of the main Buses and even pop on the dreaded headphones to see how reverb sounds in them. That has me pull both reverbs back a bit. I love a reverby mix (decades of Goth and Glam Metal maybe - or maybe that is part of why I love those) but I know most find that a sin worse than killing kittens with a hammer. Still feels good back on the speakers so I am calling it (seeing I am not overnighting this as I should but I trust myself).
Master: Everything is pretty well controlled already with all that Screaming. A bit of M-Class Comp to provide a clampdown on the louder section is the ticket. I use my usual approach of threshold as low as it goes and ratio to kitten-killer. This sounds like poop but it is the groove I want to find with Attack & Release. Once I have that rollin' wid da homies the kittens are let out of the sack and the Comp merely tickles their heads in the loud bits. They love it, trust me. Scream Tape for sparkle, same with SaturationKnob (that has been on all along). A nip & tuck from QRange EQ. Checking final levels between the Selig Gain readouts and the Big Meter and I have my 12dB crest (it was there already) and the M-Class Limiter in over-easy mode with Soft Clipping to catch the strays and we are done.
I like the mix I have. It may not be the cliche for whatever Boom Bap is. It may not be what you would have done. But I think it has a nice warm vibe that makes the most of that Rap:
curate a pile of loops into a can and shake 'em about whilst toastin' 'bout summit only otha Rappers unnerstan'. I think I would respond well to this if I heard it on the ray-dee-i-oo a few times.
I'm now watching a Dio concert. "Sing me a song you're a singer..." You were Sir. That you were.
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