Heavy's Mixing/Production Discussion

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by BTorio, Feb 19, 2017.

  1. #1
    BTorio

    BTorio Well-Known Member

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    Since the other thread is exploding with the usual new-song war, I figured it would be cool to make a new thread dedicated to just talking about the song on a mixing/production level. What do you guys think of the mix and production? Let's try not to break out into "I'm so disappointed in the band" vs "let them do what they want" talk, I'm just interested in talking about technicalities.

    To me, it's definitely really polished, loud, in-your-face sounding. Definitely reminiscent of the stuff I hear blowing up the radio these days, and similar feeling to collab artists on the record like Kiiara and Blackbear. I'm not saying it's bad though. Maybe it's just the fact that the drums are real and there are some nice textures from the guitar, but it has a little bit of a rawness to it that makes it nice. It's also refreshing to hear something so polished and full-sounding compared to the garage-band sound of THP. My subwoofer is actually audible with this track haha. To me, the song kind of feels like vocals/percussion on top, and then a wall of synths/piano carrying the chords, with tons of detail buried in the back.

    To me one of the most standout moments is when Kiiara comes in. How do they achieve that sound anyways? Is it just one vocal take spread out to stereo? Multiple panned vocal takes? It's a kind of vocal mixing I hear a lot with female singers on songs like this these days.
     
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  2. #2
    mandylane

    mandylane Well-Known Member

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    the vocals are usaully spred left and right.

    also they use a high pass filter on the bass
     
  3. #3
    A Wretched King

    A Wretched King Foreword

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    Mike says the entire album is like this. Bummer IMO. For an album this soft and with actual singing (barely any rapping and no screaming) I wanted it to feel very stripped down without a lot of EQ'ing. Like The Little Things Give You Away, Roads Untraveled, My December, and In Between. The snippets in the preview videos even sounded better. Feels like Meteora production but with teenage pop Selena Gomez vocals, melodies and lyrics.
     
  4. #4
    Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

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    I had no problems with THP's production on most of the tracks, but I am currently more excited to hear LP's more finessed and polished side.
    I wasn't the biggest fan of the production on most of LT, but so far Heavy sounds like a huge step up in terms of production.
     
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  5. #5
    Deliveranze

    Deliveranze Well-Known Member

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    Heavy was very well produced to me and it's a step up from the last two records in that regard.
     
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  6. #6
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    I personally also think that "Heavy" could have benefited from a more raw, stripped-down production/instrumentation approach. I wouldn't call the production "Meteora"-esque at all, though, and I have no idea how you whipped that up :lol:
     
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  7. #7
    A Wretched King

    A Wretched King Foreword

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    im sure im not using the technically correct terms but both sound really "layered" to me. Boosted low's, "wide" sounding guitars (or synths) and vocals, etc. It's really buried sounding. Worked great with Meteora because it was a heavy record (their heaviest record they've done), but doesn't go well with "Heavy".
     
  8. #8
    Infinity

    Infinity *

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    I find the production to be topnotch, really. All the little sounds going on in the background are great. The sweeping sound during the first chorus is amazing and the way the real drums kick in is awesome!

    I hope the rest of the album has the same production value as Heavy.
     
  9. #9
    A Wretched King

    A Wretched King Foreword

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    But there's a difference between the sounds they make and how it's mixed. "Production" means the entire process. it's a term we use to describe the process. Mixing and mastering is what you do after you record the music. That's where I think OP was trying to get at. Also I'd say sweeping is a technique. Doesn't have much to do with how the overall track sounds. They're really just volume swells you either record or use an envelope filter on.
     
  10. #10
    Stu

    Stu Can't be outmatched or outdone

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    The production was really good on heavy. Better than on LT or THP
     
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  11. #11
    Infinity

    Infinity *

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    But they made the sounds I hear right? So thats production. Same for the sweeping. That was a choice by the band in te progress of making the song. Ofcourse everything will be affected by how it all will be mixed and mastered.
     
  12. #12
    BTorio

    BTorio Well-Known Member

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    I get what you're saying. To put it simply, I'd say Meteora is their most produced, tightest, polished record, and this is on par with that regard.
     
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  13. #13
    TheInterframe

    TheInterframe Well-Known Member

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    I think production wise, this is really tight, everything sits well, there's no real "jagged edges" so to speak. Listening to the instrumental, I do feel like the track could have benefited from more of the ambient guitar in the verses being mixed up higher and the synths dropped a bit lower (it'd probably resulted in a different reaction too). To me this track feels a step higher then LT. Personally I felt the synths on LT felt like a wall sometimes, this track has some space.

    The overall feeling of the track is still very LP, this song production wise could have easily fit on Living Things no problem. Vocals wise, while I do like Kiiara's vocals, if she'd been mixed a bit lower, I think Chester would have been more audible, which in my opinion would have made the song feel a bit more like an LP track, but that's just my take on it.
     

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