As I stated at the end of my last update, my final goals to finish my sound study were to improve the mix across the whole track, focusing in particular on the sections with field recordings, vocals, and bass.
The first recording I edited was of the escalator noise, that plays alongside my vocals in 2 parts of the track. Due to the busyness of the recording environment, the recording had noise from all frequencies, which led to it obstructing the vocals and muddying the bass. During week 8’s workshop focusing on mixing, I learnt the technique of duplicating the same audio track with separate EQ filters to create layers that allow one to sculpt the sound into specific frequencies. Using this technique on my field recording, I used a high pass from 1k-10k hz on one layer to isolate the high-end ‘scratching noise’ and a filter in the mid range from 145-1k hz on the other layer to preserve some of the fuzz in that frequency range. This technique allowed my vocals to shine through in the mid-high range, and my bass and kick to have needed space in the lower mid range. This led to my vocal sections becoming clearer, and allowed its reverb and delay effects to crate the desired atmosphere.
Secondly, I wanted to focus on reducing the harshness of both the drum breaks and the arpeggiator synth. I achieved this primarily through the use of automation- which I had already used a lot within the track- however this time focusing on dipping the volume for longer sections where side-chaining wasn’t sufficient. I found this effective as, again, it gave my vocals prevalence- particularly near the end of the track. I also decided to switch the synthesiser used for the arp to a slightly less harsh combination of a square and sine wave. This, alongside some light compression, gave my track the desired sound and allowed the vocals to become a primary focus rather than being forced to the background, developing the emotional aspect of place in those segments. Listening through studio headphones, I was happy with the mix at this stage- however when played through laptop speakers I noticed that the bass lacked prevalence, and on EarPods the low end was muddying my vocals. To alleviate this problem, I added a small EQ boost to the mid range of the bass to allow its harmonics to shine through on less bass heavy speakers. I also introduced a vocal side-chain to the bass to bring them some space on EarPods with exaggerated low end.
At this stage I was happy with the mix, and I felt that the spatial processing and mixing techniques I learnt in weeks 7 and 8 helped to greatly improve the quality of the track, and allowed my personal experience of London to be properly conveyed through the sound study.