What are your favorite Steve Albini productions and why? Here's a link to the Steve Albini comparison playlist: open.spotify.com/playlist/5nC9TqDnTDB7xCkSwcaGld?si=1f5c273b56ba4407 ►🎚Mixing Breakthroughs: mixingbreakthroughs.com ►🎛Compression Breakthroughs: compressionbreakthroughs.com ►🎧 EQ Breakthroughs: EQBreakthroughs.com ►🔊Mastering Demystified: MasteringDemystified.com ►✅Become a channel member here: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
The Jesus Lizard GOAT. The first time I heard the album I couldn't get over how much it feels like you're there in the room with the band---and the level of emotion that comes across in those tracks. The snare and bass sounds are benchmarks for me. Similarly, Don Caballero's American Don. The utilisation of the soundstage in both width and depth in accordance with close and distant micing allows all the individual instruments the space to be heard and felt fully while at the same time creating a very cohesive overall picture. The 3-dimensional perspective is pretty amazing for such dense and complex music.
Man I love Steve Albini - just the guts to be different and do his own thing and not be preoccupied with how others feel about it is definitely something to strive for. The boxxy snare certainly isnt for everyone but man he does it so well!
Thing I notice most is these older records have a vibe and sound that’s more unique to each artist. Current records may sound technically better but they all sound so much the same. Is that because of the internet? Maybe because they all use the same drum samples and amp sims? Everyone is sharing and consuming the same techniques like “this is how it’s done correctly”. Would be great to hear your thoughts on this?
My sense is all of the above. And part of the consequence of the (continued) loudness wars is that in order to get a song sounding both of a competitive loudness AND have a sound quality that’s acceptable to the mainstream of that genre, there are only so many ways you can skin that cat. Notice how all popular genres have turned to using a high level of saturation for apparent loudness. Makes everything sound more similar and, to your point, have less of their own vibe. It’s definitely a vibe; just not unique, anymore 🤷🏽♂️
Great points tryna avoided that here in Seattle with Jack Endino and others. Was hoping to visit Chicago n visit/ record with Steve Albini ..:/ Riparadise
Captivating listening through these comparisons and analysis, brings up much to be pondered. What I extracted was that Steve’s mixes indeed capture an essence of purity with the bands energy that I generally preferred. Likewise, the other mixes captured a clarity and depth of field that I often preferred. It’s like raw soul vs ear candy. They’re both fantastic as long as you resonate with the source material. I found myself wanting to hear a merging of the approaches as well. I think one thing we can all take away from Steve, regardless if you like his material or not, is we need more people like him in the industry to shake things up. Awesome work Justin, I appreciate your time in presenting these insights!
To me Steve Albini mixes are way more interesting then Litts .. Steve was the guy why I turned to analog .. ( as much as i could 😀 ) but that guy approach to dynamic range is something what i admire , learn and practice Great video ! RIP mr Albini… 🙏🏻
I'm a huge PJ Harvey fan, and loved "Rid Of Me" when it came out (and I love it today). 30 years later, I agree that the vocal is a little buried, but the thing that grabbed me about that record was the drum sound (particularly on "Snake"). To really appreciate it, you have to remember how bludgeoning drums were in the 80s-- we had the Phil Collins/Steve Lillywhite approach, with the gated snare reverb, where drums had to sound like a fusillade of cannons. What Albini did was to restore the way drums feel when you're in the room with them. That loud ride cymbal that you pointed out-- I *loved* that. It sounded to me like being at a great club gig, where odd drum sounds poke out at different times, without that veneer of control that can take all the danger out of a record. Similarly, I once heard rough mixes of "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" (another all-time favorite album). They sounded professional, and all wrong. Playing them back-to-back with the final mix, I realized that the drums on that record were *cranked*, and it makes all the difference.
Great observations, and very relatable. I totally get how this would have been refreshing back then-the lack of processing on drums and the lack of control on things like cymbals. You just never heard drums sound like that unless you were at basic tracking sessions in the studio yourself. But today, when you can potentially hear drums that sound like those on Dry or Rid of Me or the like in any new recordists’ first session, it’s a little less special I suppose. There is something very immediate and personal and real life about the early PJ Harvey sound for sure. Thanks for sharing your take! -Justin
I like Steve Albini. I think his philosophy is to capture the sound and vibe of the band, and that’s what you get. In a way, he captures for posterity the moment that is the band performing the song.
MEMBER QUESTION: In continuing our recent discussion on hooks and rhythmic hooks, can we take another look at In Utero, not thru the lense of analyzing Albini’s productuon but instead thru the lense of Cobain’s writing? Some of these songs lend themselves inherently to a pop ear, but at the same time many tracks push the envelope without alienating the audience. Scentless Apprentice is a fantastic example of how the drums are so unique, you could have that groove in your head similar to how a melody could get stuck in your head. I would love to get your take on where the hooks lie in this album. I think this concept of hooks and rhythmic hooks is something myself and others still struggle to grasp. Any thoughts you have on this would be awesome :)
Great breakdown and comparison. Regarding PJ Harvey. I recently got into her. I knew of her for years but never delved. One of the things I love about her is her subject matter and the perspective she puts on things. Songs like dress, dry, rid of me-“I’ll make you lick my injuries”, Sheila na gig. Also I love the fact that she keeps trying new things. She has really branched out since the days of dry and rid of me.
Rid of Me, I remember (in the late 90s) a friend sent me a mix tape with it on there, and I turned my stereo up to be able to hear the vocals in the first part of the song. When the loud part kicked in I was blown away-literally :) Maybe that was the point. I rocked that PJ Harvey album a lot and never once thought about the production quality. It was all about the vibe and emotional impact, and the mix decisions never compromised that for me. Also, it’s worth considering that we used to listen to radio, albums and mix tapes (and later mix CDs). So if something wasn’t loud enough, you just turned it up. Especially with the advent of the loudness wars during that time, the level of songs varied widely. And it wasn’t like you could just click or voice command to the next track like you do with a playlist. In the early part of the 90s commercial rock had a wide variety of approaches to production and mixing. That seems to have changed as the millennium approaches, but those earlier hits still got radio play. So I think we used to have a much higher tolerance as listeners for dynamic and overall sonic variance in music. So when we listen back now to that older stuff we’re doing it through the lens of our contemporary aesthetic, and it can be very difficult to hear things the way people may have back then.
Love PJ, Harvey almost as much as the pixies. The drummer Rob Ellis is so underrated. His drumming on Mansize first drew me in. I love the attack on the symbols on Sheila Na Gig, used to cut through the speakers when you were waving your head about at the Pink Toothbrush....
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the newest King Krule album Space Heavy. The saxophones are mixed in a really interesting way. Honestly I love the production on his most recent two in general, but Space Heavy just hits different. Its mixed extremely dark but i never feel like the high frequency information is missing.
The best way to approach PJ Harvey is to consider her a singer-songwriter and storyteller. There’s certainly a parallel between her and Nick Cave, and not because they briefly dated back then, but because both their approach and vibe are to build atmospheres over time, building intensity, instead of “entertaining” and focusing on attention span. Down by the Water always reminded me of Red Right Hand for some reason.
This is such an amazing episode. Steve Albini’s engineering in the 90s had an indelible impact on my taste in recorded music. So now, as an engineer, I always jump at the opportunity to learn more about his craft. The comparisons being done by someone of your experience and skill, Justin, is highly educational and enjoyable. I think I’ve gained more practical insights about Albini’s aesthetic from a mixing perspective in this one episode than I have in all the other things I’ve read and watched combined. Thanks so much for this! Mixing breakthroughs took me from newbie to client-ready, and I continue to gleam SO much value from the content you share here. Thank you for all you contribute to our community and field 🙏🏽
I've always found with an Albini record, it's like his production is telling you to listen to the whole album and listen louder than you think you should. The snare coming in on Where is My Mind is like a shotgun blast if you've set your volume knob to where the quiet intro is loud enough to hear and I love that about it in the context of the album. It's like you need to set your volume based on the quietest parts of the album and let the loud parts hit you full force, rather than setting it for the loudest parts. Also, by everything being uncompressed and open it lets you feel like you're in the room with the band, which is something he always said was his goal. Each album is like a world unto itself. It definitely makes his stuff not quite work for singles or in isolation, but knowing his thoughts on the music industry, I doubt he cared about that. I always wonder how much of his approach to use in my own mixing because with modern ears they can almost sound unfinished, so when I've tried things, either me or my clients haven't liked it, but I respect his ability to pull it off so well.
I 100% believe that. What other room mics are there? There are some Albini recordings, like those for Shellac where I am hearing guitar room mics, but I don’t hear that as much on In Utero. Some of the In Utero guitars sound so close they sound almost like oddly high fidelity DIs (which I know they are not). Though there are sone exceptions.
I think that was the sound of aluminium guitars. There’s a UA-camr named Aaron Rash who dedicated a bunch of his videos to finding the exact gear used to get the In Utero guitar sound
@@SonicScoop Albini generally does two mics per guitar amp, sometimes capsules aligned, sometimes one far away iirc. He also likes to put a pair of omni mics on the floor of the live room to get a semi-circular polar pattern for each. Since people generally record with him because they want the live sound of the band to be captured, the room mics in the middle of the floor pick everything up and it helps to balance those with the close mics on drums and guitar cabs.
Litt's mixes are masterful. Applied just the right touches, tastefully, to make the tracks radio-ready. Added reverb (or delay), subtly, to vocals. Compressed things nicely, brightened things up here and there. Also, Cobain had recorded harmony vocals at another studio some weeks after finishing recording with Albini; these are a nice added touch that Albini's mix lacked. For the In Utero singles, Litt's contributions were totally necessary, and his mixes were superior to Albini's. However, the best track (and best-sounding track) on the album, Milk It, was mixed by Albini. Also, Dumb - which was never intended to be a single, but over the years has become a radio staple - was totally Albini's handiwork. Albini, a genius as an engineer, had very strong opnions regarding production and the way records should sound (and about almost everything else, incidentally). He was right almost all the time, and his brilliant ear guided him to a signature sound that is one of the best and has been widely imitated (of all the great producers/mix engineers, very few have crafted a sound so distinct, unique, and influential). But when you absolutely need a smash radio single, Litt is the fellow you want. Good decision that has stood the test of time.
The "reverb throw" on All Apologies is actually in Albini's mix as well. It was a room mic - set to activate on loud parts in the way Bowie famously used this technique on Heroes.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I thought the throw sounded like that kind of room mic effect. I'll have to listen back, but I recall it sounding even more pronounced in Litt's than in Albini's possibly due to the additional dynamic range control happening at the vocal bus level.
A good place to find tracks mixed by albini next to others is in Ty Segall's discography. Imo its some of his finest work. Tracks like Fanny Dog really shine next to some of the stuff Ty did on that album like Dispoiler of Cadaver
The biggest difference in the "Heart-Shaped Box" remix is the backing vocals and the guitar solo. The tone of the guitar solo is crazy on the original mix compared to the radio version.
Albini said he developed a huge aversion to "over production" when, in the 80's, he saw a lot of local bands in his scene lose their edge after going to a "professional studio". So he in turn did the exact opposite. He rarely did overdubs, only used effects when absolutely needed, went really bare bones in his mix approach and and rarely gave his opinion if he was not asked to. He believed that his job was not to make the band sound "good", but rather to make them sound how they "actually sound". In fact, he often said it was very presumptuous of him to assume that he knows best when it comes to deciding a sound/aesthetic of the bands he works with, so he always deferred everything to the band (sometimes to a fault like in PJ Harvey's case). Someone even asked him in an AMA "what if the band is shitty?" to which he responded "well, then they're gonna end up with a shitty record" hahaha. That being said, his work from the 2000's onwards is way more consistent because a) most bands that went to record with him already knew what he was like, so they went better prepared, and b) he changed his positions a bit and allowed himself to be more hands on if he was asked to
To me the mixes def have a vibe, but they kinda sound «unmixed» in a way. Seems to be much more focus on the band than the singer also. Is there one takeaway from this maybe that the songs are always more important than the mix?
Volume variance only became an issue fairly recently (in the scale of music history) because of the loudness war. Check out The Downward Spiral album, there are crazy volume drops where you almost wonder if the song stopped. There was plenty of that before the 00’s.
Clicking on a video about something you dislike is like _choosing_ to go to a restaurant that you know has the kind of food you absolutely hate. "I hate bikes, therefore I shall now spend time clicking on videos about bikes and commenting how I am _sooooo_ not a fan of them, because I am eight years old."
@@slofty Sometimes you want to find out why it touches so many others but not yourself. How many times have I tried in vain to find access to Frank Zappa?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the newest King Krule album Space Heavy. The saxophones are mixed in a really interesting way. Honestly I love the production on his most recent two in general, but Space Heavy just hits different. Its mixed extremely dark but i never feel like the high frequency information is missing.
What are your favorite Steve Albini productions and why?
Here's a link to the Steve Albini comparison playlist: open.spotify.com/playlist/5nC9TqDnTDB7xCkSwcaGld?si=1f5c273b56ba4407
►🎚Mixing Breakthroughs: mixingbreakthroughs.com
►🎛Compression Breakthroughs: compressionbreakthroughs.com
►🎧 EQ Breakthroughs: EQBreakthroughs.com
►🔊Mastering Demystified: MasteringDemystified.com
►✅Become a channel member here: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
The Jesus Lizard GOAT. The first time I heard the album I couldn't get over how much it feels like you're there in the room with the band---and the level of emotion that comes across in those tracks. The snare and bass sounds are benchmarks for me.
Similarly, Don Caballero's American Don. The utilisation of the soundstage in both width and depth in accordance with close and distant micing allows all the individual instruments the space to be heard and felt fully while at the same time creating a very cohesive overall picture. The 3-dimensional perspective is pretty amazing for such dense and complex music.
Man I love Steve Albini - just the guts to be different and do his own thing and not be preoccupied with how others feel about it is definitely something to strive for. The boxxy snare certainly isnt for everyone but man he does it so well!
Thing I notice most is these older records have a vibe and sound that’s more unique to each artist. Current records may sound technically better but they all sound so much the same. Is that because of the internet? Maybe because they all use the same drum samples and amp sims? Everyone is sharing and consuming the same techniques like “this is how it’s done correctly”. Would be great to hear your thoughts on this?
My sense is all of the above. And part of the consequence of the (continued) loudness wars is that in order to get a song sounding both of a competitive loudness AND have a sound quality that’s acceptable to the mainstream of that genre, there are only so many ways you can skin that cat.
Notice how all popular genres have turned to using a high level of saturation for apparent loudness. Makes everything sound more similar and, to your point, have less of their own vibe. It’s definitely a vibe; just not unique, anymore 🤷🏽♂️
Yes! The loudness Wars is also a huge part of this. I totally see your point.
Great points tryna avoided that here in Seattle with Jack Endino and others. Was hoping to visit Chicago n visit/ record with Steve Albini ..:/ Riparadise
Answering this question would require I write an article-length response to the question. :-)
Maybe I'll do an episode on this idea some time!
-Justin
@@SonicScoop NICE! 👍🏻
This series are pure gold! Thanks a lot Justin!
Great to hear!
Captivating listening through these comparisons and analysis, brings up much to be pondered. What I extracted was that Steve’s mixes indeed capture an essence of purity with the bands energy that I generally preferred. Likewise, the other mixes captured a clarity and depth of field that I often preferred. It’s like raw soul vs ear candy. They’re both fantastic as long as you resonate with the source material. I found myself wanting to hear a merging of the approaches as well. I think one thing we can all take away from Steve, regardless if you like his material or not, is we need more people like him in the industry to shake things up. Awesome work Justin, I appreciate your time in presenting these insights!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it Mason!
-Justin
I LOVE this series you're doing Justin. The Toxic and Tame Impala episodes still have me experimenting. Keep it up!
Awesome to hear! Thanks for tuning in.
-Justin
This series is phenomenal. I will watch every episode of this you make. So well thought out with AB comparisons
So awesome to hear, Nick! Glad to have you tuning in.
-Justin
Wow that down by the water song was insanely cool, never heard it before, thanks!
To me Steve Albini mixes are way more interesting then Litts
.. Steve was the guy why I turned to analog .. ( as much as i could 😀 ) but that guy approach to dynamic range is something what i admire , learn and practice
Great video !
RIP mr Albini… 🙏🏻
I'm a huge PJ Harvey fan, and loved "Rid Of Me" when it came out (and I love it today). 30 years later, I agree that the vocal is a little buried, but the thing that grabbed me about that record was the drum sound (particularly on "Snake"). To really appreciate it, you have to remember how bludgeoning drums were in the 80s-- we had the Phil Collins/Steve Lillywhite approach, with the gated snare reverb, where drums had to sound like a fusillade of cannons. What Albini did was to restore the way drums feel when you're in the room with them. That loud ride cymbal that you pointed out-- I *loved* that. It sounded to me like being at a great club gig, where odd drum sounds poke out at different times, without that veneer of control that can take all the danger out of a record.
Similarly, I once heard rough mixes of "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" (another all-time favorite album). They sounded professional, and all wrong. Playing them back-to-back with the final mix, I realized that the drums on that record were *cranked*, and it makes all the difference.
💯 I can listen to an Albini record today and still sounds the way that the live music FELT back then.
Great observations, and very relatable.
I totally get how this would have been refreshing back then-the lack of processing on drums and the lack of control on things like cymbals.
You just never heard drums sound like that unless you were at basic tracking sessions in the studio yourself.
But today, when you can potentially hear drums that sound like those on Dry or Rid of Me or the like in any new recordists’ first session, it’s a little less special I suppose.
There is something very immediate and personal and real life about the early PJ Harvey sound for sure.
Thanks for sharing your take!
-Justin
Listening to the Pixies and getting paid for it.... Man, it's exactly the job I wanted to do when I was a kid in school. 🤘
Whenever I find myself starting to complain, I try to remind myself of exactly that! 😆
I like Steve Albini. I think his philosophy is to capture the sound and vibe of the band, and that’s what you get. In a way, he captures for posterity the moment that is the band performing the song.
Can you please do an analysis of Bruce Swediens approach?
wonderful
I'll definitely consider it, thanks!
-Justin
👍
MEMBER QUESTION: In continuing our recent discussion on hooks and rhythmic hooks, can we take another look at In Utero, not thru the lense of analyzing Albini’s productuon but instead thru the lense of Cobain’s writing? Some of these songs lend themselves inherently to a pop ear, but at the same time many tracks push the envelope without alienating the audience. Scentless Apprentice is a fantastic example of how the drums are so unique, you could have that groove in your head similar to how a melody could get stuck in your head. I would love to get your take on where the hooks lie in this album. I think this concept of hooks and rhythmic hooks is something myself and others still struggle to grasp. Any thoughts you have on this would be awesome :)
Maybe we could look at this in the next Q&A.
Great breakdown and comparison. Regarding PJ Harvey. I recently got into her. I knew of her for years but never delved. One of the things I love about her is her subject matter and the perspective she puts on things. Songs like dress, dry, rid of me-“I’ll make you lick my injuries”, Sheila na gig. Also I love the fact that she keeps trying new things. She has really branched out since the days of dry and rid of me.
Rid of Me, I remember (in the late 90s) a friend sent me a mix tape with it on there, and I turned my stereo up to be able to hear the vocals in the first part of the song. When the loud part kicked in I was blown away-literally :) Maybe that was the point. I rocked that PJ Harvey album a lot and never once thought about the production quality. It was all about the vibe and emotional impact, and the mix decisions never compromised that for me. Also, it’s worth considering that we used to listen to radio, albums and mix tapes (and later mix CDs). So if something wasn’t loud enough, you just turned it up. Especially with the advent of the loudness wars during that time, the level of songs varied widely. And it wasn’t like you could just click or voice command to the next track like you do with a playlist. In the early part of the 90s commercial rock had a wide variety of approaches to production and mixing. That seems to have changed as the millennium approaches, but those earlier hits still got radio play. So I think we used to have a much higher tolerance as listeners for dynamic and overall sonic variance in music. So when we listen back now to that older stuff we’re doing it through the lens of our contemporary aesthetic, and it can be very difficult to hear things the way people may have back then.
Good insights!
Love PJ, Harvey almost as much as the pixies. The drummer Rob Ellis is so underrated. His drumming on Mansize first drew me in. I love the attack on the symbols on Sheila Na Gig, used to cut through the speakers when you were waving your head about at the Pink Toothbrush....
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the newest King Krule album Space Heavy. The saxophones are mixed in a really interesting way. Honestly I love the production on his most recent two in general, but Space Heavy just hits different. Its mixed extremely dark but i never feel like the high frequency information is missing.
The best way to approach PJ Harvey is to consider her a singer-songwriter and storyteller. There’s certainly a parallel between her and Nick Cave, and not because they briefly dated back then, but because both their approach and vibe are to build atmospheres over time, building intensity, instead of “entertaining” and focusing on attention span.
Down by the Water always reminded me of Red Right Hand for some reason.
This is such an amazing episode. Steve Albini’s engineering in the 90s had an indelible impact on my taste in recorded music. So now, as an engineer, I always jump at the opportunity to learn more about his craft.
The comparisons being done by someone of your experience and skill, Justin, is highly educational and enjoyable. I think I’ve gained more practical insights about Albini’s aesthetic from a mixing perspective in this one episode than I have in all the other things I’ve read and watched combined. Thanks so much for this!
Mixing breakthroughs took me from newbie to client-ready, and I continue to gleam SO much value from the content you share here. Thank you for all you contribute to our community and field 🙏🏽
So awesome to hear, and so glad to be helpful! Thanks so much for tuning in.
-Justin
STEVE!!!
I've always found with an Albini record, it's like his production is telling you to listen to the whole album and listen louder than you think you should. The snare coming in on Where is My Mind is like a shotgun blast if you've set your volume knob to where the quiet intro is loud enough to hear and I love that about it in the context of the album. It's like you need to set your volume based on the quietest parts of the album and let the loud parts hit you full force, rather than setting it for the loudest parts. Also, by everything being uncompressed and open it lets you feel like you're in the room with the band, which is something he always said was his goal. Each album is like a world unto itself.
It definitely makes his stuff not quite work for singles or in isolation, but knowing his thoughts on the music industry, I doubt he cared about that.
I always wonder how much of his approach to use in my own mixing because with modern ears they can almost sound unfinished, so when I've tried things, either me or my clients haven't liked it, but I respect his ability to pull it off so well.
Man the pixies are amazing way ahead of the curve ..
if you listen to the multitracks of in utero, there is a room mic for all the vocals
I 100% believe that.
What other room mics are there?
There are some Albini recordings, like those for Shellac where I am hearing guitar room mics, but I don’t hear that as much on In Utero.
Some of the In Utero guitars sound so close they sound almost like oddly high fidelity DIs (which I know they are not). Though there are sone exceptions.
I think that was the sound of aluminium guitars. There’s a UA-camr named Aaron Rash who dedicated a bunch of his videos to finding the exact gear used to get the In Utero guitar sound
@@SonicScoop Albini generally does two mics per guitar amp, sometimes capsules aligned, sometimes one far away iirc. He also likes to put a pair of omni mics on the floor of the live room to get a semi-circular polar pattern for each. Since people generally record with him because they want the live sound of the band to be captured, the room mics in the middle of the floor pick everything up and it helps to balance those with the close mics on drums and guitar cabs.
Litt's mixes are masterful. Applied just the right touches, tastefully, to make the tracks radio-ready. Added reverb (or delay), subtly, to vocals. Compressed things nicely, brightened things up here and there. Also, Cobain had recorded harmony vocals at another studio some weeks after finishing recording with Albini; these are a nice added touch that Albini's mix lacked.
For the In Utero singles, Litt's contributions were totally necessary, and his mixes were superior to Albini's. However, the best track (and best-sounding track) on the album, Milk It, was mixed by Albini. Also, Dumb - which was never intended to be a single, but over the years has become a radio staple - was totally Albini's handiwork.
Albini, a genius as an engineer, had very strong opnions regarding production and the way records should sound (and about almost everything else, incidentally). He was right almost all the time, and his brilliant ear guided him to a signature sound that is one of the best and has been widely imitated (of all the great producers/mix engineers, very few have crafted a sound so distinct, unique, and influential). But when you absolutely need a smash radio single, Litt is the fellow you want. Good decision that has stood the test of time.
The "reverb throw" on All Apologies is actually in Albini's mix as well. It was a room mic - set to activate on loud parts in the way Bowie famously used this technique on Heroes.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I thought the throw sounded like that kind of room mic effect. I'll have to listen back, but I recall it sounding even more pronounced in Litt's than in Albini's possibly due to the additional dynamic range control happening at the vocal bus level.
A good place to find tracks mixed by albini next to others is in Ty Segall's discography. Imo its some of his finest work. Tracks like Fanny Dog really shine next to some of the stuff Ty did on that album like Dispoiler of Cadaver
Steve I believe wanted the band sound like the band , as opposed as other mixers prioritized the song.
To me, it sounds like in Heart shaped Box, Albini plays with the vocal pan during the chorus?
The biggest difference in the "Heart-Shaped Box" remix is the backing vocals and the guitar solo. The tone of the guitar solo is crazy on the original mix compared to the radio version.
Albini said he developed a huge aversion to "over production" when, in the 80's, he saw a lot of local bands in his scene lose their edge after going to a "professional studio". So he in turn did the exact opposite. He rarely did overdubs, only used effects when absolutely needed, went really bare bones in his mix approach and and rarely gave his opinion if he was not asked to.
He believed that his job was not to make the band sound "good", but rather to make them sound how they "actually sound". In fact, he often said it was very presumptuous of him to assume that he knows best when it comes to deciding a sound/aesthetic of the bands he works with, so he always deferred everything to the band (sometimes to a fault like in PJ Harvey's case).
Someone even asked him in an AMA "what if the band is shitty?" to which he responded "well, then they're gonna end up with a shitty record" hahaha.
That being said, his work from the 2000's onwards is way more consistent because a) most bands that went to record with him already knew what he was like, so they went better prepared, and b) he changed his positions a bit and allowed himself to be more hands on if he was asked to
I def can see the charm but to my more modern acclimated ears I didn't find myself vibing to the albini mixes as much as the others
A big part of it for me is the vocals being so quiet and uncompressed
@@Irescentand panned so much all the timr! Haha a bit unusual
To me the mixes def have a vibe, but they kinda sound «unmixed» in a way. Seems to be much more focus on the band than the singer also. Is there one takeaway from this maybe that the songs are always more important than the mix?
Please make fab Dupont mixing Comparison
I hadn't thought of doing one for Fab! I'll add him to the list of options, thanks.
-Justin
Albini mix is good but too much volume variance from verse to chorus. You don't want to be reaching for the volume knob while listening.
Volume variance only became an issue fairly recently (in the scale of music history) because of the loudness war. Check out The Downward Spiral album, there are crazy volume drops where you almost wonder if the song stopped. There was plenty of that before the 00’s.
@@HerrNox I love that album
I'm really not a fan of his sound, sure respect his work though. I liked Butch Vig's work with Nirvana more.
Not an Albini fan
Clicking on a video about something you dislike is like _choosing_ to go to a restaurant that you know has the kind of food you absolutely hate.
"I hate bikes, therefore I shall now spend time clicking on videos about bikes and commenting how I am _sooooo_ not a fan of them, because I am eight years old."
@@slofty Sometimes you want to find out why it touches so many others but not yourself. How many times have I tried in vain to find access to Frank Zappa?
@@cucumberforest Fair point.
Ok
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the newest King Krule album Space Heavy. The saxophones are mixed in a really interesting way. Honestly I love the production on his most recent two in general, but Space Heavy just hits different. Its mixed extremely dark but i never feel like the high frequency information is missing.