Thanks for all the kind words, guys!
@Colnel Claypoo: My motivation was the stuff I listened to as a kid... that & the desire to do the best job possible.
@Burny: Not going anywhere near that.
@Declan: That's the song, but that Youtube mix is most certainly not mine. Drums, guitars, harmonies are all mixed quite differently.
@Brett: This is the question I wanted someone to ask.... actual "engineering" stuff.
Here's the rundown: The tracks were pretty fucking spectacular. In particular, the drums. I don't think I've ever come across a set of tracks with better played drums. Not "technical drumming" by any stretch of the imagination, just a good, solid beat with hyper-consistent hits. This guy was rock-fucking-solid. No sample replacement needed, it would be an insult to the drummer's ability.
I'n not sure who played drums on this track, but given the beat, and attack on the snare, I'm leaning towards Simon Wright. I could be completely off base, but it sure reminds me of the snare on "You shook me all night long" or Dio's "Push." If I'm wrong, I apologize to whoever the player is. You sir, whoever you are, are the textbook example of how to hit drums in the studio. We need more guys like you.
Can't say I was a fan of the guitar sound... the tracks were extremely well played, but I just didn't dig the tone, there was something "fried" sounding that I just didn't like so yeah, went for the tried & true 5150 reamp, and got a very, very heavy sound.
Digging the dry tracks out of the Pro Tools session wasn't much fun & the cromdamned thing crashed about 4 times in one night. The whole experience was a good reminder of why I fucking despise Pro Tools. If it's the "industry standard" then it's no wonder the industry is in such trouble.
Also, it's always a good idea to consolidate your tracks for cross platform compatibility. (no Pro Tools required) Studio Fredman has some wonderful guides on how to export for mixing, and these should be the go-to ground rules. I had a project mixed there back in '09 and I've used their methods ever since. They just make sense.
http://www.studiofredman.com/enter.html
Anyway, once I got the tracks consolidated & out of Pro Tools I was able to mix in Saw. Once there Everything (pun intended) became much easier.
When I got around to vocals, I caught myself reaching for a pitch correction & nearly slapped myself. "This is Geoff FUCKING TATE" for crying out loud... the guy is one of the best vocalists on the planet. Geoff FUCKING TATE never used pitch correction on Mindcrime, or Empire, two spectacular records, why the fuck would I use it here? Really, with a singer like that, pitch correction is NOT NEEDED. EVER. Turn off the cromdamned pitch correction & let's hear the man SING.
I seriously believe that automatic pitch correction is the main reason modern music is so fucking boring. That & drum samples. When we start replacing human performance with simulations, something is lost. Sure, things might sound more polished & perfect, but human imperfection in a performance is where it's at. As Manfred Mann said, "But Mama, that's where the fun is."
That being said, I found that I got to mix in a way that I normally can't. All the cool stuff I've wanted to do over the years but can't because it's "too 80's" found their way into this mix. Gigantic shotgun-snare drum, crazy reverse reverbs, nice long reverb tails, big echos, yeah, it's all here. That's the Queensrcyhe I remember from the 80s. The Queensryche that made my hair stand on end.
