I attempted to repair the seeming drift in timing of the piano solo by using a different piano verse (verse 2, the first uptempo one) and rather than trying to match it to the breakdown drum performance, I kept it mixed with the drums of verse 2, which Freddie was using to keep his own time.
So, using the stems, I mixed the Kit, Kick, Snare, Piano and Bass for the entire song, isolated the portion I needed and upped the speed by 0.470 to match the speed of the breakdown (so it didn't appear to suddenly slow down again). I then inserted it into my mix, replacing the earlier piano solo that seemed to be off-time.
I guess after working on it so much it's easy to lose objectivity. I let it sit for a few days and when I came back, I was like, "Well, I can probably easily swap out that part with a new mix." I'm glad I did. I think the different piano verse sounds better anyway (not to knock Freddie, but he plays that verse tighter [and no bad notes] than the 3rd verse).
Still not sure why the original method didn't work. It ought to have. Well, live and learn.
Cheers!
Djdownsy · Member since
Right, it's done, it's a little shitty, but I think it's a good attempt for a first try. I've never mixed a song before.
Great job to every mix so far. Its a really hard song to do anything new with. It is obvious they didn't record it to a click so in the end you just have to patch things together using your best judgement.
The workmanship in the basic stems is very enjoyable to dissect also.
Best of luck to all. Its reassuring to know we're all suffering the same headaches!
rhyeking · Member since
In my opinion, their '80s material and beyond seems to lend it self better to remixing, extended mixes and single mixing. I think it has to do with the organic nature of their music in the '70s, that basic formula of piano, guitar, bass, drums and vocals, which was the back bone of their sound at that point, was utilized so tightly that taking it apart and putting it back together in a different way was a lot harder.
The introduction of synths, electronic drums and such seemed to blow the remix door wide open. Suddenly cutting, pasting, rearranging and extending would not cause the whole thing to fall apart; it retained it structure better.
Maybe. Just my opinion.
I'm diggin' a lot of the ideas I'm hearing in other people's mixes as well. I'm like, "I never would have thought to do that! Neat." I played to my strengths and what I thought I could create well instead of experimenting too much. My basic idea for my mix was that I wanted it to sound as if the band had performed it this way originally and that the version we all knew was the single edit, like the difference between the album and single version of "Fat Bottomed Girls." So I set about expanding on what was there.
Anyway, great showing so far from everyone.
cream · Member since
well my mix is probably buggered before its even finished because I used a very short drum pattern from another Queen track in the middle of it.
Ho hum
rhyeking · Member since
Is there no way to work around it, Cream?
It sucks to have limitations, but figuring out clever solutions can create some effective results.
Or, you may just have to let the idea go is it doesn't work, or in this case doesn't qualify.
rhyeking · Member since
(duplicate post for some reason :-)
cream · Member since
there may be ways round it but the overall product would suffer.
its obviously not going to be a winning entry so i might just fire it in there anyway. it is subtle and short use of drum patterns, nothing too 'in your face'
This was fun to do. And now I can listen to what everyone else has done without feeling any influence. Best of luck to all.
Cheers...
nplmdthfan · Member since
[b]HA!![/b] I listened to the 4 previous submissions linked here, and they're all really cool. It's funny how some of us focused on the same elements.
Great job everyone. Looking forward to hearing more re-mixes.
Cheers...
Lord Fickle · Member since
I think some similarities are inevitable. Mine is fucked. It got too loud and started to sound distorted, so I'm going to have to go back several stages and hopefully recreate it. :(
rhyeking · Member since
Yeah, this particular song is probably going to lend itself to many similarities between mixes, but so far I'm impressed by the different directions.
Nplmdthfan, I like the drums and processing on yours.
nplmdthfan · Member since
Thanks Rhyeking, much appreciated. I tried to take great care with my version, but after posting it I've heard an error. Might be fun to see if anyone finds it.
Is there a way to listen to the entries before 14 Deçembre??
