Mixing Catalina Rush

As I worked on each song I would dial in a rough mix which made mixing the album a bit easier. It's ultimately a pretty lengthy process though. Playback on several devices was key but I used one as my main source for deciding which mix was final. I spent the last week of July and right up until the release on August 10th working on the final mixes.

I used the following effects on individual channels:

Bittersweet

Blind Fold EQ 

B.O.D. 

Calf Reverb  LADSPA - I used this one mainly on the drums but it did find it's way on to a handful of other channels. 

Roth - AIR

For the Stereo Buss I applied the following on each track in the following order:

FerricTDS 

MIS Stereo Buss Compressor 

LoudMAX

Mixing can be quite intimidating but I'd encourage someone making music to jump in and play around before shipping your tracks off to be mixed by a professional. If you have any questions about my mixing process you can contact me via the contact form here on the site or you can e-mail me at CraigCohenMusic@gmail.com.  

Track 11 - Catalina Lord

 "Catalina Lord" was the first song for the project and was originally titled "Catalina Rush". Once I dialed in that heavy sound on the HaNon (inspired by Deep Purple's John Lord) and started to solidify the concept the title was changed. The track is pretty sparse with just the HaNon, bass and drums. I also have the Kee Bass low in the mix playing a redundant bass line. I planned to use the Kee Bass more on this project and hope to use it more in the future.

This track is really all about the organ solo for me and it was fun coming up with it. I used the guitar less for composing it than I did the rest of the solos on the album.

Track 10 - Catalina Promise (Reprise)

 "Catalina Promise (Reprise) was my first successful attempt at using strings in one of my songs. When working this song up I had some cello sounds that really weren't working. Thankfully I found Spitfire Audio LABS and my problem was solved. I look forward to utilizing strings in future projects. Also look for the violins taking over the melody from the piano in the second half.