Nirvana and mixing

When I use to think of the band Nirvana, I thought of grungy, trashy, garage rock. Not in a bad way, but they basically started the whole rugged grunge scene. Somehow I had a perception that because it was grunge, it was sonically shabby. In the last 6 months or so, while listening to them, no matter what song, I'm realizing that the mix, eq, and engineering of their records are some of the best in the rock world. It goes right along with my "template" of how to mix. Get the drums blaring, and in your face. Just like you're listening to the drummer in front of you in a room. Then bring up the lows of the bass to fill up every bit that It can without sounding stupid. Mix in some grind to it. Then tuck the vocals right under the drums so that every word is audible, but still not in front of the
Mix(this makes the listener turn the volume up, bringing up the drums and bass... Therefore they "feel" the song more). Last, the guitar. I like it sitting farthest back. I turn it up till it starts fighting the vocals. Then back it down, and maybe carve out some eq. Acoustic(if there is any, I like sitting low enough that I can hear the string and pick noise, but not the actually full chords. Also I almost always double any rhythm guitars. Anyway, listening to nirvana inspired me to drop some hints to any aspiring producers or mixers that may read this.
Later!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone