Mix Analysis: SATIN JACKETS - GELEE ROYALE

SATIN JACKETS – GELEE ROYALE

Stream:

Musicality:

In my past mix analysis’, I covered an overview of the main overall mix in terms of spectral, dynamics, stereo image and time domain. For this track, I’ll be using Ableton’s Multiband Dynamics tool to separate the frequency spectrum across 3 bands: Low, Mid and Highs. With this I’ll breakdown each major element (in each spectrum band) apparent in the track, how it is represented in the mix and how it could have been made. I'm aware instruments cover multiple bands, however separating where their core energy lies in terms of the frequency spectrum - makes it much easier to understand how a mix works.

LOWS (20Hz-120Hz)

KICK

Below is a spectrum image of the kick drum. In the beginning of the track it is pretty much isolated apart from a subtle pad synth underneath, so we can get a much more accurate image of it without seeing other elements in the analyser.

Its fundamental frequency lies around 45-50Hz which gives it a very deep and ‘chesty’ thump character. There’s a smooth downwards slope from the fundamental up to 200Hz providing some body to kick without becoming too ‘boxy’ or ‘boomy’, instead complimenting the sub frequencies with some presence.

The kick also has quite a present click at 2.5kHz and 4.2kHz. It’s not too sharp or ‘clicky’ as it blends into the bright percussion elements nicely in the main sections of the track. Since you can hear a tail being generated from the click, it sounds like it would be a single percussive hit layered onto the main kick layer - possibly a knock or the transient of a unique clap sample.

BASS

The bass instrument is a classic Moog style saw synth with added resonance to give it that signature character found in the mid frequencies. Sylenth1 and Ableton’s Operator plugins can both replicate this sound very accurately (sylenth in particular).

It’s fundamental sits at 55Hz, where the first note in the bassline is an A. It is just slightly above the fundamentals of the kick, with some EQ applied to allow the thump of the kick to cut through and glue together nicely. However, since most of the notes are off-beat, it makes it a lot easier to control the relationship of the kick and bass. Also because of this, there's no need to really sidechain the bass to the kick - the balance is very well constructed as is.

MIDS (120Hz-2.50kHz)

SYNTH ELEMENTS

The first noticeable synth in the track is the pad which is low-pass filtered and slowly evolves and gains all it’s mid and high frequency harmonics. As the filter is brought up, the cut-off of the synth is also brought up to build tension and flow throughout the structure of the track. When other elements are introduced, the pad becomes more mellow and falls behind the mix, gluing everything together.

The instrument is a bright and very airy brass synth, again can be replicated in Sylenths excellent brass presets where you can shape it dynamically to achieve the same effect in the song. It seems like Satin Jackets has duplicated this synth layer and adjusted the settings for the lead chords, as they both have the same brass tonality and ‘wah’ timbre.

The leads have the same effect where the cutoff, sustain and release times are automated to create natural builds and expression. Overall it’s shortened down to around 350ms, and the resonance is brought up to accentuate the chord stabs and timbre of the brass. Unlike the pad synth where it is very centred with a lot of it’s energy being mono, the lead chord stabs sound like the instrument was duplicated and then panned left & right about a quarter. To create the haas/wide stereo effect the left and right channels were most likely separated via a delay of around 12ms between them.

These leads are layered with an Auto-Panned subtle brass synth which doesn’t have any attack and acts as more of a pulse with a lot of resonance to provide the chords more groove and swing. They are also noticeable earlier in the track over the pad to give the pad element more stereo dimension and presence.

All three of these instruments have a considerable amount of side-chain compression, to give the track that swing and 'breathing' groove

HIGHS (2.50kHz-20kHz)

VOCAL SAMPLING

There’s a subtle vocal phrase which is sounding like it says ‘don’t stop the fight’. Throughout the track and much like the synth elements, it is being altered by effects and automation to create flow and give more life and interest to the song. Most of the energy heard is above 2.5kHz however it definitely sounds like a filter much like the one pictured below is being automated up and down to bring it in and out of the mix.

PERCUSSION

There’s a lot of really clever percussion elements within this track. Most energy is in the high frequencies adding a layer of sparkle and polish to the core elements of the song. Something I didn’t notice immediately until several listens through is what sounds like a sampled clock tick placed offbeat. This can only really be heard when the synth elements have a low cut-off, or there are no other forms of percussion present.

The core elements are a mixture of a 909 and some elements of an 808 drum kit. The 808 elements are essentially the rim hits signifying the end of the 8 bar loop of the chord progression. As the intro progresses, the rim hits are replaced with two very wide and high-passed 909 claps. As for the Haas effect utilised in this situation, it sounds like there are longer delay settings because it sounds like you can distinguish separate transients. However, on second thought I don’t believe this is the case, as a lot of 909 and house style claps have a lot of complex layering to create that sharp attack. So I think with this one it just happens to be a sample that has a lot of body in the transients.

For the main clap/snare which is audible in the chorus sections, it has a definite disco/80s snap to it. Most of the frequency content is above 2.5kHz making it very bright and present in the mix, yet very suitable for the genre.

The open hats present in the chorus' are a classic 909 house open hi-hat. Although it's a little bit harder to tell since it has been EQ'd to add a bright sparkle over the other hats, you can still recognise the subtle character given from that signature sample that has been used countless times in all forms of house music.

Another element noticeable in the last 3 quarters of the track where the bass sits on it's own in front of the pad synth, is a shaker at 3kHz and upwards which sits pretty far back in the mix. It's a nice change from the hats, which remains until the end of the track - giving the percussion even more presence and smoothness.

(Spectrum Analyzer of frequency content above 2.5kHz / Percussion & Vocal elements)

OVERALL DYNAMICS & OTHER COMMENTS:

Setting your computer's audio to mono, or using a tool in your DAW to achieve the same thing, is a great way to check the relationship between the front and back of your mix.

The lead brass chords sit right at the front of the mix, and when checked back in stereo and listening with headphones, they wrap right around your ears as the widest element in the mix. They still retain all their energy in mono as well which is great. Most of it's energy is in the mids and high-mids, with a cut to everything below 150Hz. High frequency content plays a lot nicer in terms of phase, so the way Satin Jackets has utilised it in a constructive way is excellent. When you make stuff wider, you lose information in the middle; so what they've done here is used the pad synth which is mostly mono, to fill that middle information - therefore creative a really full and present lead synth.