For Dave Mason - RIP.
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One of my favorites.
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Another in memory of Dave Mason - this one is all about the mix to do him justice/respect:
Low level listening is pretty smooth but as you increase the volume other sounds become much more prevalent such that the tune changes character due to our individual ear design and mental biases - weird but true . . .
Sounds good
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Big change of genre, with a little old time class just to see if I could pull it off . . .
Used a mix of brushes, bundled rods and light sticks on the drums this time, FYI.
I have been steadily improving the dynamics of the drums by removing the old dynamic curve/sensitivity settings used when I was using sticks that were too light for edrum pads and replacing them with properly tuned for these new Ziljian sticks designed for edrums.
In the process I have had to re-train my limbs’ muscle memory for each modified pad - takes time, practice and patience but worth it I think as evidenced by this track’s drumming response/outcome.
Recent discovery I thought I should share since I had recommended these inexpensive headphones:
They remove that ear/head crunching feel and open up the listening space such that the mix/sound is open and airy like it should sound - damn near good enough for mastering when applied to the MDR-7506’s.
Save for next time you need “something” to top off your order with a cheap item to get free shipping . . .
Years ago, I bought a set of monitors, nothing too fancy, just well-engineered monitors, 5 1/4 woofer, AMT tweeter. These are speakers that serve as a reference point, something I have gone back to many times when I need a sanity check. If I am building speakers, they need to be better than the reference point or I missed the mark. Could I add better components and make my reference monitors sound better, yes, but then they become another Ken creation, not a reference point. If you don’t have a set of headphones and a set of speakers to use as reference points i would encourage you to try it. It has helped me stop chasing the “next” thing and helped me appreciate the improvements I have made in my system since I have a verifiable reference, not just memories.
The MDR-7506 is a fine platform to mod but it might serve better as a known reference that others in the industry use. Like the Ns-10m monitors are a known reference.
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Excellent observations, Kenneth - we are on the same page.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts as a reference . . .
Best!
Steve.
Replaced by newer version down-thread . . .
One more for you to unwind your week on Sunday evening . . .
OK, after a LOT of experimenting for self-edification (and some recent minor scolding/outside provocation) I have attempted this night to Play/Record a good smooth laid-back drum take that makes an example mix of good midbass.
This is a mix that I have spent a lot of time upon figuring out how to get my drumming integrated with an existing mix while keeping the original percussion mix balanced with my own work.
Snare is the “Black Beauty” for those in the know of that sort of thing.
Reminder - I have adopted the Sony MDR-7506 headphones as my MASTERING target response because they sound good, are affordable and gets me something approximating a STANDARD listening platform for all willing consumers of this media.
Here we go . . .
I am pretty damn pleased with this mix.
Give it 3 loops before you bail . . . Keep experimenting kids - don’t get all wound-up-in what you “Know”.
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Just listening on my phone, it’s well balanced. Pretty good mix, I dig it
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Re-take-of the 
druming [do-over] for better syncopation/timing - mix hasn’t changed:
I deleted that last one as I decided the drumming wasn’t good enough over-all - too much playing not enough mixing. [got tired].
So, today I offer a sample of your FAVORITE type of music!!
EDM.
Everybody go, YAY!!!
. . . Just with me backing them up with the groove on this latest drum kit mix.
Give it a chance and really listen to the mix - so much detail in the percussion/KB’s and Bass guitar . . . and my simple driving drum kit mix . . .
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Complete redo with special attention to detail in soundstage mix:
Just moving the hi-hats over a little bit in the mix made the snare become more defined (Caused fewer freq cancellations).
And then I made the bass drum sound like an actual bass drum, too . . .
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Mix2 of that last song – Royal Scam.
I replaced Tom4, retuned Tom1, readjusted the decay times of Tom2 & 4, gave the drums a bit darker sound over-all and reduced the level of one crash cymbal.
This effort removed some objectional resonances/imbalances of the mix and made it cleaner/more detailed sounding to my ears after a day-off from audio stuff.
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More from Dave Mason’s band and my work on the drums and remix . . .
Drums are forward - but that’s what you guys like . . .
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. . . And, while I was in the mood this evening - this oldie but goodie for your enjoyment . . . from VH.
Complete redo of the above travesty, but it got me over the hump – MUCH better work.
I finally relaxed and quit trying so hard and replayed the drums and did a remix. (Intro drum/cymbal work – improved).
The original KBd’s are layered in 2 parts and out of sync with one another so, I had to find the one to follow that described the SWING/POCKET/Groove of the tune. [the higher treble one {left channel} is rushing the tempo slightly and very deceiving in it’s highly alluring to the attention-presence].
The SWING lags the apparent tempo . . . the bass line is difficult to discern from the bottom octaves delivered by the slower KBd work {right channel – which I am now following} - brilliant/creative/DIFFICULT timing mix!
Only one major FU on my part this time, but- Ahhhhhhh! . . . . love it when things come together, in numerous ways. 
Steev!
PS: For those with an imagination – IT feels a lot like being a cat falling backwards off of a 2nd story balcony through a few tree branches and trying to land on your feet – from a timing/drumming perspective – I try not to stop but rather recover gracefully from my mistakes in real time – and it changes the tune – sometimes in a good/different/interesting-way . . . Just keep going . . . the past is gone . . . there is only now . . . what are you going to do with it . . . while it gets captured?
“You got me captured; I’m under your spell”. [Opening lyric]
Drums sound good to me . . . how about you?
That’s a pretty good take! Nice work. The off time on the snare definitely conflicts in my brain from hearing the og so many times.
Love EVHs solo on that one.
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