Screaming Mimes Blog

Last night Randy & I worked on mixing "Twister" - the big album opener and long-assumed single from the upcoming album. We knew this was an important one and had to be "right". First we added a little tamborine to the chorus, just to give the high end some more definition. From there we added in some quotes from an old government "Duck & Cover" video - remember the black and white footage of children crouching under their desks in the event of a nuclear crisis? Full of great quotes: "We must be ready for a new danger... it can smash buildings, break windows all over town" etc. GREAT stuff. This was mixed in with the siren effect and really added a great emotional texturee. From there I went back behind the mic with a box of widgets and Randy and I came up with "response" sound effects for the verses - almost like poetic folley work. Listening to the lyrics we came up with various dings, shrrrps, scratches, clangs... all WAY down in the mix but again another sonic element that will pass the listener by the first couple times.
From there we started balancing the instruments more and worked on the drums. After some experimentation we found a very nice, round reverb for the snare which really gave it some "gunshot" power. The moment where the song breaks down after the guitar solo and Randy's guitar carries the riff, the snare HITS - we were high-fiving and jumping all over the studio. Sounds very powerful. I've only lived with the mix for a day but this may be the best "sounding" thing we've ever recorded.
Now I really can't wait to get to work mixing the rest of the songs... woo-hoo!