[Linked Image from pwkimbrell.com]
VIDEO LINK: Take Flight by Patrick Kimbrell | Soundcloud Audio Link: https://on.soundcloud.com/fFoZTlRzMdAByU3OXW

Hi everyone! I originally posted this song back in September, but since then I’ve been learning how to use a mixing console. I decided to completely remix it, and I’m really happy with how it turned out now that I have a better understanding of mixing. I also picked up some new tricks in Band-in-a-Box — specifically how to trigger drum fills and switch between different drum patterns in the A/B sections. By regenerating the drum stems and experimenting with options like “Drum fill wanted for this bar” and “Allow drum fill for bar before this part marker,” the song now has a lot more dynamics and energy. If you use Band-in-a-Box, try out those drum options settings by right-clicking on the A/B section markers on the far left of your chord sheet.

The BIAB style that I used is _NEONROK.STY and I pasted the style memo below.

Memo: A heavy-hitting retro pop rock Style with two electric guitars, a 16th-note bass synth, RetroPop RealDrums, and a cutting lead synth. -Examples: Take On Me, Genre "Intensity" Score=80/100
_NEONROK.STY. Neon 80's Rock w/ Synths
All RealTracks. Quintet. Tempo=85 (70-105)
Instruments: Syn.Bass, El.Guitar, El.Guitar, Synth, Drums
RD: RETROPOP^08-a:Bass, LoudSnare , b:Bass, HardSnare :Ed (Great Oz) Clare
RT2578: Bass, Synth, RetroPop Ev16 085 , Ed (Great Oz) Clare
RT639: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm HardRockThrash Ev 085 , Darin Favorite
RT642: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm HardRockThrashHollow Ev 085 , Mike Durham
RT2324: Synth, Rhythm Rock80s Ev 120 , Miles Black

Once the backing track sounded the way I wanted, I exported all the individual instrument stems from Band-in-a-Box into my LUNA DAW. I panned the two rhythm guitars hard left and hard right, kept the drums and bass synth centered, and placed the synth just slightly off-center.

I added a reverb bus for the rhythm guitars and synth, but left the drums and bass dry to keep them tight. On the main mix bus, I used UAD’s A-Type Multiband Dynamic Enhancer (a Dolby emulation), along with some EQ and Softube’s Weiss DS5. I was really impressed with the DS5 — it brought out the clarity and punch of the instruments in a way I hadn’t heard before. I only had a 14-day demo, but it quickly became one of my favorite mastering plugins.

For the lead guitar, I loaded the Band-in-a-Box backing track into Gig Performer 5. Using its Streaming Audio Player, I was able to play the lead track live while GP handled all the effects switching in real time. After recording the lead take, I exported the audio into LUNA to blend it with the rest of the mix.

I recorded a video with my iPhone of my lead guitar audio take so you can watch me play the song if you want from the video link seen at the top of this thread post. Or, you can listen to the audio only using the Soundcloud link.

I hope to get to make some new songs to share with you now that I know a little bit more about what I'm doing with all of this music software. Take care and thanks for letting me share this remix again with you!