Modern gypsy jazz albums with the best mix?

gypryurbano · September 2023

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/19063/modern-gypsy-jazz-albums-with-the-best-mix

postcards from gypsyland

plaidgadjo · September 2023

Hey Adrian!

I'm chasing this as well... I find most modern-era GJ albums to be a little heavy on reverb and treble, but all of our ears and tastes are different.

A couple of reference tracks I'm liking lately are:

"Quiero Ser Tu Sombra" by the Gustav Lundgren Trio - Nice and warm sound to me, although I find when listening on my studio monitors that I would prefer the mix a tad wider. It sounds like a nice - not too heavy - use of plate reverb on this one. https://youtu.be/h0uVAjObXYQ?si=x6Ahx8sWKSN_P3bm

"Pazzo" by Gaucho (really like this band) - Although it's a resonator guitar, I like the natural room sound of this song/album. The mix sounds nice to me and with a good width. https://youtu.be/FgCKk38LVtQ?si=wg7q0iXHTS2nlavn

One thing that I'm on the fence about with my latest project is whether to go with more of a 'blue note' plate reverb sound or a small room reverb (unfortunately, I record in a fairly small, dead space and need to use plugins for either).

If you haven't yet, I really recommend starting a "Reference Tracks" playlist is Spotify (or your app of choice) and listening to it on any speakers you can - it's amazing how many songs fall off of the list once I get in my car. Also, I'm trying to listen to a lot of familiar music on my studio monitors to "learn" them, which is difficult so far as they even make old Misfits albums sound good. ;)

Good luck and I look forward to hearing the end result!

Brandon

plaidgadjo · September 2023

Well... it looks like I was late to the party. I found your new album on Spotify yesterday and gave it a listen. Excellent! Along with the composition and playing, the mix is great and very well balanced (so much so, that I've added "Senseless Swing" to my reference tracks playlist. Great work, man - congrats!

Brandon