Waterfall and Birds-Mix3-Mst2-320Kbps.mp3

Thought I would try a contrived recording with this one. I used parts of both my Birds-1-1644-FS-Mst1-320Kbps.mp3 and StoneWaterfall-1644-192kbps.mp3 recordings (both are available on freesound) and blended them into this file. I'd been wanting to capture a waterfall recording with birds and such in the ambient parts of the recording, but had trouble acquiring such a recording without automobiles nearby joining the sound in early morning or late evening at different locations I visited (mainly because the locations were state parks with folks driving through to check out sunsets and sunrises, and there were campers in the parks). So, I tried mixing the two previous recordings to come up with this one. Hard part was trying to get the faint insect sounds to remain audible over the water, but yet keep the character of the water's sound intact. Finally dipped the water down at 6600 Hz for -6dB and everything locked together nicely. I was fighting the water originally and mixing the insect/bird sounds way too bright over the water at 6600 Hz, but after dipping the water (no pun intended), it worked. Everything became smoothly and clearly audible. I did a lot more EQ work on the StoneWaterfall track, though, while balancing it with the bird track. For instance, I also dipped the water at 900 Hz about -9dB and at 1700 Hz about -9dB (both with a Q of 1.0). Reason for this was because when I dipped 6600 Hz -6dB, it was like I'd raised the lower frequencies some. So, I brought down 900 Hz and 1700 Hz because that's where the water sounded "chunkier". (Mixing note: It's always better to cut rather than boost frequencies, generally). To me those frequencies made the water sound more like a stream. Granted, when I recorded the stone waterfalls, there was a small stream trickling away from where the water fell, so it's likely the sound of that stream underneath. Either way, lowering those kept the sound of the water, as it poured over the stones forming the waterfall, more dominant than the stream flowing away from it. And, it had the added benefit of letting the frequencies from the bird track come through more easily in those two ranges. One thing's for sure, harmonic mixing is a fun experience when everything locks together and all the sounds become rich and balanced. Would probably be easier if I just used some "ducking" techniques, but unlike mixing music, when sounds are lowered as a key track gets louder, it doesn't sound as smooth or natural to me as the harmonic mixing technique. I know that all depends on what settings you use for "ducking" (fast attack and varying release most likely), but I guess my ears just prefer the harmonic mixing technique.