Incubus - Anna Molly

Artist: Incubus
Album: Light Grenades (2006)
Track: Anna Molly (3:46)

Panning in: 
The track opens with a lightly distorted guitar panned hard to the left speaker. The hi hat that accompanies it is centre if not panned slightly to the right.

Hi hat dynamics: 
There's a large dynamic variation in the hi hat playing. The accents (on beats two and four) are noticeably louder. I compared the MP3 version to the FLAC at this point as it was a good point of reference. This dynamic distinction is slightly more evident to me on the FLAC version.

Enter bass: 
When the bass slides in with the second half of the introduction some bells fill the right side of the stereo image. When we reach the next section of the song the mixer opts for a narrower panorama. Although the guitar is panned to the right it is by a smaller degree.

Washing the drum kit: 
Something to note about the drums sound on this track is the huge wash produced by the cymbals. In the sections where the crash cymbal is 'ridden' I find its volume dwarfs the kick and the snare. This kind of drum kit sound is favoured in other Incubus songs too. The overhead microphones are given priority in the mix. There are a few instances of hard panning with the percussion in this song. Auxiliary percussion such as the tambourine is only on the left.

Vocals: 
Some factors that I have noticed with the vocals on this track are as follows: There are some sections where it sounds double tracked. The sound is thickened quite a deal in the chorus, I can hear the second voice whenever the diction varies or the length of the word varies. It would appear that for the most part the second voice (mixed behind the first) gets to each word slightly later. You can hear a second trail on most words. I don't think it is a short delay mainly because the delivery sounds different on each word. I believe it's possible that the producer nudged the second vocal track forward/later a bit.

Great: 
This track has been a great example for listening to depth as I was able to compare it to the MP3 version. The stereo panning techniques used were also quite evident throughout. I've been fully objective about this listening but I just want to add that I love the overhead heavy drum kit mix. There are so many variables in a single crash cymbal stroke that are lost when mixed low. The extra swell and 'radiance' you get with this system is a great addition I think. This is probably one of my favourite records for drum kit at the moment.

Producer and label: 
Light Grenades was produced by Brendan O'Brien (very impressive list of work) and released on Epic Records.

Extra notes (Presentation Notes): 

Time:

• Tempo about 150bpm
• 4/4 time signature
• Strong beat 2 and 4 emphasis 
• Snare in big sections, kick in lighter sections 
• Maintains the feel but lowers the intensity 
• Pairing of sub-divisions between the guitar strumming and hi hats. 
• Time slows slightly in the drum break 3/4 through the track. 

Tonality:

• Overdriven guitar
• Mid to high register tone. 
• Very open and washy
• Makes for a washy high and punchy low approach. 
• More reliance on the kick and snare to punch through and keep groove.
• Overall bright sounding track with lots of 'sparkle' 
• Cymbals are primary in this aspect.
• Tambourine also quite powerful in parts.
• Hard to listen to this song in the car (hearing mostly cymbal wash). 
• Bass has distinct picking sound in some parts and sometimes no pick noise at all. There is definitely a pick to finger swap at some point I feel. 
• Snare has a strong metallic ping that cuts the mix well I think. 
• Does a good job breaking through all the sound. 
• Hats are bright, crisp with a very short attack. 
• Lots of open hat used though... Lots of open sounds in this track.
• Double tracked vocals

Dynamics: 

• LOUDNESS: Barely a moment under -3db to be found. 
• Drums are right up all through the track.
• Dynamics are created through adding and removing sounds like the guitars rather than increasing and reducing volume. 

Space: 

• Opening with guitar left and hats right.
• Break/buildup has backing vocals on right.
• Backing vocals continue to be hard right, 
• Tambourine is hard left 
• and so on...