The nerdcore group Slice Of Life asked me to mix a track for them entitled “Every Boy In Nerdcore”, sometimes called “Nerdcore Boy”. The original was posted on some internet forums and drew such mean spirited comments that it made me angry (I’m personal friends with both Raychel and Peach), so I decided to do some work on it. As it turns out, these tracks make a perfect example between what mixing, mastering, and production is and why they cost what they do.

Here is the original track:

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Here the the mastered version. Mastering is sometimes called the ‘Black Arts’ and I’ve once heard it explained as follows; “Mastering is what happens when you think the album is done.” Basically, it aims to make the track smoother, louder, and overall better by making the parts that are good stand out and sometimes hiding the ones that aren’t. Studio 6 Mastering, one track, nerd music discount applied, $10. Here is the mastered version:

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Mixing is where the real work begins. At this point, I’m able to take the separate parts of the track, in this case, to vocals for both artists in parts (adlibs, doubles, verses, choruses) The real challenge presented by this track was that all of the vocals were recorded on a headset microphone intended for World of Warcraft in one of the artist’s father’s garage. Getting those vocals to sound like something done on a decent mic certainly adds a lot to the song. Studio 6 Mixing and Mastering, one track, nerd music discount applied, $20. Here’s the Mixed and Mastered version:

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And, now for the coup de grâce. Full on production. The vocals were ripped apart and reassembled, rearranged and auto tuned. The verse kick drum pattern was inspired by the hijacked beat they used in the original. Video game sounds (chip) and samples were used exclusively for the melodies and baseline . Then a massive, simple but catchy chorus was built and the verse vocals laid back down around it.  A massive club banger was born. Part hip hop, part pop, part nerd, part fun.
Studio 6 full production, extreme vocal timing correction, pitch, and arrangement correction. Custom beat written. $50/hr. Approximate cost to the artist: $900 (this one was on the house. take that, forum dicks). Listen below to the final product.

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