Description
👉🎶🔥 Check out smart:chain by sonible HERE: https://bit.ly/drmix_smartchain 👈🎶🔥
🙏 This video is kindly sponsored by sonible — thank you for supporting the channel!
🎹 Get the MIDI for the entire song + the full multi-track 👉 https://doctormix.com/sound-packs/the-final-countdown-multi-track?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=0h2o2CU-Lao
🎁 FREE printable poster — the story of the sound, the song and the riff — when you join my mailing list 👉 https://doctormix.com/free/final-countdown?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=0h2o2CU-Lao
I rebuilt Europe's "The Final Countdown" note by note, from scratch, then mixed it to sit as close to the original as I could get. 🎹 Drums, a bass line played with a pick, the guitars, the pads, that bendy intro synth on a Jupiter-8 (it sounds a bit like Terminator, doesn't it?) and of course the fanfare everyone hums.
That fanfare is two synths layered: a Yamaha TX816, which I played on my DX7, the same FM engine, and the JX-8P "Stab Brass" patch in Roland ZENOLOGY. 🔥 Then sonible smart:chain did the groundwork across the whole mix: drums, bass, hi-hats, overheads, guitars and the horns. When I put it on the drum group, all I could say was "Dude, are you kidding me?"
🎬 Want the whole thing in real time? The full session is on my Patreon 👉 https://www.patreon.com/DoctorMix/posts/everything-i-174386874
🔗 GEAR & PLUGINS IN THIS VIDEO
🎚️ sonible — smart:chain, EQ, compression, saturation and auto-levelling across every track (link at the top)
🎹 Yamaha DX7 — the FM half of the fanfare
🎺 Roland ZENOLOGY Pro — the JX-8P "Stab Brass" patch 👉 https://www.roland.com/global/products/rc_zenology/
🚀 Roland JUPITER-8 — the intro synth 👉 https://www.roland.com/global/products/rc_jupiter-8/
🎸 UJAM IRON 2 — the guitars 👉 https://www.ujam.com/guitarist/iron/
🥁 Native Instruments Kontakt — Drum Lab and Studio Drummer for the kit
🌊 Valhalla DSP — the reverbs
💻 Steinberg Cubase — where it all happened
"The Final Countdown" written by Joey Tempest, performed by Europe (Epic Records, 1986). This is an independent reconstruction for educational purposes; Doctor Mix is not affiliated with Europe or Epic Records.
💬 That intro synth sounds a bit like Terminator to me. Who did it first? Tell me in the comments!
🎓 Courses & training 👉 https://doctormix.com/courses
🎧 Mixing & mastering services 👉 https://doctormix.com/services
🎹 Sound packs & multitracks 👉 https://doctormix.com/sound-packs
🛍️ Merch 👉 https://doctor-mix-shop.fourthwall.com/en-usd/collections/all
🌐 Stay connected
YouTube 👉 youtube.com/@Doctormix
Instagram 👉 instagram.com/doctormix
Facebook 👉 facebook.com/DoctorMixOnline
TikTok 👉 tiktok.com/@doctormix
👍 Like, share & subscribe — it really helps the channel! ❤️🎶
⏱️ Chapters
0:00 The Final Countdown
0:14 smart:chain by sonible
1:57 Analysing the intro: a bed of pads
3:31 Why the drums stay on four
4:13 The bass line doesn't gallop
6:08 Building the drums
10:48 Recording the bass (with a pick!)
15:33 Mixing with smart:chain
20:26 Guitars with UJAM IRON 2
23:22 The fanfare: TX816 + JX-8P "Stab Brass"
27:41 Taming the DX7 brass
30:42 MIDI, multi-track and the free poster
32:12 The intro synth on a Jupiter-8
38:13 Pads and the low synth
43:57 Refining the mix: reverbs and slap
45:53 smart:chain fixes the horns
47:47 smart:chain on the drum group
49:42 The Final Countdown by Doctor Mix
#DoctorMix #sonible #TheFinalCountdown