First stab at mixing - Metalcore rough mix

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Omniwang

New member
Hey, all!

I've been recording crappy songs for a few years now but finally decided to try using a real program to mix a song with. I downloaded the 60 day trial of Reaper and I am definitely going to buy it. I wanted to post up the rough mix of my a song I'm working on. I've been playing with this for about a week but and shown a few friends but I could use some objective feedback.

I recorded guitars clean and used Line 6 Pod Farm 2 VSTs for tone. I have lead on the left at 100% and 70%, rhythm on the right at 100% and 70% as well. I've never used an EQ before but I set a low shelf at 350, high at 15000 and some mids at 750. Bass is pretty much a straight recording, I haven't done anything to it aside from bumping the volume up to be more audible. I think I may need to try a compressor on the bass during the breakdown as it gets a little dynamic or maybe I'll just re-record that part.

No drums or vocals yet, sorry I know that'll take away from some feedback.

Let me know what you think guys!

https://soundcloud.com/omniwang
 
I liked it. Reminds me of Reign in Blood a bit.
A few notes around 2:50-2:55 sound flat.
 
It has a lot of potential. Good playing. The tone of the main guitar sounds really DI. If your only going to record direct try to find a good cabinet sim, it may take some of the DI sound out.

Don't know what your plans are for drums, but if your not a drummer and don't have someone to record them, I would recommend Addictive Drums 2. Easy to work with, tons of sounds and beats.
 
Thanks very much for listening you two!

I'm afraid I don't know what DI means though. Could you please elaborate so I can better attack the solution in the mix?

I think the flat notes sounds are coming from the solo in the bends, it's entirely possible I wasn't bending quite enough. I will take a listen through again when I'm at my computer.

I have a friend, hopefully, doing drums for me. He's actually a pro drummer and we're not super close so it's going to cost me a few bucks; however, he regularly works on all sorts of metal projects so I'm very confident. His name is Sean Lang, here's a link to his new album on YouTube as well. I'm sure he can do this as much justice as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqmzIOVKFiM

Thanks again for the feedback!
 
Omni, "DI" mean "Direct Injection" or "Direct Insert" ....simply means that you recording your guitars plugged straight into your DAW without using a mic and amp setup. What you end up getting is a top end fuzziness that most every veteran on this site can pick out right away. Your using Line 6 VST, see if it has some kind of Cabinet sim and it will help eliminate that shrillness.

As far as your drummer friend, your not going to want to "hire" him every time you have a new song idea. You need something to even lay a minimal beat. Reaper may have something similar to what I suggested..I know Sonar comes with EZ Drummer. You won't be sorry you did.
 
Hey thanks, Bruthish.

Unfortunately, a real mic'd set up just isn't in the cards for me right now so I will need to use DI. It really sucks too because I have a nice Marshall at home,I think 650W, and a Hughes and Kettner Mk3 Triamp head :( My VSTs are using what I assume to be a knock off of a Marshall cab so I'm not sure what I can do there to take away the shrill sounding guitar. I wanted it to be "punchy" and to soar over everything else so I guess I got that in the worst way possible haha. I have my treble on the head VST jacked up to almost 10, mids, drive and bass down to about 5. Maybe it's because I'm using the head's gain rather than using a dedicated overdrive VST?

I don't plan on using my buddy for drums for all my work but I'm getting married in September and this song is for my fiance so I wanted it to sound as good as possible. I'm not a drummer so the first stab I take at that is going to be ugly I'm sure.
 
126 views and only 5 comments? Come on guys, tear this thing apart. I refuse to believe I magically made a great sounding mix on my first try. Give me the business!
 
I would suggest getting the song more together with drums, bass , vocals, and arrangement. it's hard for people to critique a guitar riff. a guitar riff isn't a mix. there is nothing to critique. when you get the guitar riff, and the bass, and the drumset, and the vocal, and whatever other instrumentation going all together ...then... you have to create a mix and once you do that, others will chime in and make suggestions that can help you develop mixing skills. The only thing someone can say now is that "it's a good idea" or "it has potential" or "it's a cool riff". You're only going to get a little of that here. Most who click on your song are not going to respond if there isn't really anything to critique.
I'm not trying to be a wise ass, I'm just trying to help you understand how to get more input.
anyway, I thought the riff was good.
 
Naw, that's perfect bro! I'm so new to this that even something that should seem obvious as that wasn't to me. I knew that adding drums will probably change how the volume, panning or EQ will work for the other instruments but wasn't sure how that would work in a vacuum.

Not wise ass'd at all, much appreciated. Have a "thanks"!!
 
I found a decent VST and threw in my own drums if anyone wants to listen. (I haven't heard back yet and I need a back up plan just in case) I won't have vocals for quite a while so this is as close to being done as I can get right now. I think I'm going to need to look up more videos on drums though. I need do some eq and I don't know where to begin.

I... I'm afraid I might like this whole mixing thing more than actually playing.

Help.
 
Drums definitely brings the song home a lot more than what you originally had. Sounds better every time..good job
 
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