Pop Punk Mix help... hi-hats are killing my mix...Ramones/Screeching Weasel.

keevhren

New member


Worked on a mix for a few hours this evening and I'm definitely not that satisfied with it but I feel as though it's a decent foundation to start making changes from. Suggestions?

One major issue I'm having is the hi hat bleed in my overheads. It's always been a bane of almost every record I do and I still haven't been able to solve it... the hi hat just CRUSHES everything else coming through the overheads and is so harsh its unreal. I've recently been doing an xy configuration with a pair of c451b's right over the kick between two crashes (approx 2 feet above the cymbals themselves). I've built an 'isolator' box packed with foam that I stick around the back half of the hi hat to try and kill some of it but it still dominates my overheads to the point where I want them down so far that cymbal hits then won't be heard. Even with automation it hasn't been fixed either. With the style of music it's pretty essential to have a very dominant kick and snare cutting through as well which I don't think I've full achieved...

Other thoughts? Any critiques are very welcomed and encouraged... rip it apart and help me build from scratch if need be! Still learning and trying to get everything right so all advice would be great! Thanks in advance!
 
Hey that's not too bad at all. When people put Ramones or some other punk band in their title, I'm usually expecting the worst. I've been a Ramones fan for decades. I like the song a lot. Sounds very much like Screeching Weasel.

You know, after listening, I don't think your hats are too loud. Listen to when you switch over to the ride - it's the same relative loudness. Hats and ride are basically the same, it's the crashes that aren't cutting through. Hit em harder, play the hats softer, or re-configure your overheads to get more crash. The overheads do sound brittle though. Have you EQ'd the snot out of them trying to fix them?
 
Hi-hat doesn't really bother me too much. It is a little bright and almost hissy but it's not overpowering. Maybe just dropping a little of the HF from the hat/overheads down would help. That way you can have more of it and subsequently the actual hits will sound clearer.

If you want less hi-hat, you either need to move your overheads or change them or re-angle them or something, OR the drummer needs to compromise.
 
The hats aren't bothering this mix at all on headphones. I wouldn't get too fixated on it, the drums overall sound good because the performance is good.Cool tune too. Good job on this
 
thanks for the help thus far... a friend suggested a trick he's used before... de-essing on the OH tracks to pull out the Hi Hat's main brittle frequency so am going to play with that today as well as to make a few tiny adjustments here and there! Will post the updated mix when I've got it bounced!
 
I think this sounds great man! I guess I see what you mean with a little bleeding of the hi hats, but it doesn't bother me. My sugesstion would be a multiband compression specifically for the bleeding frequency (10k-16k perhaps) but the d-esser could very well solve your problem. I'd defiantly try the desser first. Good work, I'll have to get the finished version in my music library!
 
I did a few slight adjustments... the biggest being that I threw a de-esser onto my OH track and it seems to have helped out a good bit. I feel like it definitely helped to separate the hat and crashs so that they come through better... still not as ideal as I'd like but a lesson learned for the next time I track drums.

Other than that, I added a bit of warmth to the main vocal in the 200ish range and also added some warmth to the guitar leads at about 500-550 or so.

Thoughts on the new mix? I'm pretty happy with it and we will hopefully be sending them off to get mastered within the next week!

 
Listened to the latest version. I think the kick needs some work. Definitely gotta make it tighter. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that. I find it a little too boomy. Maybe it's pushed too much below 100hz and maybe not enough click to it... 2khz(?).. sorry, don't know for sure. And you need to get it to meld better with the bass.

Guitars sound great.
I understand you're finding the overheads difficult. it think there is still room for improvement on the hats and crashes. Hope you can get it there, it's a good song.

Take a week off from the song and then listen to it again....
 
Sounds like you've put in some hf reduction with EQ on the overheads? I'd split the difference between where it is now and how it was before. Like I said it didn't bother me much. Probably splitting hairs now though.

Personally I disagree with Chili's comment, there's LOADS of click on the kick drum. Definately doesn't need more. I think it is just a shade too present in the mix which is why it sounds a bit "boomy". Try dropping it back literally a couple of dB at the most
 
I did a few slight adjustments... the biggest being that I threw a de-esser onto my OH track and it seems to have helped out a good bit. I feel like it definitely helped to separate the hat and crashs so that they come through better... still not as ideal as I'd like but a lesson learned for the next time I track drums.

Other than that, I added a bit of warmth to the main vocal in the 200ish range and also added some warmth to the guitar leads at about 500-550 or so.

Thoughts on the new mix? I'm pretty happy with it and we will hopefully be sending them off to get mastered within the next week!


I don't really think it's any better. Now there's no definition in the hats and crashes. It's just a hiss of tin.
 
mixed all 5 songs for the 7" today... I'm pretty happy with them. I tweaked the original song I was working on a few more times and then based the mixes of the others off of it essentially... thoughts?



You have to click the link below the soundcloud waveform to hear the other 4, they're posted in a set together!
 
Back
Top