Trying to get EWQL sound "real"

H

hollowmanpl

New member
Hey

This is the first time I work with ewql and I'm trying to arrange as realistic as I can symphony for a rock song I'm working on.
I've been listening to Nightwish and Septicflesh for days and trying to inspire myself :)
This is what I've got so far. It's not mixed yet - raw bounce but you can hear what's going on.
Any ideas for arranging/velovities/instruments?

 
Nightwish, you say?...

The first thing I'm noticing is that the dynamic contrast could be greater than the quiet intro and the crash in.

Lead vocal seems very up-front at first. Then when it cross-fades past the other vocal part (around 1:40), the new one comes in pretty buried.

I see what you're going for, but the mix overall seems lacking in power. The orchestral parts give it the epic feel, but I think the traditional "metal" instruments (drums, guitars, etc.) are too quiet.
 
heh it's raw bounce - it's not mixed song :)
there're some effect etc just for at least minimum pleasure of listening but it's not leveled mixed or mastered :)
I just fight with orchestral arragment - after that i'll start mixing :)
 
hollowmanpl said:
ok heres final mix - i've to rerecord acoustic at the beginning. unfortunately there are some peaks ;/

Click to expand...

What's with all the static at the beginning??

For this style/genre I'd expect the kick and snare drum (and really all of the drums in this mix) to have more presence. There's nothing drastically wrong with the mix, but the overall sound is slightly awash with compression and everything has the same sense of presence. What's your mastering chain?

The vocals are mixed well, and the song itself is good (solid performances).
 
Pinky said:
What's with all the static at the beginning??

For this style/genre I'd expect the kick and snare drum (and really all of the drums in this mix) to have more presence. There's nothing drastically wrong with the mix, but the overall sound is slightly awash with compression and everything has the same sense of presence. What's your mastering chain?

The vocals are mixed well, and the song itself is good (solid performances).
Click to expand...

Thanks I've made some tweaks - also less drum compression and more presence on cymbals, less presence on orchestral stuff

for mastering chain - comprssion, eq, saturation, eq, limiter


here's final product - video :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERury0IBwrE
 
hollowmanpl said:
for mastering chain - comprssion, eq, saturation, eq, limiter
Click to expand...

What does the saturation entail? It could be what my ears were hearing, and it seemed to stomp on the dynamics a bit too much. [three stages of compression seems like too much, but it might not be - depends on what you're doing at each stage - this might be too deep a topic for the context of this thread, and would no doubt at some point end up over my head at least :) ]
 
hollowmanpl said:
i use saturation for some loudness before limiter
Click to expand...

I was thinking more specifically what does the saturation do? How exactly is it making it louder?

On ear buds (all I have at this moment) the mix is okay, again it seems like the kick drum is too small for the genre but it is present throughout, so it's not mixed wrong or poorly. There's a lot going on in the song and competition for space in the sound field, definitely not an easy mix. I'm leaning heavily on compression use here since it seems like some of the dynamics that would be in play that would help separate those instruments out are getting squashed at some point. The strings hardly have any definition to them, for example.

At this point this is more a conversation about mixing/mastering choices since the mix is done.
 
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Vocals are a bit overcompressed in the final (possibly from YT compression). Tonally, they sound really good when alone, but a bit of breath in the mix would probably go a long way.
Is it intentional that things sound a bit loose at :29, but then tighten up as it goes into the part with the vocal? Like the strings have a long pretail and are coming in just a bit late because the upswing of the sound is on the grid, and not the actual hit. I can hear a few different things going on in that part of the mix that could pop out a bit more...lead guitar bit and strings in different spots taking the forefront. Lots of tasty stuff to work with and it's just kind of a generic blend.
Lots of good performances going on here! Great sounding song. Is this an original, or a cover?
 
The off timing seems to have cleared up. There's an artificial F minor riff at :35-37 that I absolutely love and I think it could use a bit of a boost.
The F notes at the beginning drop out unnaturally. Don't know what piano you're using, but where it's alone, it just doesn't shine well. Have you tried (or even have access to) Alecia's Keys from NI? I think that simple substitution would help the piano immensely.
Voice is MUCH better in the verse! Almost too much top (getting some sibilants now). A little de-essing will make that sing (sorry, couldn't help myself there)! :D

Oh, as to the OP, Yeah! Really loving the strings and how they blend in now...awesome job.
 
BTW, for the genre, the deeper drums (kick and toms) could have a bit more power. I can hear the snare and overheads well, but even at 100dB I can't feel the deep of the drums. Need to move some air!
 
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