Mixing Feedback Please

[toad_uk]

Hi folks.

I would much appreciate some feedback on my mixing. Please don't judge the songs too harshly (they're some I wrote with a band I was in when I was 16 and had been playing for about 18 months) I just wondered what they'd sound like if I recorded them now to practice my mixing. I'm more interested the levels, eq etc.

Anyway, excuses over.

Yours nervously

Toad

http://www.myspace.com/artfuljester

[drossfile]

moving on:

not a bad mix at all, i might bump the bass a bit.

rhythm guitar: needs more punch throughout, and i'd suggest for the chorus recording a clone track, panning the 2 guitars, and bringing up the volume on to give it a more expansive sound. this chorus is begging for emphasis. i'd probably do the same on the intro.

drum recording needs work, but i'm sure as hell not throwing stones in this department. snare needs the most work. from what i can tell on myspace, the kick and toms are decent. cymbals always sound distorted on myspace. good balance of the kit, good early effort, keep working at it.

the vox sound pretty good--i like this somewhat calmer version of geddy lee. commendable performance.

backing vocals are performed, captured, and especially blended well.

tone/level of the lead guitar works well here. i like it.

wardance:

snare seems better on this one. mix sounds pretty even. thin guitar.

fly away:

same rhythm guitar issues here as the first song--cloning, panning, etc would do well. i hear you did throw in a second RG track at the end, which was a good decision. i'd bring the RG volume up when the lead comes in to fatten up/expand again.


regarding all songs, the 3 most obvious problems are
1) myspace player. get a soundclick account.
2) rhythm guitars are thin. the levels of what you have are mixed well, but you need a thicker, ballsier tone.
3) the recordings simply need to be bigger.
i'd try running the mixes through some software (i use soundforge) to sort of bring everything into the same room and give the whole mix some eq and compression for added cohesion and polish (i'd add low end to each in the 60 to 125 hz realm, and experiment with the rest of the spectrum). reverb levels seem appropriate.

is this your first shot at recording? if so, you're off to a flying start!

[toad_uk]

Thanks for the feedback. very encouraging.

Unfortunatley I'm not exactly new to recording. I had a 4 track cassette machine with a basic Tandy mixer using pedals for effects for quite few years. About eight years ago i got some better gear and a Roland VS 880 ex but then never got to use it, so these are the first recordings I've done for the past eight years and the first with any decent equipment. So now I've got the gear to get the sounds I need to get the ears.

I always have a problem with the guitars, either too much bottom and getting muddy or cutting too much out and sounding thin like you said, same with the bass.

incidently the intro to fly away is actually the original recording of the band I was in then, recorded through the condenser mic of a cheap cassette player which I tagged on to the beggining of my new version. The drummer was actually playing margarine tubs and a beer brewing barrel as he hadn't got a kit yet.

[rayc]

Moving on - the bass does need a little bump after the band comes in - nice tone though.
dross cught everything pretty. The main vox need a little fattening.
Nicely squeezed solo - reminds me of my Pignose.
The lyrics are a bit more proggy than the music - you might need to bring them closer togther thematically - the outro solo is nice too but does push the proggy levels at the fade.

[ido1957]

Movin On - you can work on the suggestions RAYC has made. Not much else needs to be done to this mix, it's pretty much level and punchy. Cool tune.....