Warning: newbie mix (ROUGH edition)

[jrhager84]

Just wanted to know what direction to go with this. Had my band lay down a quick rough track (there are minor timing/tone errors). It'll serve it's purpose though. I just did a pretty rough mix to try to get everything snapped in right. Please post any and all suggestions to the mix. Thanks guys!

Link: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9047

-Joel

[guitarded2]

Hi what did you use and do to the track? The guitar seems to be way off in the back it lacks high end, punch, and to me seems burried under the drums. Maybe try to EQ this up a bit and maybe some compression. The toms seem a little cardboard like or maybe its just that theyre so quiet. The snare seems to be the loudest out of everything and it does sound like it could use a bit of compression. I think the bass guitar sounds a little weird but thats just what I think I normally like the bass to have that big bass sound it sounds like the guitar is covering up the low end. It sounds like you tried to make the bass guitar stand out by boosting the 1-3k area which does make it stand out but it doesnt have all that bass to it the area near 150 (but make sure this isnt interfering with the kick drum) Personally I think some reverb on the drums would make a huge difference that and trying to fit the snare into the mix better with compression and a little 5khz boost. Most of this is personal opinion.

I liked the song the use of fills and build ups.
I think you did a good job on the performance but the mix could use a little bit of tinkerin

if it was me I'd

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1. Snare
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Boost a little bit around about 5khz

Compress it maybe with a quick attack and mess with the release

Of course then add some reverb here a smal room and alot of width

Roll off the lows near 100hz ( I never let my snare get into the 2 digits)
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2. Bass drum
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compress this with a quick attack

keep the low end around 120hz peaking and keep it clear with maybe some click around 4khz cut a little bit of the lower mids (200-500)
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3. toms
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treat this alot like the bass drum (cut some lower mids out 200-500 maybe)

compress them a bit more and keep the volume at a level so they sound good in tiny headphones and on big speakers that way you know what you are hearing isnt just bass or brittle mid highs.
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4. Overheads
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Bring out the highs

compression with a focus on sustain

roll off the lows and keep it from soundin too boomy

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5. Guitar
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Compress it maybe with a quick attack.

EQ maybe cut a little bit to work with the drums and boost a little around 2-3.5 khz. Keep it infront of the cymbals. Roll off the lows let the bass take care of this
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6. Bass
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It sounds like it just needs some EQ so I would boost around 150hz (stayin away from the kick) maybe keep some of those upper mids to keep it clear but maybe take it down a bit and increase the range of the spread (Q) Roll off the lows that the kick drum start to take over.
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Im assuming the drums were recorded with the bass drum snare over head and toms tracked seperate. As well as the guitar and bass seperate.

I hope this helps.





btw what did you play?

[jrhager84]

I play drums. The bass is compressed with a quick attack, and the lows are rolled off the guitar and everything else aside from kick and bass. The bass is an 80's Charvel bass, and just sounds like that. It was also DI'd, so I'm going to do some things to it. The guitars were initially EQ'd like this (a little dip in mids for vocals) because the vocals were getting buried. I am going to add more highs to it for more presence, but we finished tracking at almost midnight, and I promised people I'd get a general mixdown that night, so I just mixed down and said "forget it" for that night. I do plan on reverb for the drums, as well as duplicating the snare track, distorting the shit out of it, and mixing it in behind the original snare... More things will be compressed as well. Thanks for the input! Keep 'em coming...

-Joel

[ido1957]

Nice rocker for a pub - you mentioned vocals but I didn't hear any. 40811_situation instrumental. The whole mix sounds compressed, a bit much so, or it's the pre's. I do like the playing but the mix could open up a bit (just for me). Playing/writing is great, liked the groove as soon as you started...

[Supercreep]

Drums lack sparkle.

Guitars do also, but only very slightly. I'd double or treble the guitars right away and get a stereo spread.

Bass is just a cvnt hair too present. A little reverb might set it back a little.

Great guitar tone. Good performance.... Vocals coming?

-Casey

[jrhager84]

Yeah, I don't know what to do about the cymbals, as I'm getting my toms out of them as well. I also used a ribbon mic about 4 feet away from the kit at tom level to capture a little more bottom end on the toms as well...

EQ settings:

Guitar - low cut, low mid/mid scoop, slight boost above 5k

Bass - complete cut over 500hz, low cut (<150)

kick - <20hz cut, slight boost at 80hz, scoop 100-400hz, boost 1k for click

snare - low cut, huge scoop, boost at 5k, and a little more at about 10k

OH - low cut (<150hz) boost 151-500hz (for toms), scoop mid, boost >5k

Ribbon room mic - high cut, low cut (<150hz)

That's about what I can think of right now. Also, those tracks were almost COMPLETELY dry. I didn't have time to adjust reverb before jamming that mp3 up there. I have added some more, and will post it up tomorrow after a few tweaks.

As for the vocals:

Our vocalist is currently sick, yet he attempted to sing it. It didn't sound so great, but gave me the opportunity to see what his voice needs in terms of EQ and stuff, so it served its purpose. It was sub-par, so it was muted during mixdown. The guitars are scooped in the mids because the vocals got buried when the guitars lit up. Any suggestions? I've also noticed my mixes never really "feel" in your face, how do I go about getting a wider sound? Guitars are doubled 80% L and R, and the OH are hard L & R. The solo guitar (which isn't recorded yet) will be up the center, along with the kick, snare, and bass. I'm thinking of panning dual vox slightly left and right, and harder panning my backup vox (which aren't recorded yet either).

Let me know if I'm way off base, or if I don't have a clue. All suggestions are welcome....thanks again dudes!

[jrhager84]

Link to edited version (still needs work, but I want to see if you guys agree where I'm starting to go with this mix). Thanks a lot guys!

Link: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9069

any help is appreciated.

[Slowrider]

That's better than the first! Snare still sounds kinda muddy, though.

[jrhager84]

Yeah, I'm not done with the snare. It's actually two tracks, one distorted to hell backed up under the original. I'm gonna take some more time to figure that out, and then sit back and analyze the mix. Thanks again for all the input guys!

[Dogman]

Second mix sounds better...drums still seem to need something...they seem a bit hidden. I hear them, but the guitar and bass are on top of them. Cymbals seem about right volume wise, but snare and toms seem too low, and not full enough. Get a slightly bigger, fuller drum sound going, and that may fill that porion out better.

[Guitarer]

2nd mix sounds much better...Bass guitar needs a little more low end, bass drum needs more punch...That's about all I can think of for now. Big improvement on the guitar's sound from the first one.

The song itself sounds awesome. Very Iron Maiden like

[jrhager84]

The problem I'm running into about the toms is the fact that they're being captured via overhead, and if I boost too much lower end, it'll take away the sparkle of the cymbals... maybe multi-band compressor? I've tried EQ'ing the ribbon mic to get more tom sound out of it, and I think I got too cautious with my snare mix because it was too loud the first time. Of course, mixing at midnight and one o'clock don't help perceptions either. Now that I have some free time, I'll tinker with it for a couple hours and see what happens...

[Dogman]

Originally Posted by jrhager84

The problem I'm running into about the toms is the fact that they're being captured via overhead, and if I boost too much lower end, it'll take away the sparkle of the cymbals... maybe multi-band compressor? I've tried EQ'ing the ribbon mic to get more tom sound out of it, and I think I got too cautious with my snare mix because it was too loud the first time. Of course, mixing at midnight and one o'clock don't help perceptions either. Now that I have some free time, I'll tinker with it for a couple hours and see what happens...

I'm pretty new to drumming, but I've started recording my playing. I compress the overheads pretty hard, and mix in snare and kick to add to just those parts. I only use 4 mics, as I only have 4 cables right now.

[jrhager84]

You compress them all across the board, or multi band it and only compress the band that the toms are in.... I'm having a hard time isolating the Bass drum and snare out of the tom sound on the overheads... What should I do? I'm gonna post another mix that I worked on for a while now...lemme know what you think.

Link: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9075

Enjoy!

[jrhager84]

Just noticed I forgot to turn the bass back down after tinkering with it. It'll be a couple db quieter than that after I put it back....FYI...

[Dogman]

Originally Posted by jrhager84

You compress them all across the board, or multi band it and only compress the band that the toms are in.... I'm having a hard time isolating the Bass drum and snare out of the tom sound on the overheads... What should I do? I'm gonna post another mix that I worked on for a while now...lemme know what you think.

Link: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9075

Enjoy!

This mix sounds better, but the drums are still hidden a bit. I hear the snare more, so it sounds like you are working in the right direction.

I compress all the overheads, using a single band compressor. Here is a clip of just teh overheads, after I compressed them.
OH's

[jrhager84]

It's funny how as a drummer, I'm "hiding" the drums cause if they're too loud, I'm afraid it's just me thinking they should be that loud. I'm gonna take the mix I have now and listen to it in my car and on my TV to get a good picture of what it sounds like on different systems.. I'll have an update later on... Thanks again man,

-Joel

[Guitarer]

Originally Posted by jrhager84

It's funny how as a drummer, I'm "hiding" the drums cause if they're too loud, I'm afraid it's just me thinking they should be that loud. I'm gonna take the mix I have now and listen to it in my car and on my TV to get a good picture of what it sounds like on different systems.. I'll have an update later on... Thanks again man,

-Joel

I know what you mean...A few years ago when I was doing my first recordings, I would always make the vocals too low, because as the singer, I knew what the lyrics were, and as such, it seemed easy to understand, but for others it wasn't loud enough.

[jrhager84]

New mix

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9080

[Slowrider]

Sounds better to me! I always like heavy bass.

[guitarded2]

last ones good but I dont like the new snare sound too much. I dont think it sounds too much like maiden a few riffs do sounds maideny and of course that bass guitar tone but thats about it. I think you aren't gettin that "wall of sound" tone because the mids are drained. I like the song though I'm looking forward to the final product with vocals.

good job

[jrhager84]

I'm actually re-tracking drums with individual tom mics and using X/Y technique for the overheads to get a little more spread. I think this will sound better. As soon as I get a drum mix up, I'll post a dry track of the drums separately to see if you think that remedies the messed up drum tracks. Then I'll mix in the new drums, and post the .mp3... Thanks guys!