Any advice on this song sample?

whirlwindRA

whirlwindRA

Member
[MP3]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54393172/ASF/Sample.mp3[/MP3]
I posted this over in a different section, but was told it would get more response here. This is a sample from my band's self recorded album in progress. The guitars and vocals here are not final, but I would like advice on the sound of the individual instruments and the mix as a whole. I'm still training my ears; what do I need to fix in terms of eq on anything? Any help with anything would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
Last edited:
whirlwindRA said:
[MP3]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54393172/ASF/Sample.mp3[/MP3]
I posted this over in a different section, but was told it would get more response here. This is a sample from my band's self recorded album in progress. The guitars and vocals here are not final, but I would like advice on the sound of the individual instruments and the mix as a whole. I'm still training my ears; what do I need to fix in terms of eq on anything? Any help with anything would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...

Few thoughts:

1. The vocals are very low
2. The snare is incredibly loud
3. I can't comment on the guitar tone too well as the guitars seem really distant
4. Is there a Bass? - I hear something on the low end, but I'm not sure. If there is it's not working with the kick, which is not a good sign
5. Things sound really out of whack eq wise

Are you at the mixing stage here, or are you also applying something to the mixdown bus? Everything sounds kind of hollow and far away.
 
chuckduffy said:
Few thoughts:

1. The vocals are very low
2. The snare is incredibly loud
3. I can't comment on the guitar tone too well as the guitars seem really distant
4. Is there a Bass? - I hear something on the low end, but I'm not sure. If there is it's not working with the kick, which is not a good sign
5. Things sound really out of whack eq wise

Are you at the mixing stage here, or are you also applying something to the mixdown bus? Everything sounds kind of hollow and far away.
Click to expand...

Okay, I updated the mp3. I fixed some of the volumes in it and did the snare EQ from scratch. And yes, I forgot I had applied crappy "mastering" to that previous recording. The new one doesn't have any of that.
 
whirlwindRA said:
Okay, I updated the mp3. I fixed some of the volumes in it and did the snare EQ from scratch. And yes, I forgot I had applied crappy "mastering" to that previous recording. The new one doesn't have any of that.
Click to expand...

Hey man - before I would comment on anything - there is some basic problem going on with gain...You noted that you removed whatever 'mastering' you were doing, but now the song doesn't even register on the meters of my setup - not even the bottom LED(-24) lights up... I would expect the basic mix to at least peak somewhere around -12 or so during the track. I'm pretty sure there is nothing totally FUBAR about the individual tracks - just something goofy going on with the eq and gain structure.

What daw are you using? What are you monitoring with when you mix?
 
This is in Cubase 5, and all of my bus tracks are turned down way low just so I have headroom to adjust things. I realize it's very quiet, and I planned on changing that eventually. I usually listen through speakers or studio headphones (yeah I know not to rely on them for mixing). I'll keep that in mind though, because I probably would have forgotten to turn things up
 
whirlwindRA said:
This is in Cubase 5, and all of my bus tracks are turned down way low just so I have headroom to adjust things. I realize it's very quiet, and I planned on changing that eventually. I usually listen through speakers or studio headphones (yeah I know not to rely on them for mixing). I'll keep that in mind though, because I probably would have forgotten to turn things up
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what you mean by 'all of my bus tracks are turned down way low so I have headroom....'? Do you mean the master bus, multiple stereo buses or you have the individual instrument faders very low... I'm all about the head-room but I have to crank my monitor knob almost all the way to the right to get a decent listening level...
 
I can barely hear the sample, I think chuk has you on the right path though. It sounds like you have over-complicated your method and have suffered from the "fader falling disease" which i am well acquainted with. Sometimes it's a good idea to start again and just put your faders at 0 and see what you've got. I understand the need for aux buses especially with a real drum kit and layered background vocals, but guitars and bass tracks should be pretty close to what you want with a few plugins maybe. Things start getting routed around, adding more faders into the equation and you start relying on your monitor/headphone volume more than the power of the actual mix. From what I barely hear that is what seems to be happening. It does sound like a good track is waiting in there though.
 
Stratomaster said:
I can barely hear the sample, I think chuk has you on the right path though. It sounds like you have over-complicated your method and have suffered from the "fader falling disease" which i am well acquainted with. Sometimes it's a good idea to start again and just put your faders at 0 and see what you've got. I understand the need for aux buses especially with a real drum kit and layered background vocals, but guitars and bass tracks should be pretty close to what you want with a few plugins maybe. Things start getting routed around, adding more faders into the equation and you start relying on your monitor/headphone volume more than the power of the actual mix. From what I barely hear that is what seems to be happening. It does sound like a good track is waiting in there though.
Click to expand...

Yeah I bumped up all my faders so now I'm peaking around -10 db. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep all of that in mind. Anything else wrong with the mix in general?
 
It's almost inaudible.
I just litstened to a track on soundcloud & it was LOUD then your track is so quite I can't discern the instruments.
 
ALL of the guitars sound fizzy - as if the line goes from pedal to recorder. Unpleasant sounds.
Oonce you sort out your guitar recording things'll improve graetly. There's athread on here somewhere about recording distorted guitars - find & read it as it's REALLY helpful.
 
rayc said:
ALL of the guitars sound fizzy - as if the line goes from pedal to recorder. Unpleasant sounds.
Oonce you sort out your guitar recording things'll improve graetly. There's athread n here somewhere about recording distorted guitars - find & read it as it's REALLY helpful.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks! I just read Slipperman's Recording distorted guitars from hell, if you were referencing that. I know I am definitely going to do things differently when I rerecord the guitars
 
[MP3]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54393172/ASF/Sample_new.mp3[/MP3]

New version with guitar eq
Capture.PNG
 
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