Band came in for a demo disc...need mix opinions?

J

jndietz

The Way It Moves
I did a band's "demo" a few nights ago. I have mixed most of the songs, but this is only one of the three. Not sure what to classify them as...maybe grunge meets Conor Oberst. The band consists of two guitarists and a drummer. I did it for them for free to help build my clientele up.

Drums were miked with two LDC for overheads, a CAD kick microphone for the kick, and an SM57 on the snare. Cut a lot out of the low-mids (220Hz area). Boosted in 60Hz for beef and around 6.6KHz for the beater.

Rhythm guitars were recorded on a solid-state 2x10" combo. Miked with an MXL991 SDC and an SM57. Did two takes and panned hard left and right.

The lead was recorded on a modified Fender amp with a single 6L6 tube (no preamp tubes) and a couple Tube Screamers in the front. Miked same way as the rhythm. This was left in dead center. Touched this up with a little bit of reverb.

Vocals were recorded with an MXL990 LDC in a bathroom and a little extra reverb added to taste (he wanted a lot of reverb on the vox).

Mix #1:
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=25540

Mix #2:
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=25545
 
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Bring the vocals out more. I want to hear them better. You might want to EQ them a little and compress them. he sings a little louder at different parts. Cut the cymbals a smidge. Just some suggestions. Take them with a grain of salt.
 
jndietz said:
Drums were miked with two LDC for overheads, a CAD kick microphone for the kick, and an SM57 on the snare. Cut a lot out of the low-mids (220Hz area). Boosted in 60Hz for beef and around 6.6KHz for the beater.
Click to expand...

You might want to rethink those decisions... to me, the kick sounds very boomy whilst the snare is very weak and lacking low end. ~200-220Hz is pretty much exactly where the low-end punch of a snare comes in, and so cutting this was probably not such a good idea. Equally, the 60Hz boost is probably wholly accountable for the slightly heavy low end of the kick. I would suggest flattening the EQ and taking a second listen.
 
I kind of like this. Very raw and garage-y sounding. Sounds cool without a bass. The guitars sound sound angry and the sloppy and incosistent drumming works with the song pretty well. Sometimes the kick and snare are lost, and sometimes they're right out front. I usually hate that, but it's good here. I think the vocals could be a little louder/bigger. Overall, pretty damn good.
 
Neat tune! Great job on the mix. That song would be killer with a couple violas or cellos playing really drone type sounds.. The only thing I would change is the reverb. It sounds good, but eqing the highs out of the reverb would make it sound a little tighter, and/or replacing some of the reverb with a nice clean delay, in time with the song of course. That would keep the vocal sounding big without the cloudy mush the reverb adds. Just my humble opinion.

Joe.
 
Everyone, thanks a lot for the feedback. I should have specified that I cut around 220Hz from the kick drum, not the snare. I did not specify in the OP, so I apologize. However, I did roll lows off on the snare because I thought it sounded way too loud in the fundamental. So you are saying I should bring it back? I will try that and repost later tonight. I also felt maybe the kick has too much boom in it, so I will likely cut more lows out of the kick.

I will also cut more highs out of the reverb to keep it from sounding washy. Also, EQ on this particular mixdown was only on the single vox track, but now it is on a bus. Rolled the lows off of the vocal (< 200Hz) He also came in and added a harmony to the vocal, so that will be in there. Hopefully an update tonight and you guys can let me know ...thanks!
 
Sounded kind of cool. I liked the guitars. They sounded good. Singer was good.

Vox might be just a bit buried. Just by a little.

I heard a little pop on the left side at :38. Pop on the right at 2:07.

Kick might be a little loud. Maybe a bit on the woofy side too. The snare comes and goes.
 
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