Critique my mix! Criticism is welcomed!

H

hotwatertim72

New member
Hey, thanks to all the people on this site who have helped me. Now, I actually can record. Here is my 2nd attempt at recording a full band (no vocals yet though. What I have is -

Presonus Firepod
Mics-
OH's- 2 MXL 990
Snare - GLS-57 (The SM-57 clone, works great)
Kick - Superlux FK-2 (i thought i got a pretty good sound out of this $30 mic)
Guitar - One GLS-57 on one of the top cones, pointed down diagonally, One MXL 990 about a foot away from the amp in the center
Bass - Direct in from amp with an XLR cable



That's about it, I thought I got a pretty good sound for a second time, but you tell me what I need to fix and what sounds good. Oh by the way, on the first verse I kinda screwed up on the drums in one part. My mistake. Disregard that.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help
 
It was recorded in my family room, which has very high ceilings, I'd say about 25 feet. And it's also very wide because it connects with the rest of the house. no doors or anything.
 
I would up the level of the kick more and add a little 4-6k for attack. The snare is all top head. Are you playing on carpet? If you are, put something hard and flat under the snare to get the snap sound up to the overheads. I'd also pull the overheads away from the cymbals and more toward the drums or the back of the kit.

If you have a compressor, use it on the kick and the bass guitar to beef it up a little.

Other than that, pretty good!! Guitar sounds great!
 
Nice good punk song with octaves...where has this stuff gone? I love it. The only thing that really stood out was during the verse, when the drummer trys to go crazy fast on the high-hat, it sounds amateur. Other than that, bravo!
 
Hey thanks a lot guys. Yeah, I am playing on carpet, so next time I record, I'll definetely put something hard under the snare. Yeah, I know I screwed on that part where go fast on the hi-hat. Whatever, I'll fix that later. Also, I already have compression on the bass and snare, i'm not sure about the guitar though. I've got the compression at a 4:1 ratio. Is that too much? Or is that about right? Thanks
 
By bass did you mean bass drum or bass guitar? I agree about the overheads, They need to come closer to the drums cause they are really only picking up cymbals well as of right now. Snare is all top head and could use ur placement to be angled a bit more towards the center of the head. Then if you mic the overheads a bit more drum friendly, they will pick up the good naturall snare sound. Don't forget that a close mic doesn't actually pick up what the drum sounds like to someone who is listening, because a nobody actually puts there ear up to each drum when they listen. This is why we have overheads in the first place. Spend a long time getting those to sound right because those are what your manely gonna use. Also about compression. Are you using compression plug-ins or a rack compressor? If you can actually go back to tweak it now, I'd say you should especially if you have already compressed bass guitar (if thats what you meant). Yes all notes are consistent but you could use some searious attack. And make sure you don't screw up the release, nothing sounds worse than a bad release time. Also don't you think the bass could use a little bite? maybe a tiny bit of hi-end distortion or crunch, not to much though. And also some EQing around the low end Its missing some of those good punch frequencies. The bass drum could use a strong amount of compression, especially if you are are already compressing it. It should definatly have a more consistent hit. also you should EQ some hi-end click into that bass drum, not much, but it sounds like just the low-mids and low frequencies. It just doesn't sound quite right, but its not far SO DON'T OVER EQ!!! The guitar fits fine for this kind of song.

My biggest problem was that the bass needed punch. Really good for second band. Keep up the good work.

Ben
 
Sorry about confusing you guys. On that recording I have compression on the snare, kick, and both overheads. After reading the post I added it to the bass and it sounds a whole lot better. I added some hi-end attack to the kick as well. I'll post a new version in a little bit. Also, with my overheads, I have one over my crash, in front of the drums, on my left side. And the other is behind me, on my right side. Is there a better position for the OH's? Actually someone recommend that positioning to me on here. What are your guys' thoughts?
 
Awesome. I was really unimpressed with the first mix, but you've managed to eq your way to a pretty good sound there. Don't ya love these forums?
 
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