Hard Rock - Can anyone help?

YorkshireTrippe

YorkshireTrippe

New member
Hi this is the second MP3 I've uploaded after taking onboard everything you guys said about the first one.

We were going for a very hard, heavy sound which a lot of you may not like but please try to look past this and give me some advise on what I need to work on?

Many thanks

John Lennon
 
This mix is really a mess. It's just mash of mud. The guitars and bass blend into one big woosh of sound that has no definition or articulation. The kick drum is non-existant. That wail when the hard part kicks in is pretty freaking terrible. The rest of the vocal track is pretty good. I'd start all over. Turn off all the reverb, delay, or whatever else you have on the drums and guitars and start giving things space and presence. The kick, snare, and bass should be driving this song and the guitars should fill in the space. As it stands now, it just sounds like white noise.
 
Take some sub out of the kick. Add a little high end for definition (the beater), and make sure that nothing else (guitars most likely) get in the way of the sound of it...

Take lots of low end out of the guitars (not too thin) to allow the bass to sit nicely in its own spot.

I'd recommend hi-passing the bass to about 70Hz, so that the sub of the kick and bass aren't conflicting, and take some 120hz outta the kick so it doesn't interfere with the bass's spot.

The bass draws in and out at times. "there it is... now its gone... its back"... try adding some compression...

Try those out and post up your progress and we can help you some more from there.

Oh, and cut out the last like 20 seconds and just fade it. Not much point on just a rumbling guitar for ages.

Rockin tune though :D
 
I listen to hard rock, metal etc. Everyone says you should play guitar with less distortion than sounds right w/ guitar alone and it has always held true for me, even when I've been very skeptical. Try dialing down the gain some and see if it helps clear out some of the mush.

I can't give expert advice on how to mix clearly, but I can say as it stands it sounds like when you go to a hard rock/metal live show and the room just isn't built to handle the sounds so it all sounds unclear. I think the reverb on some parts (or natural room ambience?) is set too big b/c it sounds like the recording took place in a warehouse.

The clean guitar at the break and end is too quiet. Actually compared to the awesome hard parts, the clean guitar part in the break is pretty standard. It sounds like your just messing around on a couple major chords which does nothing for me personally. Those soft breaks are really a good place to do something special. Right now, it literally sounds like your just taking a break.

Lastly, volume levels seem to go in and out, not systematically, but dependent on what your playing. Maybe try compressing the individual tracks and/or master bus.

It's also worth messing with your EQ independently on the softer and harder vox. Try lots of different settings to see if something helps enhance the overall sound or get out of the way of the other instruments.

This could be a really cool song once the aesthetics are optimized.


Kerrio
 
ez_willis said:
i'm not sayig you're wrong beause i didn't actually listen, but you should just go ahed and use that as a signature. :p
Click to expand...

I know, but damn, it's always true. I don't know what everyone has against the kick drum. Listen to the best rock mixes you can find. From AC/DC to Zep, you can hear the kick.
 
Hi guys thanks for the advice :) I've had another go at mixing it based on what you all said.

I spent a while on the kick drum and listening back I think I've over-compensated by making it too loud - however, I want you guys to hear this mix so you can really hear the kick track I'm working with as it may help you point me in the right direction. I EQ'd the kick like you said with a bit less sub (about 70Hz), a chunk carved out from 100Hz to about 1KHz and a slight boost at 3KHz.

The drummer uses huge drums and hits them very very hard which was a nightmare to record, we tried recording in an office (with no furniture) but the drums were just too loud and everything blurred together so we ended up doing it next door in the warehouse - hence all the drum reverb is coming from the overheads (and a bit I added on the snare). The kick drum is 24" and used a felt beater so I had trouble getting any "click" from it at all, the click you can hear I had to create by adding a noise gate with 0.1ms attack so its basically the sound of the gate opening. When recording the drums I angled the snare underside mic towards to kick beater a bit so there is a bit of kick slap in the snare track - could I maybe add an EQ boost on the snare underside track to bring that out?

I also did what you said and took the reverb off the guitars and put a low shelving EQ on all the guitars and turned them down a bit in the mix - what do you think? are they still too blurry? any more ideas?

I haven't trimmed the track down yet, so it starts a bit weirdly and there is still that long drawn out ending sorry - to be honest I didn't expect you guys to listen to the song all the way through - so thanks :D

John Lennon 3

^^^^^^^^ new version
 
i am currently just listening on computer speaker's but i think that is a great volume in the mix for the bass drum.
 
The kick has a good spot in the mix, maybe a hair too loud, but it just doesn't sound good. It kind of sounds like you're hitting a cardboard box with an old Chuck Taylor shoe. Cut some of the low mids and boost the way lows a little bit on the kick. Bring the snare up more. In a song like this, the snare has to pop. It should be as loud as the kick. You cleaned up the guitars and bass well.
 
I didn't hear the first mix, but on this one the snare needs to come up and the kick needs to come down.

The song isn't really my thing, but it's pretty rockin' nonetheless.
 
You have to retrack those drums. Have you ever heard of the B52 bass drum mic. Man that thing is so awesome. Don't have one myself, but you need it man. I second the cardboard comment. Too much happening at the end. Nobody wants to hear you create feedback by punching your guitar, sorry. I really like the vocal, and the song structure. Good start, keep it up.
 
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