How's my drum sound?

Not trying to be a prick, but...The band is happy with this???? Honestly, it sounds fricking horrible. Are there really drums in that "mix"? I can barely hear them. It's horrible besides that anyway, but the drums are inaudible on top of it. There's the occasional snare that can be heard. But, if you told me there is no bass drum in this recording, I'd believe you. Other than that, the overall mix sounds like it's coming out of a 1968 transistor radio.

I agree with this.

That's really bad. You're doing a disservice to yourself by being involved with those retards.
 
I don't know you guys, I think youre being a bit harsh on them. I don't know how much experience they have with recording and mixing, but if they came to this site as newbies looking for help, would you really just put them down and call them retarded? I mean, I was looking at this as a great learning experience, and I think I can learn a lot. I dont think Im doing ANY disservice to myself.
 
I don't know you guys, I think youre being a bit harsh on them. I don't know how much experience they have with recording and mixing, but if they came to this site as newbies looking for help, would you really just put them down and call them retarded? I mean, I was looking at this as a great learning experience, and I think I can learn a lot. I dont think Im doing ANY disservice to myself.

Okay then, fair enough. What have you learned, besides the fact that your drum tracks are being wasted in a terrible mix? What exactly are you trying to learn from this? You said this in your original post:

Im just wondering what youre thoughts are on the actual sound of the drums.

We can't really tell what the "actual sound of the drums" is like because the mix is so shitty. That's pretty much all we're saying. Your drums could potentially be the next coming of Christ, but we'll never know because the mix is so bad. I know everyone's tastes are different, but a bad mix is a bad mix. If I had drummed this, I'd be pissed if this was the end result.
 
Well, I guess besides learning more about the process of recording, Im learning what a truly bad mix is... haha

There's the saying: "Garbage in-garbage out". What I heard of your playing ability certainly didn't sound like garbage, so you should be royally pissed to be so represented. It sounded like pretty good drumming in-garbage out.
A good recording tech can really enhance a bad drum performance (look what they do with Lars drumming on the old stuff). A good recording tech can polish the sound of a good performance and make it really shine. I'd almost rather hear a really mediocre performance that is polished than a good performance that is butchered in the studio, because it hurts too much.
You need something to work with. You need a good audio picture of the different parts of your kit so that you can adjust the mix. This means snare, kick, toms and cymbals. For the type of music you are playing, I think you need at least four channels and possibly more. Then you need to do an isolated mix of just your playing and when you have that good mix, bring in the other instruments one at a time and place them in a good place in the mix and adjust each individually. Then you'll spend a lot of time doing the final mix and this may require going back and adjusting each of the individual isolated tracks to enhance things that may have gotten lost or overshadowed once you started mixing these things together. This wasn't done in this recording and I'm hearing a lot of cancellations (things competing in the same place).
It's a lot of work and can't be rushed. Especially in a "long distance mix".
 
Its not bad if this is your first time with stuff like this, but like others are saying, it could be better.

Use a reference track and work off of that for now. Listen to each instrument and compare it to other instruments.
 
Don't mind the harsh comments, there are some people on here that think their knowledge is too high to be tempered with when the new people come in and try to learn a thing or two.

And you wonder why there aren't any colleges that offer a degree in Audio Engineering...

But despite that. Everyone starts from someplace. So of course when you start out somewhere it's not going to sound the most amazing thing in the world. Probably no where near either. But there is always room for improvement, which of course is why your here. But of course, there are some that look to it as a way of just showboating their knowledge and downsize other recordings instead of just giving tips and kindly stating what is wrong and how to fix it.

Onto the drums, not too bad, I listened to the most recent upload you did, as of now it has that 60s/70s beach music sound to it. So to one it may sound decent, to another just plain bad. As of course there is the old sound and the new sound. Old sound is where music is more open and tracking was very minimal or just nonexistent, and modern sound where everything is in your face and every crook and cranny of your rig is miked.

So I can't really comment on the sound of your drums unless you or the band tell us what feel or style you're aiming for. Because the outcome of the recording will have to reflect that style, and if you do it wrong, then you're in for a world of hate. So if they say it's good, then by all means they're happy and you've done your job. If you think otherwise, say a few things.

Don't be intimidated by anything rash and harsh said on here, if anything, they're just opinions, no one says you have to do what they say. If you don't like it, then don't do it, instead, look to it as "Will doing this improve my sound according to my terms and what I want out of my mix?".

But aside to the matter, this is a great place to gather information to further indulge your knowledge in recording. But of course there will be the stuck ups and pompous types that feel this is just a place to make themselves look better, so it's just best to ignore them and not comment, as it will only fuel a hungry fire.
 
Don't mind the harsh comments, there are some people on here that think their knowledge is too high to be tempered with when the new people come in and try to learn a thing or two.

And you wonder why there aren't any colleges that offer a degree in Audio Engineering...

But despite that. Everyone starts from someplace. So of course when you start out somewhere it's not going to sound the most amazing thing in the world. Probably no where near either. But there is always room for improvement, which of course is why your here. But of course, there are some that look to it as a way of just showboating their knowledge and downsize other recordings instead of just giving tips and kindly stating what is wrong and how to fix it.

Onto the drums, not too bad, I listened to the most recent upload you did, as of now it has that 60s/70s beach music sound to it. So to one it may sound decent, to another just plain bad. As of course there is the old sound and the new sound. Old sound is where music is more open and tracking was very minimal or just nonexistent, and modern sound where everything is in your face and every crook and cranny of your rig is miked.

So I can't really comment on the sound of your drums unless you or the band tell us what feel or style you're aiming for. Because the outcome of the recording will have to reflect that style, and if you do it wrong, then you're in for a world of hate. So if they say it's good, then by all means they're happy and you've done your job. If you think otherwise, say a few things.

Don't be intimidated by anything rash and harsh said on here, if anything, they're just opinions, no one says you have to do what they say. If you don't like it, then don't do it, instead, look to it as "Will doing this improve my sound according to my terms and what I want out of my mix?".

But aside to the matter, this is a great place to gather information to further indulge your knowledge in recording. But of course there will be the stuck ups and pompous types that feel this is just a place to make themselves look better, so it's just best to ignore them and not comment, as it will only fuel a hungry fire.
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

If you're addressing one particular person, other than the OP, then you should address that person or persons directly. By throwing it out there as "they", I have to assume you're addressing everyone that didn't pat him on the back and tell him everything's great.

Nobody was being harsh and nobody was talking down to him. We were giving him our opinions on the mix and drum sound, which is what he asked for. It's not even HIS mix, so our opinions about it aren't even directed at him.

You think the drum sound is "not bad"??? :confused::confused::confused: Well, that's your opinion. But you're not doing him any favors. The best advice that ever helped me improve here was honest advice (the kind that you'd call "harsh").

no one says you have to do what they say
Exactly. Nobody said he has to do what they say, so what's your problem? You have a bigger problem with it then he does. Maybe he's not as "sensitive" :laughings: as you, and realizes it's good and honest advice.

He's a big boy, he can speak for himself if something bothers him about the responses he gets.:rolleyes:
 
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Nobody was being harsh and nobody was talking down to him. We were giving him our opinions on the mix and drum sound, which is what he asked for. It's not even HIS mix, so our opinions about it aren't even directed at him.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^

That ninja guy is way off on this one.
 
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