Instruments only mix...

M

mikemoritz

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Can you guys give a quick listen to this minute and a half clip I did of this band I'm recording? I'm trying to get everything balanced while still having enough power in the guitars. Please lemme know what could use some work or what already does work. It's getting to the point where I'm second guessing stuff and could use some other opinions.



Thanks guys,
Mike
 
The drummer gets a little loose in some of the breaks but that's neither here nor there. The drum level sounds OK but the cymbals are a little harsh. The guitar could be a little more aggressive. Maybe a little boost around 2-3K or double track it to thicken it up.
 
i could only listen for a second (I'm at work). The guitars definitely need to be doubled. Try doubling and panning hard left and right. Then add a slight delay to one side. Will make it much bigger.
 
I hear ya on the cymbals...I'll fix that. About the guitar though, for some reason, my ears are hearing it fine. By "aggressive" do you mean overall louder? or just like a 2-3 db boost? I'll try the 2-3K boost, but I'm worried then the guitars will take the harsh tone and well, I'll be back at square one. As the "making it bigger", I don't think I'll need too. I already took 3-4 different tracks and panned them pretty hard. To me, the guitar sounds ok, but I shall try the boost. Any other ideas? How does the whole low end of the track sound?

You guys rock,
Mike
 
The guitar definitely needs to be doubled.Right now it just sounds like a mono recording......very bla'say and bland.....the guitar has a brown tone and needs to be a little brighter..doubling and then hard panning would probably take care of that without any eq adjustments......have you ever doubled guitar parts?.....if not the the boost in the 2-3 k range that Track Rat Suggested should fix it.....If you want this to be comparable to modern recordings you should double the guitar.

Drums sound pretty good but the cymbals are a little harsh/hot on the high end.
 
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Alright, I took to advice some of the suggestions. Lemme know what you all think of the new mix.



Thanks a bunch,
Mike
 
You gave the guitar some edge without it getting harsh.I hear an improvement from the first mix for sure.I still dont hear a double guitar.:eek: ;)
 
Alrighty,

Well, here's the final mix I make before going to bed. I tried my best to get a "double guitar" sound out of a single distortion track. I layered it and put some echo on the left channel. Lemme know what you think. And thanks again for all the help.



Mike
 
the 2nd mix is better than the first, but the third,..your reverb is almost like a fast delay also...and tends to throw the timing off even more. I don't nec. feel that doubling is always the answer, but it sure works to thicken things up. Van Halen never needed to double up his stuff, nor any of most of the other guitar greats...mainly because their playing and tone stood on their own. The guitar sound is very mid-rangy sounding to begin with, and isn't a nice smoooothe tone that is really pleasing, imo. Kinda like if SRV decided to wail some power chords with his lead sound...and this is more a lead sound your guitar player has, but he's bashing some power triads instead. Additionally, I don't really hear much of what the bass is contributing, tending to make things even more mid-rangy sounding. Boosting the suggested frequencies seemed to help round out the guitar a little bit, but if you could take a step backwards, and work on the guitar tone to begin with, I think you'd find mixing a lot easier. Maybe try some MILD chorus on the guitar, and spread it out stereo...in an attempt to mimic a 2nd guitar. It might also just make the overall guitar sound a little more pleasing to. The drum timing is another issue.
 
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