Looking for Feedback - Coming Home (Pop Punk)

A

apelayo42

New member
Hi,

I've started recording and mixing at home to keep me busy during the pandemic. Been learning how to mix for a few months already.

I need help/ ideas on what else I can do to make the song sound more polished.

The first chorus and bridge still need fixing.

The song is a Pop Punk song - think Blink 182, New Found Glory

Gear used:
-Studio One DAW
-Audiobox 96 interface
-SM58 mic
-KlarknTeknik DI box
-PRS SE with 59 and JB
-Squier P Bass
-Amplitube 5 Dual Rec sim
-Ampire bass amp sim

Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
 

Attachments

I like that tune - the vocals perfectly capture the period. The first thing that jumped out at me was the bass. It's weak overall, then really drops out at the 2:17 mark. If you have it in your AmpliTube stable, try switching the bass to the GK MB 150 and raise it's fader in the mix.
 
spantini said:
I like that tune - the vocals perfectly capture the period. The first thing that jumped out at me was the bass. It's weak overall, then really drops out at the 2:17 mark. If you have it in your AmpliTube stable, try switching the bass to the GK MB 150 and raise it's fader in the mix.
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I'll check out the GK MB.

Any thoughts on how to get the guitars to be more round/bold? I'm thinking of going to a friends studio and mic'ing a proper amp but I'd prefer to keep my tools digital.
 
I would get the bass in there first, that will help fill out some of those frequencies. The guitars will blend in better and sound a bit fuller just from that.

I'm mainly a bass player myself, perhaps some of the guitarists around here would help you get the sound you're after.
 
spantini said:
I would get the bass in there first, that will help fill out some of those frequencies. The guitars will blend in better and sound a bit fuller just from that.

I'm mainly a bass player myself, perhaps some of the guitarists around here would help you get the sound you're after.
Click to expand...
I agree, the bass should be able to fill in the lower register. I also wouldn't hard pan the two guitars as much. It gives too much of a hole in the middle. All I really hear is the vocal, and a small bit of drums until the vocal goes away.

If you think the guitars need more bottom, you can alway bump the 100Hz range a bit and maybe suck out some upper mids, around 7-800. Maybe the Dual Rec isn't the right model for what you're wanting. Or it might just need different settings. They have tone controls just like a real amp, y'know!
 
I'll just say I gave it a listen. The drums weren't very dynamic, just the same low level throughout.
This is a genre isn't it. I've heard quite a few songs like this.
 
I felt the guitar sound was fine but the guitars were too loud and hiding everything else. I'd bring them down and then compress the overall mix to make things sound more powerful.
 
Hi All! Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it.

Things that I'll try:

1. Push bass forward
2. Blend in guitars with high cut/ low cut + boost if needed
3. Add more dynamics to the drums
4. Play around with overall compression to make overall more powerful
 
Yeah, try all that - it's fun and sometimes instructive to try out things that other people hear. But keep in mind that the only thing I'd do with this one is first, bring the vocals up 1 dB and second, bring the drums up about 3 dB. This one's about the drums, vocal and guitars. Get that right, and the bass will start to take care of itself.

Nice tune.
 
dobro said:
Yeah, try all that - it's fun and sometimes instructive to try out things that other people hear. But keep in mind that the only thing I'd do with this one is first, bring the vocals up 1 dB and second, bring the drums up about 3 dB. This one's about the drums, vocal and guitars. Get that right, and the bass will start to take care of itself.

Nice tune.
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Let me try this out before tearing apart the mix!
 
Rather than bringing things up, it is often better to think the opposite way. I'd recommend bringing down the things that are getting in the way rather than bringing up the things you can't hear.
 
I think your immediate issues with the mix are:

1. Levels are off as mentioned above.
2. EQ is lacking high end.
3. Saturation/distortion need addressing as does reverb.
4. You've 'mastered' this pretty hot and the dynamics are quite crushed so I'd be carefully looking at the compression and limiter settings.

There will be more to do to get a 'more polished' sound but start with that and you should get it sounding more Blink-182 and less lofi:




There are a few timing and tuning issues that could do with attending to (this is a polite way of saying give the tracking another go if this is the best you have, unless of course you're happy with it as it is).
 
Last edited:
HumanPlanet said:
I think your immediate issues with the mix are:

1. Levels are off as mentioned above.
2. EQ is lacking high end.
3. Saturation/distortion need addressing as does reverb.
4. You've 'mastered' this pretty hot and the dynamics are quite crushed so I'd be carefully looking at the compression and limiter settings.

There will be more to do to get a 'more polished' sound but start with that and you should get it sounding more Blink-182 and less lofi:

View attachment 120387


There are a few timing and tuning issues that could do with attending to (this is a polite way of saying give the tracking another go if this is the best you have, unless of course you're happy with it as it is).
Click to expand...
Hey HP, thanks for the feedback.

I'm planning to retrack the guitars since I'm asked a drummer friend to do a pass with acoustic drums.

Did you do anything specific to the track that you posted?
 
jamesperrett said:
Rather than bringing things up, it is often better to think the opposite way. I'd recommend bringing down the things that are getting in the way rather than bringing up the things you can't hear.
Click to expand...
Thanks James... With my current version, I turned down the guitar tracks and the bass to bring the vocals+drums more forward.
 
apelayo42 said:
Did you do anything specific to the track that you posted?
Click to expand...

Hiya, not a lot.

Added a +3dBish bell at around 7k and a high shelf (at around 10k i think, again at +3dBish) to open up the high end, added saturation and put a short (.37 sec) barely there hall reverb over it. That's it I think, it wasn't much.

Don't do any of this when you revisit the mix and use good reference tracks to guide you.
 
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