Need help mixing an alternative "math rock" song

E

eRazed

New member
Hi everyone,

I'm the singer/guitarist of a new alternative mathy rock band from Bristol, UK. We've been doing some "bedroom" recordings for demos.

I've been working on the mix for this new demo... I was wondering how I could improve it. Bare in mind that I cannot change the intrinsic drum mix, as that was mixed at the recording stage (which is a shame because the cymbals are too loud.)
 

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  • Iron Chef - Cook Off and Die.mp3
    6.7 MB · Views: 52
Yeah the drums are pretty brutal. They definitely don't fit with the rest of the mix. Great drumming, but it sounds bad. The guitars get pretty spiky in spots. I like the raw tones for the most part, but some notes get pretty ear shredding. The vocals seem mushy and dark and too low in the mix. The bass has no definition. But without being able to fix the drums, you're fighting an uphill battle.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah the drums are pretty brutal. They definitely don't fit with the rest of the mix. Great drumming, but it sounds bad. The guitars get pretty spiky in spots. I like the raw tones for the most part, but some notes get pretty ear shredding. The vocals seem mushy and dark and too low in the mix. The bass has no definition. But without being able to fix the drums, you're fighting an uphill battle.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. Well it's only a demo so it's not something that needs to sound "good" per se. I'm just trying to work towards something that sounds a bit less crap... How would I go about bringing more "definition" to the bass? Essentially, any tips on EQ-ing the tracks in order to provide a "better" mix would be greatly appreciated.
 
eRazed said:
Thanks a lot. Well it's only a demo so it's not something that needs to sound "good" per se. I'm just trying to work towards something that sounds a bit less crap... How would I go about bringing more "definition" to the bass? Essentially, any tips on EQ-ing the tracks in order to provide a "better" mix would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


I can't tell you what to do with your bass track. You have to decide that on your own. But since definition is what's lacking to me, I'd start with scooping out the boomy, muddy frequencies with a narrow bandwith and see what that does. That could be anywhere between 60-500hz. Draw a spike with a parametric EQ, and boost the hell out of it. Then sweep it across the frequency range while the whole mix is playing. Wherever the bass becomes unbearable, reverse the spike into a cut and cut as much as you need. Once you have the low end tighter, do the same spike and sweep in the upper mids and highs and find the attack. When you find it, drop the boost and widen the band so you get some clean high end in the bass track that doesn't sound spiky.
 
I made a few changes to the mix. You can listen to it here: soundcloud. com/realironchef/cook-off-and-die-demo
 
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