CCCP mixing style ~ <-- (also, that is a tilde)

Khompewtur

Khompewtur

*Retired*
I'm not sure what to make of this. I spent Sunday/Monday on it, i imagine i'll probably need to come back and remix on 2's day but i wanted to get some preliminary ideas on what bugs might be jumping out at peeps (M) and peeplers (F).


Ok the song is "Gather" and it is here at this link below next to the sleeping uumlaut.


..


"Gather"
 
Hey Khompy,
Nice man! Nice ethereal guit tone.... really warm. The drums sound kinda wierd. Im not really crazy about the snare sound in this. It sounds kinda small and tight. ...Maybe a little more verb on it?... ....Oh, and hi-hats might be a nice addition, especially during the heavier section. ...after another listen, Im guessing that these are not the "finished" drums anyway. I really love the vocs in this, ....recorded and performed very nicely. Nice!
 
For the first minute I thought this wasn't the best guitar sound I've heard from you (and I've heard some good ones). When it kicks in at 1:13 the power-guits sound good. But that guit in the verse lacked midrange - sounded muffled and hollow. The little guit part in the intro (and elsewhere) had a little "bite" to it. Just a little harsh on the ears.

Very nice singing voice. Good harmonies - nice intertwining. I would like to hear some harmonies in the chorus. Vox, especially during the chorus, are a little on the dry side.

Nice reverb on the lead guit during the outro.
 
Khomp!!

From a songwriting standpoint this is, for me the most understandable of your songs to date.
The structure and the lyrics were all laid out very straight forward.
The guitar sounded good to me.
The vocals sounded like you meant what you were singing about.
Thats always VERY important.

I LIKED:D
 
I listened to this in the morning while sipping on the first cup o' joe and then had to hit the road so no time to reply. Here I am at work and can't listen again but what strikes me about this tune is that it was very strong in the melody department. Guitar tones were very nice also and they reminded me of something but couldn't put my finger on it. The drum sound was pretty mechanical/synthetic sounding and probably a bit too out front would be my main gripe. I suffer the same affliction so can relate.:) On a positive note, the production and song writing was very good and I liked this one a lot. You show a LOT of talent with this piece and it is worth polishing up in my opinion, so have at it. Nice work Khompewtur dude!
 
Gorgeous!

I think the guitars could sound a lot more brighter - a broader spectrum of tone - can't put it into words I guess - even the heavy rhythm gits could be a little brighter. The drums need some more interesting things to play - maybe Guernica's hi-hat suggestion would be the key - 16th notes with a nice accent on 2 and 4 - but not too loud because I wouldn't want anything to hide or crowd those..................
KILLER VOCALS!!!!! Man that's some of the nicest vocals I've heard - period! Harmonies fro above, my friend - just plain old wwonderful stuff!! The guitar playing is truly heartfelt - harmonics with feeling, brother!! Loved the solo - totally where I live. Excellent writing (separated by church and state of mind - man can I relate!!)
OK so I didn't just totally gush - there were some criticisms up there - but I gotta tell you I'd shell out lotsa Euros for a CD full of this writing and playing.
~Milan (I like tildes, too)
 
Ok, i love approaching mixing like it's object oriented programming vs. linear scripting.

It's soo SOOO much easier just to swap in an out diff reverbs, rooms, etc.. rather than having to go back to each track apply wash rinse repeat, etc..

I gave a larger reverb room to the drums and increased the wet/dry % to 35. I also applied a light 2% verb to the entire bed/drum combination to kinda glue-em together more. Hope that helps.



Samicide - hi sam! where you workin at anyway? See you asta la labora.

Guernica - Well i went back and revamped the master mix. I put the drum submix in a larger room and increased the wet/dry percentage to 35%. I dunno i have been scared recently to add verb to my drums i think im under-verbing. I've got underverbitis. I'm verboten. :p Anyway, maybe that will help blend them slightly. Thanks for the comp on the vox and the listen bro.

MMM mmm - The thing about this one is a lot of the vox were hanging out in a bell centered around the 1k range. If i didn't scoop the guits things really got obscured there, so the choice was easy. For the sake of the vox I had to gut 'em. I am playing around with restoring some 1k range to the dry verse guits. I took those intro guits down about 1db. Thanks for the listen and review.

HevyDan - Yeah i didn't go for any bells and whistles here, i just wanted a simple straightforward song and melody. I mean them lyrics for sure, themz for my honey-bunny. Thanks for the review Dan.

Zikes - I'm gonna try to keep refining this one. I shaded the drums with a bit more verb to try to help them blend into the mix better. Perhaps that will help. I also tried to keep more to a simple beat here rather than get out of hand, finding the middle ground is tough. Thanks for the encouragement and review Zikes.

MCGuitz - Thanks for the kind words Milan :p Yep, i've always got a few things to gripe about but hopefully i'll get one or two elements on target so that it at least makes it somewhat redeemable. Most of the guits have eq peaks above and below a 1k bell, probably what you are hearing is the 1k scoop. This was done to fit in the vox. I had to take it out, the vox were illegible without the cut. Perhaps I've taken too much of the lows out of them. I wanted the bass to kinda have it's own area so most of the guits should be middy sounding. Anyway, i really appreciate the listen Milan thank you.
 
Khompenator,
Your vocs steal the show on this! Nice impact. Guitar sounds are really nice as usually. I like how you come up with a lot of different sounds ala Sammy. I thought the chorus guitars could have had a little more guitar impact, but you touched on that. I thought the verb on the drums helped for sure. I really would like to hear you take the hi-hat suggestion. I think they could come in in the first chorus and go through the rest of the song. I think you could use the closed and open hi-hat for some syncapation and throw in the ride for a change up in sounds. Some rhythm stability would be my vote there. Have we had this discussion before? :eek: ;) :D

Wonderful songwriting. Melody and lyrics are first rate. Nice work!
 
Sweet!!

Really nice piece, just a few things.

When the guitars kick in we lose the vocals, bring them up just a touch throughout. The words are worth hearing.

The guitars might stand a little more on the top end, if you are equeing them, don't kill all the highs. If you are compressing, back off just a little.

Nice tune
 
this is way cool

No engineering or mix responses. Just responding to the song in general.
KICK ASS

I like the way this song feels and sounds in general. Love the intro sound of the guitar, dreamy and fluid. Nice solo electric, especially on the fade out.

Just good work and good sound, I'm going to listen to some of your other stuff now. Nice.
Peace, Silver
 
My ears are fried, and I'm in an mean disco mood. Not the best time to listen to your tune, but I'll do it anyway LOL

Heh, I like poppy Khompy (not really poppy, more Type O poppy...if you know what I mean). Beautiful song. Nice sounds. Very well sung, man!

Very warm sound. Bit too warm, actually :) . Bass is very boomy. The mix itself is very midrangy.

You need a better mic too! :)

But I really like the song. The guitarsolo touches my soul. It's simple, but totally spot on!

Sounds like everything can be fixed with proper eq.
 
Very good song K. I really like the guitar work in this. Sets a strong mood.

You already know the drums could be replaced by something better.

The vocals are lacking in definition. Is that a chorus effect on them? I'd consider cutting that down if so (or whatever effect it is). You have a lot of guitar stuff here. So try opening up your Cakewalk EQ (or your preferred EQ plugin) and cutting some 400-500Hz area out of the vocal. You may need to raise the gain a little to compensate, but you should come through a little more clearly. That's what it sounds like to me anyway. And you may even be able to keep some of the effects at the levels you want them. Run your EQ before any other effects in the chain. Disable the effects, get the EQ right, then mix in the effects. That puts you in control. Just some thoughts that might be worth trying.

Great tune!

Tom
 
SLuiCe said:
The vocals are lacking in definition. Is that a chorus effect on them? I'd consider cutting that down if so (or whatever effect it is).
Click to expand...

Man, I'm glad I read that someone else mentioned that effect on the vox. I was beginning to think I was the only one who really thought it was too much. I'd cut that effect out altogether, it's kind of distracting.

Everything else about it is pretty damn good.

My 2cents...
 
Ok quick, note before i run out for the evening.

I made some of the suggested changes.

Cut vox in 400-500k, seemed to open up some clarity, was able to move the guitars into the vacated eq.

Was using a "doubler" fx on the vox I switched that to a short delay, that also seemed to open up a little clarity.

Took a bit off the bottom of the bass eq, maybe cut boominess.

Didn't limit the instrument mix as much this time.



Overall I think all the suggestions have been very helpful. I will be back later to respond individually to this and other threads. Cya.
 
everytime I was ready to reply there was a new mix..

first, this is another good tune! the best part is the vocals.. good sound to your voice.. nice guitar solo!

the mix is strange.. the bass is pretty boomy, and the drum programming is not good.. some of the solos seemed loud.. like the mellow solo part @1:50 shouldn't seem louder than the heavy part.. I'm also hearing some crackle in the heavy parts.. It would be cool if you could get Tom's vocal sound..

bottom line, the drums are the worst thing besides the boomy bass and overall lack of fidelity..

excellent tune, vocals and solos!
 
Ok so much for my ventures into drumming. I guess i should go back to pattern programming. If it weren't for being able to fall back on songwriting I guess I'd be up shit's creek.


skids - I gotta figure out what exactly to try with that hi-hat thing. Does that mean closed hi-hat on 16th's or do you open it on 2 & 4? I will test some stuff like that out.


silverhammer - That's the first time i ever heard anyone say they'd listen to something additional because of a track i posted. Hopefully the others will be able to hold up under scrutiny. Thanks for the listen.

Pedullist - Thanks for listening. Yep im still working with that sm57, everytime I get recommendation or ideas there always another mic that pops up or whatever. There are so many choices, perhaps if i just wait quietly another one will present itself.

Sluice - I followed your vox suggestions and they seemed to work exactly as you mentioned. A cut at 400-500 freed up some clutter and worked well. In terms of the drums, no i did not realize that they needed something better, honestly i thought what i had was fine. I'll look again.

ChristopherM - I had to scrap the original effect, it was the waves doubler, which unfortunately i don't own and the trial ran out YESTERDAY! so i had to go with something new. I kept it more toned down this time and hopefully they will remain articulate. I appreciate the kind words and thank you for the review.

Sabbath - Thanks for the listen and feedback Sam. I will try to fix the bass, levels between the sections, the drums, the vocals. Not sure exactly what you mean by saying i need Tom's vox sound here. I will allow myself to doubt, but not when it comes to the heartfelt. Anyway, i'm tempted to dwell on the positive, here's to faith.
 
Yeah the drums are a little lack luster. A real drummer would fill up the sound behind those solos..

I really liked the tune, took me to another place.

I think you can come back in with a little more bass, it seems to be to buried. The kick was right there, just match the bass up to the same feel as the kcik and its done to my ears.
 
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