"Of Course Sick" master

Level Anything

Level Anything

Member
Hi,

You all really helped me with my last post and I was wondering if you'd give me some feedback on this recent master. I'm thinking of submitting this as the leadoff track for my debut coming out next March. It's a different song then I usually write but I like the energy and it's fun to play live. Anyways, I recorded this to my Fostex Model 80 which is an 8-track reel to reel machine that uses 1/4" tape. I mixed it in Logic and mastered it in Ozone 7. I'm pretty happy with the results and feel that the energy is right and it has a good presence. My only thing is that the guitars could come down a dB or so. Please give it a listen and let me know what you think. Thanks!

https://soundcloud.com/defnder/of-course-sick
 
I must first ask if it is a dark muddy type of sound that you are going for? I don't wish to be disrespectful but there is no definition here IMO. I bet you are mixing on headphones...

Good tones seem to be in there but it all seems washed. No clarity. Very mono in the mix and that is making it tough for me to distinguish any instruments. Your lyrics are very hard to hear in this mix. That should be #1 for you in this type of song in my opinion.

I like what you are going for tho. Cool tune but the darkness of the mix is well....dark..
 
+1 on everything Jimmy said except that I can hear some stereo on the drums at least.
It's super dark, especially on the drums and vocals. ("Dark" guitars and bass just sound heavy, which at this tempo isn't really a problem)
 
How's a fairly broad dip around 240 sound? I did -6 which is a lot to lay on a mix, but..
A quickie' on 240's phones, meant to 'suggest the pile-up down there.

Interesting the 'very mono comments. The guitars are close to hard L/R (the left at least) and the bass is left'ish mixing it up with other stuff down there (guitar low end?) in sort of 'center and left movement. To me not a bad thing -the movement, but part of what would be good to sort out down in the body of the mix.
 
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Thanks for the notes!

I did this on an old 8-track, so I wasn't really reaching for the heights of fidelity, but I also wasn't going for a muddy sound. I mixed this on my new monitors (JBL LSR305's) and I'm beginning to notice that they accentuate the highs so I should try to tune them in cuz this doesn't really sound muddy here until I listen from my headphones and notice it kinda does. The recording of this song was pretty crazy. I did the instrumental on 8 tracks of the Fostex and then mixed that in Logic, sent it back to a stereo pair on the tape machine and the did 5 vocal takes and a backwards guitar track. I think that when I mixed the guitar/bass/drums/synth tracks down to two tracks on my Fostex it kinda darkened it. As for the vocals, I listened to a lot of Jesus Lizard growing up so I like that David Yow/singing from the trunk of a car style in some of my more weirder sounding stuff so the obscured vocals were definitely on purpose. I am going to bring them up a touch though.

@mixit
I appreciate the specific freq suggestion. I'll check it out and see what happens. Thanks!
 
Level Anything said:
Thanks for the notes!

I did this on an old 8-track, so I wasn't really reaching for the heights of fidelity, but I also wasn't going for a muddy sound. I mixed this on my new monitors (JBL LSR305's) and I'm beginning to notice that they accentuate the highs so I should try to tune them in cuz this doesn't really sound muddy here until I listen from my headphones and notice it kinda does. The recording of this song was pretty crazy. I did the instrumental on 8 tracks of the Fostex and then mixed that in Logic, sent it back to a stereo pair on the tape machine and the did 5 vocal takes and a backwards guitar track. I think that when I mixed the guitar/bass/drums/synth tracks down to two tracks on my Fostex it kinda darkened it. As for the vocals, I listened to a lot of Jesus Lizard growing up so I like that David Yow/singing from the trunk of a car style in some of my more weirder sounding stuff so the obscured vocals were definitely on purpose. I am going to bring them up a touch though. ..
Click to expand...
Spend some time a/b'ing your mixes with some commercial tracks you like. Good to inject some comparisons like that along the way in the mix process. Plus it helps in learning your monitoring situation.

@mixit
I appreciate the specific freq suggestion. I'll check it out and see what happens. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Thanks. But do take that with a big dose of slat- and as what it was- a 'for example' 'ax cut' to a mixed two-track.
..Just to say, in most cases, the better solutions are back in the mixes.
 
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Agree with the others. It's missing a lot of high end. It is too strong in the low and in the low midrange.

The drums are way behind the other tracks in the mix. It's mostly guitars with a bit of vocal. Everything else is getting clobbered.

Ya know... it's kind of a cool vibe. It could be a cool song if it's done right.

edit - I'd get all the reverb out of it for now. Get the mix issues addressed first. Reverb later.
 
I think the guitars and bass are a little loud and the drums are too far in the back of the mix. The bass especially is boomy. It is almost to the point of distracting - that is to say you've got some nice weaving melodies on the guitars but the bass is covering it to a degree. The end is refreshingly balanced by comparison. It's a great contrast IMO but I think if you put a little more control on the other parts, it will still stand up nicely. Hope this helps!
 
@mixsit. Gotcha. I've been listening to some reference tracks today.

@TripleM. I'm going to tune the reverb up and maybe put a LPF on the buss as I think a lot of the boom is coming from that.

@ ibleedburgundy. At this point the drums/guitar/bass are set in stone. What I'm taking away from these comments is that I need to reign in my bass and bring more clarity to the vocals. I just scooped out a little around 120-220 Hz and it opened up the highs, so I think I'm on the right path.

Thanks again
 
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