first real mix ... experimental post-hardcore? maybe?

T

thecugga

New member
Hi,

This is my first real mix, and I havent been doing this for very long.
Im just gettin into buying recording shit too so my setup is still pretty weak, but here it is:
im recording pearl export drums and a cheap casio keyboard
with two SP B1's, an imitation 58 on kick, and an old akg d40s i found laying around reinforcing the snare
thru a mackie 1202 (used only as mic pres)
into a delta 44
mixed on sonar 4 PE

This mix is pretty raw, with effects only on the kick and some vocals, and no eq'ing or compression or anything else.

The tune is called "second coming of foo". I think it sounds pretty good, But that'll probably be just me.

If you guys could actually check the tune out and give me some of your wisdom that would be great. Comment on everything from the recording all the way down to the actual song itself and what you think about it.

If you guys could help me out that would be great!!

Thanks!

ohya ... heres a link to the tune

www.purevolume.com/mlviiwheredreamscometodie

song is the second coming of foo (NEW)
 
anyone have any help, critiques, suggestions etc???
i think ive actually written a decent tune finally, 3rd ones a charm. if you like this type of music i think u'll like it. plus i would like to think its my first decent mix.

thanks
 
I like the song itself, but the performance and recording was lacking (I think you know this). I'd invest in a better kick mic. There's quite a few that are meant specifically for mic'ing kicks. The rest of the kit sounds decent, maybe throw that imitation 58 onto the snare? Does your cheap Casio keyboard have MIDI controlling capabilities? I think your synths would sound a lot better if it was coming from a softsynth rather than Casio. The vocals need some compression, some reverb, and some re-tracking. Work on your voice a bit more, it sounds really nasally to me (maybe the effect you were going for?). Also, fool around with the EQ quite a bit. I really like the song though, my style most definately. Good job and good luck!
 
Dream Theater fan? Sounds a lot like their earlier stuff, sans the angry mongrel vocals :p (I mean that affectionately of course).

Recording is, like you said, very raw. There's some things you can do in the interim to bring things together. First, this needs a bass line of some sort. Even a heavy synth bass would work. And don't have it follow the keys, they have a nice melodic feel going on. Something grungy ;). Second, normalize the mix in soundforge or cool edit or whatever advanced wave editting tool you have at your disposal (suggest normalizing at -14db RMS). This will kinda squeeze the instruments together, and bring the volume of the overall mix up. Third, when making MP3s there's no reason you shouldn't be using VBR (variable bit rate) Find/download a free converter like cdex (what I use). Any MP3 converter that uses the Lame codec will suffice, as they all have VBR capabiltiies. VBR will increase the quality of your MP3s without ballooning the file size too much. In its current state the recording is suffering from low bit rate syndrome.

If your host is limiting/forcing you to upload at standard (such as 128kbps) bitrate, find another host.

Overall I wasn't all that impressed, partly because screaming isn't my tastes but I also understand this isn't really complete yet, and there are some things I do like (the drumming, for the most part - and the keyboards work).
 
Pinky said:
Dream Theater fan? Sounds a lot like their earlier stuff, sans the angry mongrel vocals :p (I mean that affectionately of course).

Recording is, like you said, very raw. There's some things you can do in the interim to bring things together. First, this needs a bass line of some sort. Even a heavy synth bass would work. And don't have it follow the keys, they have a nice melodic feel going on. Something grungy ;). Second, normalize the mix in soundforge or cool edit or whatever advanced wave editting tool you have at your disposal (suggest normalizing at -14db RMS). This will kinda squeeze the instruments together, and bring the volume of the overall mix up. Third, when making MP3s there's no reason you shouldn't be using VBR (variable bit rate) Find/download a free converter like cdex (what I use). Any MP3 converter that uses the Lame codec will suffice, as they all have VBR capabiltiies. VBR will increase the quality of your MP3s without ballooning the file size too much. In its current state the recording is suffering from low bit rate syndrome.

If your host is limiting/forcing you to upload at standard (such as 128kbps) bitrate, find another host.
Click to expand...

theres a download page that has the mp3. its actually in 192kbps. its at a perfectly acceptable volume level and i doubt normalizing it would do much.


anyway, the distorted screaming vocals are absolutely terrible. i will never understand why people do that. i think if you stepped off the mic and stood a few feet away and got some room in there it would sound considerably better. then again if its in a bad sounding room it will just sound bad. but really i think you'd benefit most from a better drum sound. right now it sounds hollow and almost fake. since its the entire rhythm of the song it is making the entire song sound empty. also the keyboard is out of rhythm a lot in the beginning.
 
Hey, thanks for all the replys and suggestions.

First, yeah I do plan on purchasing a bass drum mic once i get some more cash together (d6) but until then i gotta work with what i have at my disposal.

Ive had someone else tell me before that the drums sound almost fake and I dont hear it nor have any idea why?!? I use the overhead miking technique where the left OH is 2 stick lengths directly over snare, and the right is 2 stick lenghts away from the snare, above my right shoulder and thought I was getting good results. Anything I could do to correct this? Or do you think my problem is more in the mixing after everything is recorded?
Any tips for mixing drums? Because once I get them recorded im pretty clueless as to what to do next.
Generally I'll double up the snare track, EQ the bass drum alot b/c of the lack of a kick mic, and sometiems throw the OH's to a stereo track with lots of compression and bring this track just up to where u can barely hear it.
Should I use more EQ and compression? Also, ive read dont use too much EQ so i stayed away from it for the most part. When eq'ing is it generally a better idea to do tracks separately (ie just the overheads) or eq the entire drum track at once? Some help in this area would be greatly appreciated, and sounds like its needed.

As for the keyboard, its hurtin, only has a headphone output. I plan to play it thru my PA and mic it when I go back to school if im recording it and see how that goes.

My singing voice i'll agree isnt good, but im not the singer in the band. I just sang on this tune cause my bandmates all live in different cities in the summer and im writing my own tunes over the summer months to keep me occupied. Although i've been told I could probably sing NOFX tunes well and fat mike is the king of nasally vocals so i guess its all true.
I had to distort the screaming cause I havent screamed in about 3 months (same with drums, and yea I was pretty sloppy) and when I stepped up to the mic I sounded like I did the first day I began screaming. So distorting it made it easier on the ears if you can fathom. I will try getting back from the mic when recording screams next time and i'll see how that works, thanks. I'll have to disagree with you and say that i'm a fan of distorted screaming. I heard it on some songs by Chiodos and liked it so decided to try it. I dont think i'll ever use it again once my voice gets back into shape but I generally do like how it sounds. So agree to disagree ... when im rome...(for all the Anchor Man fans)

I agree that the whole thing sounds a bit empty. I was thinking about adding a keyboard bassline to the song, maybe i'll try it cause i DO think it would make a big difference.

What i am focusing on for the rest of the summer is getting the drums to sound good. When it comes time to seriously record something i'll have a d6 for kick and an i5, 57, or e609 (guitarist is buying the 4th mic to be used on guitar and snare) on snare. So if you hear something that I should be doing differently with the drums or just have any general tips I could put to use that would be great.

Thanks!

btw ive never heard of Dream Theatre but i'll look into them. I think more influence on the song came from music such as older Underoath tunes (Angel Below is a perfect example). Check it out if you like screams and keyboards!!

peace
 
treymonfauntre said:
i doubt normalizing it would do much.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree.



The original was -19db RMS, I did a -14 RMS normalization and used Soundforge's medium quality VBR codec. Once a bassline is added normalization will help. A -19 RMS mix is pretty weak by today's production standards. Filesize with VBR also dropped from 7MB to 5MB. ;)
 
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