One of my favorite clients!

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mrhotapples

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These guys have been working with me for a bit under two years now and they've gone from being a progressive metal band to whatever you'd call this:

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=18527

We're going to do vocals today and they'll probably want a mix right quick, so I'm looking for some advice. I think the bass could do to come up a bit but my ears are tired. I'm not enjoying the toms (Their drummer muffles the SHIT out of his toms) so I might try to sample replace but we'll see.
 
It sounds pretty tight. I don't particularly like the guitar tone, but that is subjective . . . it's just a bit boring to me. The kick and snare sound good. I don't like the trash cymbal used towards the end. I didn't hear anything too bad with the toms. Sometimes it seems that the drum mix is super wide on fills. Not a problem with that, if you like it. . . To me tho, it just sounded a bit unnatural. The drums overall sound good, but a bit dry. Is there a room mic in the mix that you could throw into the mix? Ovarall, great, my comments are completely subjective so take with a grain of salt.

Also, for disclosure, I should mention that I'm listening at quite a low volume because of the hour . . . if listening at a descent volume, my comments could be different.
 
it sounds good. i personally don't like the sound of the kick or the toms, but if that's the way the drummer likes em then so be it. if it were me i'd tune the toms and kick so there's more resonance and less of a thud.
 
Yup, bass up. Barely hear it

I like everything else. The guits are split a lot...but with the bass filling up the middle, might be just fine.

Drummer: serious chops. Jazz student who fell in with a bad crowd? :^) Plays with real authority. The highlight of the band.
And I REALLY like the sounds and balance of his lower kit. It's a very Zappa,
'80's Wackerman/Vinnie C. stain....or the Van Halen guy. I'd be inclined to think he knows what he's doing. I'm kinda partial to that sound, though.
 
Thanks for the feedback lads! Their drummer is really good, I'm always excited to track him. He manages to play 'out' while still sounding 'in'. He was a jazz student who got into Dream Theatre and prog. death metal but it's for the better. I think he babied himself a lot when I met him, but now he's an unrelenting tornado of destruction.

I'm going to try to pan the guitars differently, I've got lots of takes but they were all hard left and right on this mix. I'm definitely bringing the bass up.

There was no 'room' mic so to speak on this, but I did a semi-coincidental pair for overheads and my nicest mic (KSM27) behind the drummer facing the kit kinda kinda like in Glyn Johns drum OH setups. That's squashed all to hell and missing lots of high end...And it's actually providing the majority of the sound believe it or not! I've already brought that up in the mix, I'll never track drums without a squashed back mic again. It adds so much character!
 
Where did he study? And with whom? He's killah! Listened again...just to be sure I heard what I heard. Yep!

About the cymbals......the time change is hard to catch the first couple listens, because he's doing the 4/4 on the splashy ride. It doesn't cut through do define the meter change. Thought you might like to know how fresher ears hear it. The only way I grabbed it...it was ambiguous , at first...was because I listened four or five times. Or is that a purposeful device? I've heard metal bands like this, and the ambiguity seems purposful, cuz I hear everybody hitting these figures that seem to come out of nowhere...all nailed in sync, and no mental cue as to the fundamental time. Kind of shakes my brain up. Is that the intended effect? Science of headbangmusik??

This cut is too damn uplifting to be death metal.
 
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