Original Song with Percussion Arrangement - how's my mix?

X

XeroTalent

New member
Hi all,

This is my first attempt at multitracking and recording/mixing with my new mics and Tascam 1800... so go easy on me :)

This song had no drums or percussion, and when I heard it I wanted to add a percussion arrangement, which I recorded in my basement.

I'd love some feedback on the mix, the arrangement itself, and anything else you can offer. I'm a complete n00b at this home recording stuff, but I'm learning a lot!

Finally, I hope you like the actual song :)

Chris and Michael Meet Mozart by Xero Talent on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

Thanks for checking it out!
 
Did you recorded every piece by yourself, I'm not quite sure whether you are saying you just added percussion over top or recorded everything yourself
 
So you recorded the drums live, they sound great, better than I have ever been able to do live yet. In the beginning it sounds like you have some clicks maybe from pushing buttons on a keyboard. The snare sounds really great I think you really got the sound to match the mix of the song and feeling of it. That goes with the whole drum kit. Is this an arrangement by Jon Schmidt? I don't really like the cymbal you used at 1:03. Also it fits for this song but your kick has more of a hip hop feel. I don't know if you mixed it that way or it is just what happened.
 
I would also probably suggest turning the drums down a little when the song gets quieter, make sure the drums don't cover up any of the song
 
Yeah there are some clicks and stuff at the beginning... That's actually from the original track, which is Jon Schmidt, by the way.

Thank you for your compliments on the drum sound. They are completely raw, except for a touch of reverb on the snare and a little high-end EQ on the overheads.

The whole thing was recorded in one take, and then I over-dubbed the shakers, cymbal rolls and the marching snare at the beginning.

The kick is somewhat of a sore spot. No matter what I tried, I could not get a punchy kick sound. I tried adding compression, tinkering with its EQ, and it sounded terribled and completely lost in the mix with the other instruments. Its raw sound was the best, punchiest I could get it. I'm still chasing after that good kick sound.

I agree overall the overhead mics could come down a bit to quiet the cymbals down. I'm just learning how to do automation in Reaper, so my next step (after figuring out the kick), is to change the volume of the drums in relation to the dynamics of the song.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out!
 
That's a pretty cool arrangement. The drums are a neat addition. They give it a modern, epic/folk metal vibe.

I was going to point out the stray noises at the beginning too. Maybe just trim off the first few seconds?
 
XeroTalent said:
The kick is somewhat of a sore spot. No matter what I tried, I could not get a punchy kick sound. I tried adding compression.
Click to expand...

Did you try multi-band compression? Voxengo has a great dynamics processor tailored for drums called "drumformer". I've gotten great results out of it for getting a lot of punch when I need it.

You can demo it. It just mutes every 45 seconds.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
That's a pretty cool arrangement. The drums are a neat addition. They give it a modern, epic/folk metal vibe.

I was going to point out the stray noises at the beginning too. Maybe just trim off the first few seconds?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's probably a good idea! Thanks for giving it a listen :)

Flubly said:
Did you try multi-band compression? Voxengo has a great dynamics processor tailored for drums called "drumformer". I've gotten great results out of it for getting a lot of punch when I need it.

You can demo it. It just mutes every 45 seconds.
Click to expand...

I tried the RealComp plug-in that comes packaged with Reaper, so I honestly have no idea if that's multi-band or not. This is my first real poke at multi-track home recording, so I'm still learning about compression, EQ, etc.

I'll check out the processor you mentioned and toy around with it a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top