puristic german rock

nessbass

New member
Hey guys,

I haven't been here for quite a while, but now I'm back to present some of my band's new material.
Have a listen here:
http://www2.mp3.de/musik/bands/de/2/1070?param=1|1&SID=b194ced89115e45a44fb0807e5e58f0d
Please disregard the older songs (the ones with the NESS-Cover at the bottom of the page) and let me know what you think of the newer ones (first four, yellow picture). We are a three-piece-band, vocals+guitar, bass and drums. I recorded all of it in our rehearsal space. And just in case you're trying to understand what the singer is singing, be aware that he sings in german.
So what I'd like to get are some overall impressions and hints to obvious mistakes i might have done. You guys helped me in the past, and I hope you will this time. Anyway, I thank you all in advance for giving it a try. Thanks,

David
 
Impatience strikes...

Come on, guys. Some of you viewed my post, some of you downloaded the songs. Let me know how you liked it. :)
 
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I've been wanting to download all day but I've been in and out of meetings. I'll try again tomorrow.:(

Somebody listen to the guys shit, would you!?:mad:
 
Excuse my linguistic style, didn't mean to come over the way I obviously did. I haven't been speaking or writing english for some time and need to recalibrate. I didn't want to be rude and offend anyone around here. I really appreciate you guys' opinions, as you have helped me a lot in becoming - engineering-wise - who I am today. So I am quite anxious and curious waiting for your opinions and became impatient, see post above.

So would you please apologize my misbehaviour and listen to my music NOW. :D :rolleyes: :cool:

Thanks
 
very good performance on all the instruments. Vocal is good but I dont speak German. The bass has a tone I enjoy listening to. The drummer is doing some really nice stuff in the verses but its too far back in the mix for me. When the choruses come in he gets stronger I hear more of what he`s doing. The snare is a bit thin for me. The guitar backing in the verses is cool. Id like to hear it come up in the choruses. It`s plenty strong in the solo.
 
Thanks for your reply, Toki. I guess you are referring to the fourth song, 'Intellektuelle Oberschicht', right? Do you think the solo-guitar is too strong?
 
Hi: I listened to "Kontrast." I'm agreeing with Toki, even though we listened to different songs. Bass tone/playing was very cool...

As for the mix...it sounds to me like it was squished with some kind of a soft knee compressor. At some point, it passed "punchy" and went into kinda' mushy distortion...this is only evident to me on the downbeats when the bass, guitar, and drums all hit...it's like there's no attack at all, and it kinda' distorts at the same time. It's not as evident listening with a flat EQ, but if you listen to it with the "car" EQ, it falls apart at high volumes.

pretty cool song.

chris
 
nessbass said:
Thanks for your reply, Toki. I guess you are referring to the fourth song, 'Intellektuelle Oberschicht', right? Do you think the solo-guitar is too strong?

Not too strong at all in the solo, just not strong enough in the choruses for me on "Intellektuellel Oberschicht ". Some good playing for a trio, and I like all the counterrythyms.
 
Thank you very much, both of you.

@Chris: That squished effect was something I tried to stay away from. Will try to fix that, thanks for adressing it.

Apart from that, I feel quite humbled, being the bass player and all....:)

Oh, one more thing: could you (and all the others) please do me a favour and listen especially for the bass drum (esp. level-wise)? That would be great. Thanks

David
 
nessbass said:
Oh, one more thing: could you (and all the others) please do me a favour and listen especially for the bass drum (esp. level-wise)? That would be great. Thanks

David
Okay, me personally...for this tune, I'd like the kick louder, but you're gonna' have to get some of the other stuff out of the way. This mix is really hot between about 60Hz=100Hz... I don't wanna' sound like I'm talking down to you, but I have no idea where you are in the mixing learning curve, so I'll just write the way I wish people would write to me, lol. Usually, it's not a bad idea to cut a little EQ notch out of the bass guitar @80Hz to give the kick some breathing room. (It's even cooler if you can sidechain the bass on a compressor so that it ducks out on the transients of the kick; this way, you don't have to notch out the bass all the way across the mix in order for the kick to come through...but if you don't have the ability to duck the bass, then start by cutting it at 80Hz). Cut everything else BUT the kick at 50Hz too. I don't think you've got enough room in the low end of this mix to just turn that kick up unless you notch out some room for it.

BTW...that distortion I was talking about earlier...I think it actually might be a problem with the toms and the bass...a whole bunch of stuff is piling up @120Hz, like where the background vocals first come in, that's where it's distorting on my end... You really need to compress the frequencies around 120Hz so that they don't jump up 15db (which is what's happening now) EVER. So I guess what I'm saying is that I was wrong, lol... the mix doesn't seem overcompressed...it's maybe undercompressed way down low.

Oh, and if I were you, I'd wait until somebody who knows what the hell they're talking about comes along and tells you I'm a dumbass before you start doing anything I just suggested...lol

Good Luck man,
Chris
 
Thanks, Chris. I already knew the low cut and ducking stuff, and I also tried to avoid frequency buildup by making room for each instrument etc. Maybe it's now that I have to pay for mixing through my stereo's speakers. I suppose I just didn't hear the buildup. No wait - you're right, there is something down there. I'll take a look at it.

If someone else feels about contributing, please do!

David
 
Alright, I checked back and the problem seems to be that the bass and the toms are pretty much in the 120Hz area, so when they 'collide', there is this buildup. But as we liked the sound of the tom, we turned it up pretty loud, so turning it down or EQing it isn't what we are looking for, so I tried a multiband and compressed the area between 60 and 240Hz by 2-3 dB. Seems to help. Thanks again for the tips,

David
 
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