Melodic Hard rock first mix

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chamelious

www.thesunexplodes.com
Hi Guys,

First mix of a single my band is doing. We're going to be doing a video with it. The guitars are DI'd with a V-amp, i think we're going to re-record with actual amps, but i'd like to hear some constructive crits of the mix as is if anyones up for it.

http://www.easy-share.com/1910168975/HONOUR BOUND rough.mp3
(you'll have to wait 60 secs for the download, sorry)
 
protip: Lightningmp3. Free hosting, no waiting, no pop-ups. Instant gratification.

The mix is muddy. I brought it into my DAW and did a tiny scoop in the 125-200 range and it tightened up, so look to that area for possible fixes. I'm thinking it might be in the guitars. The mix has good balance between the instruments. The levels seem fine. The drums are flat and dead sounding. A little more tone from the toms would be good. The snare sounds flat and donky. Too much top head in the mic maybe? Maybe use different samples if that's the problem? The dead-ish drums and low end mud make the mix sound dark and kind of cheap. This genre of mainstream modern radio rock needs to be big everywhere. Clean thumping lows, tight mids, and pristine highs. The vocals and synthy crap sit in the mix well. The song is terrible, disheveled, not at all melodic, and too long, but overall I think you did a good job. Just needs some minor mix tweaks.
 
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Hard rock?? This is more prog-metal than anything else.....but that's not important. Greg mentioned practically everything that needs a retouch. I thought the vocals were a bit too nice for this style (except for the gang/ growling ones....:D). Performance is very good and the song does have its bright moments, although I kept waiting for some kind of hookline. But all in all, pretty good work.

Joey :)
 
Greg_L said:
The song is terrible, disheveled, not at all melodic, and too long
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Harsh. Be interested to know why you think its "not melodic"? Didn't think the music would be bashed quite that badly considering some of the generic crap that gets lavished with praise on here.

Thanks for the mix advice though. The guitars are going to be re-recorded, so its good news if they're the main problem with the mix.

The kicks the only sample in there, i agree with the toms i'm having trouble making them sound any good at all, might have to replace them i guess. I quite liked the tone of the snare, have to see how it sounds when the guitars are redone.
 
Nevermind, i hadn't noticed it was you Greg. I remember what you think of my band and our white belts :) Thanks again for the mix advice, will bring a V2 to the party once the guitars are re-done and i see if i can coax some more life out of the drums.
 
chamelious said:
Harsh. Be interested to know why you think its "not melodic"? Didn't think the music would be bashed quite that badly considering some of the generic crap that gets lavished with praise on here.
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Melodic, from the root word melody. There's no melody in this. There's no hook whatsoever. And this is the very definition of generic crap. Yeah, some bad stuff gets posted in here, but have you turned on a radio recently? This is the kind of pseudo-heavy emo-screamo garbage that gets played by mainstrem radio every day. :o

I know I've bashed your band before, but I really listened - several times - and tried to give you an honest critique of the mix.

Anyway, if you don't like the toms, learn how to tune them. They sound dead. Mics pick up what they hear. Those toms are either badly out of tune, or the heads are wasted. The snare isn't terrible, it's just also kind of dead and lifeless. I think you did a decent job tracking the drums - which is half the battle - but I'm guessing the drums sound like crap by themselves. You guys probably just didn't notice with all the screaming and your guitarists bracelets jangling as they play. :laughings: ;)
 
Greg_L said:
Melodic, from the root word melody. There's no melody in this. There's no hook whatsoever. And this is the very definition of generic crap. Yeah, some bad stuff gets posted in here, but have you turned on a radio recently? This is the kind of pseudo-heavy emo-screamo garbage that gets played by mainstrem radio every day. :o

I know I've bashed your band before, but I really listened - several times - and tried to give you an honest critique of the mix.

Anyway, if you don't like the toms, learn how to tune them. They sound dead. Mics pick up what they hear. Those toms are either badly out of tune, or the heads are wasted. The snare isn't terrible, it's just also kind of dead and lifeless. I think you did a decent job tracking the drums - which is half the battle - but I'm guessing the drums sound like crap by themselves. You guys probably just didn't notice with all the screaming and your guitarists bracelets jangling as they play. :laughings: ;)
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I'm not sure Greg, i think if this sounds like "emo" or "screamo" to you then you've not heard enough music from either genre to pidgeonhole. However, if mainstream radio wanted to play our music i certainly wouldn't stop them :)

There's probably tuning problems tbh, my brother just tunes by ear and doesn't do a great job of it with the toms. I've never really heard a decent sound coming out of his toms. But the snares usually ok and the cymbals were about a week old when we tracked which as probably helped somewhat. I also think he's a good drummer although i know you disagree.
 
Also i went and listed to a couple of your tunes Greg. I like your Greenday covers :)
 
chamelious said:
I'm not sure Greg, i think if this sounds like "emo" or "screamo" to you then you've not heard enough music from either genre to pidgeonhole. However, if mainstream radio wanted to play our music i certainly wouldn't stop them :)
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I'm just saying, there's nothing new or edgy to your music. I've heard your song a trillion times in here and elsewhere. Everyone likes to think they're doing something different, but they're usually not. Your best hope is to just try and do it better than the next guy.
 
Greg_L said:
I'm just saying, there's nothing new or edgy to your music. I've heard your song a trillion times in here and elsewhere. Everyone likes to think they're doing something different, but they're usually not. Your best hope is to just try and do it better than the next guy.
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Well thats deffo fair enough :) I write the music btw. I don't try and do anything different on purpose although plenty of people who've come to gigs have said that we've got an original sound. And as you say, better than the next guy. You've obviously no interest in doing anything new or edgy yourself :)
 
Nope. I couldn't care less. I just do what I like, the way I want to do it, and don't give a fuck if anyone else likes it or not.
 
See...this is one of those moments where if gerg wasn't always calling me a geezer, I'd take up for him (not that he needs it) and direct you to some "edgy ass" tunes of his.

But, I'm just not gonna do it! :laughings:
 
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Greg_L said:
Nope. I couldn't care less. I just do what I like, the way I want to do it, and don't give a fuck if anyone else likes it or not.
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Best way to be really. The ONLY frustrating thing about your attitude towards my band is that we're doing the same thing as you. But some of us have white belts, and we've got some of that shouting that's so popular at the moment, so to you we look like trendy wannabe's.
 
chamelious said:
Best way to be really. The ONLY frustrating thing about your attitude towards my band is that we're doing the same thing as you. But some of us have white belts, and we've got some of that shouting that's so popular at the moment, so to you we look like trendy wannabe's.
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Yeah, it's quite the conundrum. :laughings:

You actually care about people liking your stuff though.
 
Anyway....I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Hopefully a few more people will chime in with some mix opinions. :)
 
I won't wait 60 seconds to hear a song! Too bad, when there are so many good sites mentioned in this forum, that you had to choose this annoying site for your song post. I was curious to hear it after reading Greg's comments. He's usually dead-f'in-on-the-money with his advice. Let me know if you decide to re-post it elsewhere.
:)
 
maximusbs said:
I won't wait 60 seconds to hear a song! Too bad, when there are so many good sites mentioned in this forum, that you had to choose this annoying site for your song post. I was curious to hear it after reading Greg's comments. He's usually dead-f'in-on-the-money with his advice. Let me know if you decide to re-post it elsewhere.
:)
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Strange, it must have taken you around 60 seconds or more to type that out? I'll use a different site when i remix.
 
chamelious said:
Strange, it must have taken you around 60 seconds or more to type that out? I'll use a different site when i remix.
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Actually, it probably took about 10 minutes, because I like to take my time when I'm trying to help someone post their hard work in a fashion that doesn't annoy people right before they place their judgments upon it, plus, I'm a little slow! I just have no patience when waiting in line to pay $3+/gallon for gasoline or listen to a song on a "free" site. :rolleyes:

Cheers :drunk:
 
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