No Choice

[JDOD]

Oh, on the subject of mixing and all this frequency bollocks I thought I should finally learn what everyone is on about so came across this:
Audio Spectrum Explained - Teach Me Audio
Seems like a good set of definitions. Expect me to be giving forthright opinions about shit I barely understand by the end of the day.

 

[Tadpui]

Cheers tad.

Its not a DS1, no - I haven't used that in ages. I think the whole track has the same distortion sound on it. What I might have done (can't actually remember) which might make you think of cheapo Boss solid state is added a hint of drive from the SD1.

With EZD, I just sit there tapping my knees and thinking through my drums as if I was playing them. I go beyond programming what I'm actually capable of, but I do stick to stuff that I can actually imagine playing - while this is a bit limited it probably also helps them sound real.

A friend of mine has given me a bunch of tips too, so I'm gonna look into them and try a few of his suggestions. Hopefully I can learn a fair bit from remixing this slightly.

I wouldn't mess with this mix too much, I think it's really really close to being just right. Save a copy of your project before you go tinkering, in case you need to come back to home base.

I always get the SD1 and the DS1 mixed up. Too similar naming for such different pedals! Whatever it was, I liked what it added for the kind of "sloppy" tone (sloppy being tone-wise, not performance-wise).

Minerman is a gold mine (or coal mine ) for getting sampled drums to sound good. He just has a touch with them that I never did. You're already doing better than me as well.

Need an e-kit? Mine was just displaced from my room. If it weren't for the cost of shipping it half way around the world, I could give you a great deal on a used DTK-400 with all sorts of upgrades

 

[JDOD]

I wouldn't mess with this mix too much, I think it's really really close to being just right. Save a copy of your project before you go tinkering, in case you need to come back to home base.

I always get the SD1 and the DS1 mixed up. Too similar naming for such different pedals! Whatever it was, I liked what it added for the kind of "sloppy" tone (sloppy being tone-wise, not performance-wise).

Minerman is a gold mine (or coal mine ) for getting sampled drums to sound good. He just has a touch with them that I never did. You're already doing better than me as well.

Need an e-kit? Mine was just displaced from my room. If it weren't for the cost of shipping it half way around the world, I could give you a great deal on a used DTK-400 with all sorts of upgrades

I wonder how much it does cost for shipping? Although you're probably better off boxing it up and keeping it, you never know when you'll need it. Although saying that, it might end up being totally obselete by the time you think you need it.

I've just checked, a 25kg box which is 100cm, 20cm, 50cm will cost £215 quid!!!!

Minerman actually gave me a fair bit of help with the edrums thing - there were 2 or 3 PMs from him that I kept refering to as I was getting them sorted.

 

[Bulls Hit]

My only criticism is the phrasing on the 'don't subscribe to your idea....' line, it feels kinda clunky and five into four doesn't go. Otherwise great little tune

 

[JDOD]

My only criticism is the phrasing on the 'don't subscribe to your idea....' line, it feels kinda clunky and five into four doesn't go. Otherwise great little tune

Oh well, it's there now. I might do some vocal retakes at some point in the future. Dunno when though.

Cheers for having a listen though.

 

[Robus]

Levels are better on this one. Vocal is pretty low but intelligible, verse especially. Chorus I struggle a bit to understand you.

 

[JDOD]

I've popped Mix 3 up now.

I've put a slightly spacious reverb on all of the vocals except the backings at the end and just generally reduced the reverb levels.
Adjusted a couple of levels.
Panned the lead guitar slightly off centre to give the vocal more room in the middle, I also noticed in the verse there was a centred distored rhythm which I had forgotten about so I bumped that slightly off centre too.
I did a slightly scoop on the lead too to make it sound a bit less cocked wah/nasal.

 

[TripleM]

Missed this until now. Went straight to mix 3.

I thought this was really good. Tone on everything is great. Guitars, bass, vocal, drums, everything is nice sounding.

Performances are tight.

Only one nit... In the second have of each verse, there is a lead-ish guitar line that plays along with the vocal. It's covering the vocal in a spot here or there.

But that's it for me. I thought it was excellent.

 

[Armistice]

Only just saw this J - so got in at third mix - sounds like you've got most of the nits out by now. Consider picking either of the two grumpy bear vocals coming in at 1.10 and turning it up a bit, and the other down a bit - it's a little too clearly double tracked for moi, but that's a personal preference. As is the "lead" guitar - not a huge fan of the sound - needs a bit more bite for mine.

Still, very minor bitches - I think there might be a particular bass note that's dying a little each time it's played too - I hear a regular disappearance of the bass - could just be me and what I'm listening through though if no-one else has noticed it. Check 1:52 and 1:57ish.

Good stuff!

 

[JDOD]

Armistice/TM,

Thanks for the comments guys, nice to get down to the nit picking! I've noticed that lead line too TM - its really only there to generate a bit of Feedback so I might knock it down a bit.

I'll look into those specific bits you mention to Armistice - shit like that I would never notice as I am so used to the song now.

I do want to park this one now though - I have three to four others that are just in need of vocals and another six which aren't far behind.

 

[Greg_L]

You've still got layers of sounds beating up on each other. The vocals are better without the airplane hangar reverb, but half the verses and chorus are getting buried. And now it seems the drums are getting buried throughout as well. Maybe it's just different ears on a different day, maybe it's layers of things clashing, but the drums seems small and weak. Don't ever lose the kick and snare. I'm hearing the attack, but there's no body to the kit.

 

[JDOD]

You've still got layers of sounds beating up on each other. The vocals are better without the airplane hangar reverb, but half the verses and chorus are getting buried. And now it seems the drums are getting buried throughout as well. Maybe it's just different ears on a different day, maybe it's layers of things clashing, but the drums seems small and weak. Don't ever lose the kick and snare. I'm hearing the attack, but there's no body to the kit.

Hmmm, I quite liked this mix too! Oh well - I'll have another good listen to it later and see if I can notice the things you've mentioned.

I think I've got to the limit of my current ability on this one though.

 

[dewhitt]

I like the song and the performances and recording are very good. The octave up vocals are a cool touch. I'm listening in headphones and it's almost sounding to me like the bass guitar is panned out left and right and not really dead center. Is that the case or am I mishearing that?

 

[JDOD]

Cheers, mate. I'm pretty sure the bass guitar is dead centre though.

The octave up vocal in verse is just cos I was originally trying to do a proper vocal melody but just wasn't capable of it so I did the normal middle E which I find easy enough and used for the other verses but thought it sounded boring so added the octave to make it more interesting

 

[Greg_L]

Hmmm, I quite liked this mix too! Oh well - I'll have another good listen to it later and see if I can notice the things you've mentioned.

I think I've got to the limit of my current ability on this one though.

If you're happy with it, that's truly all that matters. None of these opinions, including my own, mean jack shit if you like what you hear with your own mixes.

 

[Bubba po]

Listening to the third mix. It mostly sounds very good. I'm noticing the same thing that Greg mentioned in the last third - you're losing the drums as you're adding more layers. You have to find a way of keeping the drums clear and big as you add the new parts. One slight thing I might suggest as a general ides is to build in a dynamic lift between the volume of the reggae groove and the rock groove, so there's more of an impact with the gear shift.

 

[JDOD]

Hmmm, I might have lowered the snare slightly too cos it was starting to annoy me. Suppose that's what you get for listening to shit over and over again on headphones. I won't listen to it for a few days now then have a listen to it next weekend.

 

[Chili]

Listened to mix 3, so I'm guessing you got a lot of the tweaks done, cause it sounds awesome. Guitar tones are great. lots of variety to listen to.

Couple of spots where the doubled vocal didn't work, but it adds authenticity, so maybe it does work. Still, A little tweaking to get a better balance on them. I liked hearing the low background vocals, very subtle and distinct.

I thought the drums were mostly fine. Maybe you can bring the cymbal crashes out more. I thought they were almost lost in there.

cool man.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

Listening to mix 3. Great energy. Cool song.

I feel like things are really well sorted at the beginning of the song. At :49 it starts to get wonky with the palm muted guitars, and the lead guitar and vocals getting in each other's way. One of the three needs to get in the back of the bus. They all sound good but they can't all be the star.

The backup vocals at 1:52 are similarly vying for space that isn't there. I think if you had a girl do this line an octave higher maybe that would help. I dunno.

The other thing that is odd is your vocals are calm singing from :26-1:06, and then when you yell at 1:09 it's actually quieter than your calm vocals. The yelling needs some dynamic, and on some level it has to at least seem louder than the calm part.

 

[JDOD]

Cheers, I'll keep that in mind when return to this mix.