A ROCK recording on new equipment

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Beezoboy

Home Recording Guru
It has been a while since I have posted in the clinic. My last rock postings have been recordings that were to an Akai multitrack, the dumped into CEP for mixing.

My new setup is going straight into an Aardvark Q10. I have gotten new mics as well:

U87
Beyer M88
C1
2 B-1's
(and others)

So without further adieu (sp?), here is the song. This is sort of a rough mix, so keep that in mind.



Issues I know about are:

-Toms not coming through well
-Snare mixed very upfront
-Guitar is a bit muddy and possibly not loud enough
-A few minor timing issues

Outside of that let me know if you hear anything else.

Thanks
Beez
 
Reminds me of Triumph-that canadian band that did that song "magic power"
 
I liked the snare sound.

I felt this had a different sound to.... like...


like...it had







like it had
















a U87 in it!!




seriously, does have a nice warm, fat sound to it, for a lack of better words.
 
Thats a nice compliment, thanks. I was really hoping someone would say that this mix is not like other people's. For better or for worse thats great to me.

Beez
 
hi.

personally, i liked the snare the least. heh he. playing the song, i couldn't get over that snare sound. it's so loud too!!!

but, trying hard to ignore the snare, ...i like your singing. and the recording's pretty clean sounding. it is quite warm like he said, though a little too much for my taste.

but i love the music. and that's what counts. great stuff.
 
Can a song be too warm? I mean too much warmth could mean muddy, so is this song muddy?

Beez
 
naw.... not muddy. it's very clear. ...it's just that it seems to lack that crystal quality that i think you are capable of. you know what i mean? the recording's really nice actually. a little high-end definition would make this recoridng perfect............... and dump the snare. heh he.
 
High end definition is exactly what I don't want. I mean the sparkle can get added at the mastering stage. I realize the tracking is not going to be any clearer, but they can add that sizzle to the vox and cymbals. I feel like I have good seperation in my tracks, but this is just a dense mix.

Yes, I do plan to have this mastered because we are going to have this and 14 other songs on our album.

Other than the snare being a bit loud and the toms a bit soft, do any others have suggestions? Thanks Orpheus for yours.

Beez
 
Beezoboy said:
High end definition is exactly what I don't want. I mean the sparkle can get added at the mastering stage. I realize the tracking is not going to be any clearer, but they can add that sizzle to the vox and cymbals. I feel like I have good seperation in my tracks, but this is just a dense mix.

Yes, I do plan to have this mastered because we are going to have this and 14 other songs on our album.

Other than the snare being a bit loud and the toms a bit soft, do any others have suggestions? Thanks Orpheus for yours.

Beez
Click to expand...

I suggest in the most respectful way I can to get a better understanding of what mastering is........the mix should sound exactly the way you want it to sound.......

this song is good and the tracking is solid too.....everyone has their idea of what "warm" means...it can be warm and have the high end it needs.......

this is a 5star job, but i think you should remix and put the "sparkle" on the tracks that need it and not leave the ME in a picle trying to put something in you should have mixed in....if you want it (the finished product)to sound dull, you,ve accomplished your mixing goal.....if not,remix.......
 
robby- sounds pretty good overall, everything

is seperated like it should be from what i can tell. Im not listening on monitors so these are pretty much generalized comments and you know what sort of production/music style im coming from , so these things may not be applicable for what your going for.
Id like to hear a little more guitar in the mix, the bass sounds more up front and in my face than the guitars. The bass sounds like it has plenty of attack, im assuming it was tracked with a pick, so it could prob fall back a little without losing any of its bite. Anyhow i would just like to hear the guitars have a little more power.
Your prob not gonna go for this one, but being from the school of metal, id like to hear a little more click in your kick. Oh well its worth the suggestion lol, even if its personal preference.
Its already been stated but I think the mix could benefit from being a tad bit brighter. Its not muddy, but its a little dull sounding overall.
Overall it sounds good, looking back i see that most of my comments are just personal preference. SO i guess i really don't have anything to offer.
 
Gidge,
Well I guess I could see adding the sparkle myself, but I really am not to that point yet. I am still waiting for our guitarist to get back from Sweden to lay some back-up vocals for the song and we are considering retracking the bass as it is a little flat (not intonation) sounding. After that I'll get to the final little mixing and spruce things up a bit.

Wireneck,
Yeah I have thought about adding a bit of click to the bass drum, but everyone is doing that these days and I would like to be different I guess. If you listen to the break down section where the guitar drops out, you should hear a good bit of click on the kick. It is actually pretty hard to get through on such a dense mix. I am really trying to go for "big" with our album. I want big wide stereo images and full sounding everything.

I would add more guitar to the song, but it is more of a bass driven song. Not to mention the guitar tracks are pretty uneventful and a bit muddy. I'll soon be posting a very guitar driven song and the bass will be back a bit.

I finally got around to listening to "a narration of." Dude that was a great mix, especially that hit at the beggining. I don't know if you like King Diamond, but the song kind of reminded me of his stuff in the sound and form, without the high screaming vocals. I really used to like King Diamond so take that as a big compliment.

Thanks everyone for commenting and I'll seriously consider all your suggestions. If anyone has more keep them coming! I have already turned the snare down a bit, although it is still pretty forward in the mix.

Beez
 
My thoughts; drums seem to be the biggest problem.. snare is very upfront and dry.. and boxey sounding. Kind of needs some snap to it, and a little ambience. Kick is almost inaudible.

I'd like to put an eq spike in that vocal around 10k, maybe a little around 4k as well. The ride and crashes have no sizzle...

I guess you could add more top end in mastering, as everything kind of needs it.
 
Music reminds me of the stuff Darth Faders puts up here, only more musical/less poppy. Bass loses definition... when the drummer rides the crash... the whole mix fuzzes up.

In that sparse part before the last verse, there's good bass definition there. Good hardpanned gtrs. Nice energy.

Snare a lil' boxy sounding... needs a tad bit of low-mids cut.

Seems the whole mix has some "dirt" on some of the tracks that (when everything comes together) kind of clouds everything up... you hear some of that "dirt" as the last note fades. I'm guessing the drum overheads are a main culprit.

Top grade stuff--that's why the "picky" critique here. Some cleaner trax and small EQ adjustments between gtr, bass and esp snare drum could tighten things up, too. Nice song.


Chad
 
I gotta add to everyone's comments about the snare: too loud. And I agree with the "dullness" comments as well. The mix has that "under a blanket" feel to it. Everything is sort of mashed together and indistinct.

The performance sounds solid, but there's plenty of work left to do on the mix - and I wouldn't assume it will all be fixed in mastering.... just my thoughts.

Chris
 
Schenkerguy . . . thats odd that you think the snare sounds dry. It has gate - compression - reverb on it. The kick is having a hard time coming through the bass and guitars, I realize this.

The bass is going to be re-tracked because we decided to try going direct out of a Hartke head instead of direct into a pre. (Not my first preference for sure) So now after exhausting the possibilities, I think my bassist finally realizes that direct really is the way to go.

Are you guys listening on monitors or computer speakers? Just wondering. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to this on anything else except some crappy computer speakers that everything sounds like crap on.

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming
Beez
 
Are you guys listening on monitors or computer speakers? Just wondering. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to this on anything else except some crappy computer speakers that everything sounds like crap on.
Click to expand...
i don't understand. you mixed this using computer speakers!?
 
Cool, I like your style. The snare is really loud. I like the room you left for vocals, sounds good.
 
No I mixed on monitors. . . but normally I try to check in a car with a sub, and on Tannoy Reveals at the University I worked at.

I haven't done that as this is still a rough mix, so I can't really be sure about the low end. I mix on Alesis Monitor 1 MkII's and the low end can be a little elusive sometimes.

It is just that computer speakers really don't do music justice most of the time.

Beez
 
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