Chains of Change

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Hey all, just got done recording this song. I bought a new mic pack for toms, the Samson one, so I threw in a lot of tom action to check em out :D
All feedback is greatly appreciated, and thanks for listening !
 

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  • chains of change1st mix.mp3
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Not too bad. Are you compressing your overheads? They sound kind of thin - like the compressor is hitting them hard. Or maybe the whole drum bus is too compressed if you went that route. Basically, what I'm saying is that it shows up in the cymbals. They sound tinky and thin. The guitars are way too low. I like me some drums out front, but not at the expense of everything else. Get those guitars up front too to give the song more power.
 
Yes, actually, there's a compressor on the OHs and the drum bus, set to 4:1 with 1ms of attack and GR of about 3-8. It only kicks in mostly on the snare and kick though, is it still affecting the cymbals? Should I take them off, or dial it down a notch?
 
Take it off. Why would you compress the overheads and the drum bus? I see no reason to do such a thing. Try no compression at all, then add little bits to the drum bus as necessary.
 
Ok, here's the second one. I thought maybe the compressors would make the drums more 'punchy' :o Took em off the OHs and the drum bus.
Raised the gtr parts too.
 

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  • chainsofchange2.mp3
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Okay, the overheads definitely sound better. Now bring the close mics on the kit up. You lost the kick and snare. The guitar level, bass, vocals, and overheads seem to be in good balance, but we need more drum presence.
 
Round 3, brought those up too. I'm not sure if it's just me, but do the guitar parts seem quieter again?
Thanks for walking me through on this one :drunk:
 

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  • chainsofchange3.mp3
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No, it seems pretty balanced to me now. Now I'd work on capturing better sounds or tweaking what you have. You're pretty close, but I think everything could sound better. A fuller sounding kick and snare with more body for each would be good. Now might be a good time to gently bring some compression back in to the kit. The guitars are a little boxy and kind of thin.
 
Gotcha. I played around a lot with the snare. To me, it sounds fine when I'm playing, but the recorded sound I get is a whole different story. I experimented a lot with tuning and mic positioning, and this sound isn't great, but it's a lot better than what I used to get. I more or less followed the EQ settings you mentioned in your sticky. What else would you recommend ?
As for the guitars, that's the stuff I try to finish off as quickly as possible :o I just slapped on a 57 in front of a tube amp and was done with it. It's EQ'd to cut out everything under 100, and some gentle scooping from 400-800. Not sure what to do with it now, haha.
 
A good way to get some body out of the snare is compressing it by itself. From what I can tell based off what I hear in your third mix, it sounds like you're getting a decent snare track. Maybe a little too much top head, but it's got some pop to it, which is good. I think it's better to have too much attack than not enough. Anyway, the EQ I mentioned in my sticky is very general. You should really get in there with a para EQ and find the good and bad frequencies and act accordingly. A snare has a lot of tones going on. More than most people might think. Go out into the interwebs and find the Antress Modern Compressor. It's free and it's got a few snare presets that work really well with some tweaking. I use it on my snare and I really like it. I know presets are taboo, but it's just a starting point. You're gonna fine tune it yourself. It does a good job of bringing out the body of a snare. EQ first, then compress the snare, and if you did it right, it's gonna come to life. Same with the kick. EQ and compress to taste. Leave the overheads alone. Bus em all together and fine tune the kit as a whole. I think you're pretty close to getting usable drum sounds. Your toms and overheads sound pretty good to me. Just get the kick and snare sounding awesome and you'll be in good shape to tackle the guitars next. Killer sounding drums are the backbone to a good mix. Nothing else matters until the drums sound good. :D
 
I liked the quirky little guitar riff. Singer has good power. Drums have been covered.

For distorted guitars, I'd do this... Compare your mix with pro mixes that you like. Listen to them back to back and normalize the volume so they're about the same loudness. Now listen to your distorted guitar against a pro. I think you'll find a big difference. Work on amp/guitar settings until you get closer to "that sound" during tracking.

Did I mention I liked that quirky guitar riff? It's stuck in my head. :)
 
Greg_L said:
A good way to get some body out of the snare is compressing it by itself. From what I can tell based off what I hear in your third mix, it sounds like you're getting a decent snare track. Maybe a little too much top head, but it's got some pop to it, which is good. I think it's better to have too much attack than not enough. Anyway, the EQ I mentioned in my sticky is very general. You should really get in there with a para EQ and find the good and bad frequencies and act accordingly. A snare has a lot of tones going on. More than most people might think. Go out into the interwebs and find the Antress Modern Compressor. It's free and it's got a few snare presets that work really well with some tweaking. I use it on my snare and I really like it. I know presets are taboo, but it's just a starting point. You're gonna fine tune it yourself. It does a good job of bringing out the body of a snare. EQ first, then compress the snare, and if you did it right, it's gonna come to life. Same with the kick. EQ and compress to taste. Leave the overheads alone. Bus em all together and fine tune the kit as a whole. I think you're pretty close to getting usable drum sounds. Your toms and overheads sound pretty good to me. Just get the kick and snare sounding awesome and you'll be in good shape to tackle the guitars next. Killer sounding drums are the backbone to a good mix. Nothing else matters until the drums sound good. :D
Click to expand...

I completely agree, a good drum sound really is the most important part. But then again, I may be partially biased :D I looked for the vst you mentioned, unfortunately there's no mac version, so I'll try to use the Reaper compressor on the snare. The snare already is compressed but I'll spend more time on it. Thanks again for your help. I'll hopefully have a new mix up soon with a better snare and guitar sound.

TripleM said:
I liked the quirky little guitar riff. Singer has good power. Drums have been covered.

For distorted guitars, I'd do this... Compare your mix with pro mixes that you like. Listen to them back to back and normalize the volume so they're about the same loudness. Now listen to your distorted guitar against a pro. I think you'll find a big difference. Work on amp/guitar settings until you get closer to "that sound" during tracking.

Did I mention I liked that quirky guitar riff? It's stuck in my head. :)
Click to expand...

I guess that's the aim of every guitar riff, so thanks! I was going for a crunchy, powerful tone, but it does sound weak. Any ideas on how I can work with what I have?
 
Yeah, I like the sound as well, this is just an opinion, but slappin a autopanner on that riff when it goes off would sound awesome. But that's just my perspective of it. It's a real moody/ambient sound, the kind that I like to chill to. It's got that Soil/nirvana feel to it.

As for the mix, to me it sound's kinda boxy as a whole, like others stated the guitars sound a lil thin, especially on the heavy parts. But the potential is there
 
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