Final mixes on my band's CD in entirety: need comments on what mastering could help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve Henningsgard
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ido1957 said:
Error = Can't connect to the server :confused::confused::confused:
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You are just having issues Ido:( It was a bit slow downloading for me, but hooked right up. If you continue to have issues I can try to get you the files.

F.S.
 
Ok, this is like homerecording pornography! You can't let the kids hear this cause they'll all want to do it with the help of uncle Behringer. This kind of misleading content should be banned.
Seriously this is one recording that sits extremely well in my mix position in the room, which isn't the best but I know it well.

I know this site encorparates from the absolute beginner to the home studio (home recording) charging customers on a professional level. This is one of the most finished sounding albums I've heard in my entire time on this site.

Steve: sounds like you had most things captured really well and well fixed within the mix.

John: You added the 4th dimention in only the way a good ME can do by listening to the songs and taking them to the heights you thought they could go.

I think this is a great job on all accounts and I'd be more than happy to release this if it came from my studio.

Alex
 
nice sounding mix...reminds me of Opeth/DarkTranquility. I don't know why. Cool stuff though. Sounds excellent
 
I listened to the before and after on "The Dark Design". The masterd seems to be just compressed and limited. Personally I think the mix needs more low end and some mids lowered some. I took the unmastered mp3 of "The Dark Design" and ran it through a 3 band compressor (not much) and then eq'd it (+2.5@82hz, -.2@148hz, -.3@414hz, -2.9@2.76k, 0@6.21k, and 0@17.1k with a Q of .36). Even though I used a mp3 to mess with it came out nice. The added low end allowed me to hear the bass and low end of the drums better (more oomph). Makes a hell of a difference. To much metal today lacks that. Also by lowering the mid to midhighs a hair, its not as harsh, so its more pleasing, at higher volume to the ears. You know what I mean, doesnt make my ears bleed at high volume. This is just my take on things and Im sure many will disagree. But, you have to admit (maybe us older guys), that the dynamics and fidelity of metal and music in general is getting worse. Its the whole "Loudness Wars" :)
 
BushmasterM4 said:
you have to admit (maybe us older guys), that the dynamics and fidelity of metal and music in general is getting worse. Its the whole "Loudness Wars" :)
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Glad to know our music makes you feel that way, hah
 
steve.h said:
Glad to know our music makes you feel that way, hah
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I think the material is great and its sits right in line with other metal stuff thats out right now. I'd love to hear your stuff with the dynamics of say "Procol Harums, Conquistador" :), or say "Rush 2112". Yes, Im old. But I also realize younger groups like the whole square wave thing. Ive recorded a few local metal bands and they all want it loud. I tell them to turn up the stereos, but they want it squashed, so I do it. It all pays. :)
 
BushmasterM4 said:
I think the material is great and its sits right in line with other metal stuff thats out right now. I'd love to hear your stuff with the dynamics of say "Procol Harums, Conquistador" :), or say "Rush 2112". Yes, Im old. But I also realize younger groups like the whole square wave thing. Ive recorded a few local metal bands and they all want it loud. I tell them to turn up the stereos, but they want it squashed, so I do it. It all pays. :)
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Fair enough! I was just poking fun at 'ya a bit :p The more dynamic songs are towards the end of the CD (the first half is pretty much full-on the entire time). If you didn't get to it, check out "Cover of Smoke"!
 
I just downloaded the mastered and unmastered versions, that'll be interesting to compare.. Your rough mix of Dark Design blew me away, I can't WAIT to crank up the official release!
 
steve.h said:
Fair enough! I was just poking fun at 'ya a bit :p The more dynamic songs are towards the end of the CD (the first half is pretty much full-on the entire time). If you didn't get to it, check out "Cover of Smoke"!
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Will do for sure. My wife is a headbanger and my kids are too. I raised them right :) My daughter asked who it was streaming from my speakers yesterday and I showed her. She listened to the whole thing. I havent had time too. My son is graduating Navy boot camp friday and we have been trying to get ready for the trip. And I had that bluegrass cd I had to finish up.
 
Just to add my 2 bits.. I'm no expert, but I know what i like and thats fricken excellent!

Edit: The final farewell is some epic!
 
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The master took care of the issues I heard, which were mainly lows that weren't pronounced enough, highs that were near ear-piercing. It sounds great. Good job and congrats.
 
The mix: I listened thru the mastered version once so far with undivided attention, trying to be nitpicky.. Not much to rag on, I agree with dross, some of the vox are kinda quiet. Some guitar solos too. Not everywhere, and not much, but there is some variance in there.

Drums are good, there was a spot or two when I thought the kick was a little flappy and muddy on my bassy car system. The cyms sounds great!

The bass sounds great! When I started I thought the bass would be about the easiest thing to get down, now I feel there's a very small window between too much and not enough, and I think you nailed it.

Guitars sound awesome! Whatever youre doing, keep doing it! Guitar solos soudn really good, raking and sweeping thru arpeggios like that is very Trivium-esque, which I like a lot!

It's great to hear some good metal that isn't all simple power chords and cheezy wanky solos, 2 riff verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus verse chorus ad nauseum... Your songs are a lot more complex, have great riffs and pieces, arranged very nicely, very stimulating! All the 'no bass' and 'piercing highs' comments, the mastering musta smoothed that all out, cuz I didn't hear ANY of that. Next I'll be listening for that in the unmastered, just out of curiosity. In short, WOW! NICE FUCKIN JOB!! I hope to someday produce something that well!
 
BushmasterM4 said:
But, you have to admit (maybe us older guys), that the dynamics and fidelity of metal and music in general is getting worse. Its the whole "Loudness Wars" :)
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Excellent points in your post FS. I think the mix reflects "today's" standard quite well. Even though I don't like today's stuff as much as say rock from the 70's, it puts steve in good stead with the mainstream stuff. You can hear a lot of hard work has gone into this project by the quality of the results....
 
Thanks a lot for the feedback guys :) I definitely feel I've got some ways to go to get to where I want to be, especially when it comes to drums, but I like the majority of how it turned out! I really appreciate that y'all took the time to download and listen to my project :)


ido1957 said:
Excellent points in your post FS. I think the mix reflects "today's" standard quite well. Even though I don't like today's stuff as much as say rock from the 70's, it puts steve in good stead with the mainstream stuff. You can hear a lot of hard work has gone into this project by the quality of the results....
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I've been thinking about this modern metal vs. 70's metal stuff in terms of mixing. It occurred to me while listening to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" yesterday, that if I had tracked and mixed our record the way Paranoid was tracked/mixed, I really don't think the message we were trying to convey would have translated nearly as well, and vice versa. If Paranoid was re-recorded with today's "standard" methods, I feel like it would lose all of the feel and purpose of the original record.

What'd be interesting to discuss is whether or not the increasingly "over-the-top" standards of metal mixes has actually hurt metal (as some think), or instead has created new forms of expression (as I think), and that most people simply aren't using it to its full potential yet?
 
steve.h said:
Thanks a lot for the feedback guys :) I definitely feel I've got some ways to go to get to where I want to be, especially when it comes to drums, but I like the majority of how it turned out! I really appreciate that y'all took the time to download and listen to my project :)


I've been thinking about this modern metal vs. 70's metal stuff in terms of mixing. It occurred to me while listening to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" yesterday, that if I had tracked and mixed our record the way Paranoid was tracked/mixed, I really don't think the message we were trying to convey would have translated nearly as well, and vice versa. If Paranoid was re-recorded with today's "standard" methods, I feel like it would lose all of the feel and purpose of the original record.

What'd be interesting to discuss is whether or not the increasingly "over-the-top" standards of metal mixes has actually hurt metal (as some think), or instead has created new forms of expression (as I think), and that most people simply aren't using it to its full potential yet?
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I was thinking the other night that I really want to delve into using expanders more on heavy tracks to get a better more shocking on off quality to breaks, etc. I am thinking that I need to focus more on the individual tracks. The trick is going to be whether or not I can do it without it sounding gated.
I am using them live in practice right now along with some 2:1 compression on the guitars and really liking it:D Tight!

Any how..........





F.S.
 
steve.h said:
Thanks a lot for the feedback guys :) I definitely feel I've got some ways to go to get to where I want to be, especially when it comes to drums, but I like the majority of how it turned out! I really appreciate that y'all took the time to download and listen to my project :)


I've been thinking about this modern metal vs. 70's metal stuff in terms of mixing. It occurred to me while listening to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" yesterday, that if I had tracked and mixed our record the way Paranoid was tracked/mixed, I really don't think the message we were trying to convey would have translated nearly as well, and vice versa. If Paranoid was re-recorded with today's "standard" methods, I feel like it would lose all of the feel and purpose of the original record.

What'd be interesting to discuss is whether or not the increasingly "over-the-top" standards of metal mixes has actually hurt metal (as some think), or instead has created new forms of expression (as I think), and that most people simply aren't using it to its full potential yet?
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Good point. There are a few rock and metal bands that do produce records that employ both "Loud and Dynamic" records. I really like "Coheed & Cambria". Godsmack, I feel have very nicely produced stuff. Now on the other hand. There are albums which I think are fantastic and have been processed to hell and back, Wolfmother comes to mind. But it fits their style and I wouldnt expect anything else. So yes, I see your point. It boils down to what you (the artists) want to convey to your fans. Good point, indeed. I'll stop all the "negative waves". What movie is that from ? :)
 
Thanks a lot for posting the unmastered and mastered version of the same album. I'm into metal too and I like what I'm hearing right now. Also gonna check it out at home with my monitors.

\m/ \m/
 
amazing cd. every single song has its own character and sound. One of my favorite parts is on track 8 at around 4 minutes in. That riff and drum part is so simple yet so powerful. I was curious as to what kind of equipment you were using to track this. Mics? Outboard? Plugins?
 
Thanks again for all of the nice comments :) I'll be documenting the recording process in detail within the next few weeks (days?), mostly for my own reference, but I'll probably end up posting at least part of it on my blog. I'll let you guys know if that ends up panning out!

The CD was released on November 21st and is available with artwork and all at www.ironthrones.com for FREE!

Thanks again for all of your help! I learned so much on this forum, and I'd like to think it shows :)
 
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