Five new tracks from a black/death/blood metal band that came in

  • Thread starter Thread starter jndietz
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Next, there are some bad low end issues going on, and the hats are WAY too loud.
(...)
If anyone wants to hear it louder - I bumped the volume up and rolled off the really low lows.

Now that I heard this tune on proper volume the hi-hat is having all my attention, it needs to be quieter.

NL5 did the right thing, without the "rumble" lows, the track sounds better.

Still complaining about the kick but maybe it's only my opinion.
 
Hmm... okay sounds good.... so, I need to:

1) Fix the loud bass guitar
2) Bring down the crash cymbals/bell
3) Fix the wide image of the drums.


Have you guys listened to the other tracks? Or are you guys saying that these same things need to be fixed across the rest of them?

Thanks again... hope to hear responses soon :)

The stuff you recorded. I already have a link to the other guys' stuff.

Yes... they are going to do a few more tracks where they record everything at my place (instead of this time where only guitar/bass/vox) were recorded). Not sure on the timeframe of that one, but it'll be sooner than later :)
 
Hi guys... I bounced the tracks a lot louder this time and hopefully fixed the low end issues at least a little bit (i rolled off the bass guitar and turned it down a tiny bit).

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17076
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17077
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17078
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17079
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17080

Don't remember which song is which.. but they scream the choruses a lot, so you can probably figure out the title of the song :D

Thanks again for the input guys... sounds like they are coming in this weekend to put down some drums.
 
The increased volume definitely helps. The song names are in the mp3 after you click on the links, so it's easy to figure out which is which. :D

Bloodspoon: I'm a big fan of the percussive qualities of the vocals on the chorus, but during the verses, the vocals are kind of drowning in the rest of the mix. The hi-hat is really cutting through; possibly more than it needs to.

Carapace Fetus: The vocal effects are adding a lot of sibilance. I like the tone of the kick drum. During the chorus (The part that goes "Carapace fetus *dun dun du-dun*" a few times), I'm not a fan of the hard-panned bass and guitar. If you must hard-pan the instruments, turn up the bass a bit in that part so that it comes through better.

Dick Garrotte: Is that seriously the name of a song? :D ... Actually, those lyrics are pretty awful. 8o Anyway. You're still getting the sibilance issues. It might be worth massively de-'s'ing the vocals before you run them through the rest of the effects.

Dick Stab: I'm noticing a theme here... Are you trying to do a gang vocal thing on the chorus? If so, you need a lot more of the backing vocals (probably more voices too) and probably less of the lead vocal. I do like the "aaah" bits.

Uterus Glove: Same concerns as before: too much sibilance. Kick drum sounds cool.

I think someone else pointed out that it all sounds a little over-compressed. I agree with that. You need more dynamic variety, especially on the gang vocals.
 
Hi guys... I bounced the tracks a lot louder this time and hopefully fixed the low end issues at least a little bit (i rolled off the bass guitar and turned it down a tiny bit).

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17076
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17077
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17078
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17079
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=17080

Don't remember which song is which.. but they scream the choruses a lot, so you can probably figure out the title of the song :D

Thanks again for the input guys... sounds like they are coming in this weekend to put down some drums.


Still have serious low end issues, still have WAY to much hats, and still way too compressed. :(
 
The increased volume definitely helps. The song names are in the mp3 after you click on the links, so it's easy to figure out which is which. :D

Bloodspoon: I'm a big fan of the percussive qualities of the vocals on the chorus, but during the verses, the vocals are kind of drowning in the rest of the mix. The hi-hat is really cutting through; possibly more than it needs to.

Carapace Fetus: The vocal effects are adding a lot of sibilance. I like the tone of the kick drum. During the chorus (The part that goes "Carapace fetus *dun dun du-dun*" a few times), I'm not a fan of the hard-panned bass and guitar. If you must hard-pan the instruments, turn up the bass a bit in that part so that it comes through better.

Dick Garrotte: Is that seriously the name of a song? :D ... Actually, those lyrics are pretty awful. 8o Anyway. You're still getting the sibilance issues. It might be worth massively de-'s'ing the vocals before you run them through the rest of the effects.

Dick Stab: I'm noticing a theme here... Are you trying to do a gang vocal thing on the chorus? If so, you need a lot more of the backing vocals (probably more voices too) and probably less of the lead vocal. I do like the "aaah" bits.

Uterus Glove: Same concerns as before: too much sibilance. Kick drum sounds cool.

I think someone else pointed out that it all sounds a little over-compressed. I agree with that. You need more dynamic variety, especially on the gang vocals.

Thanks for the great input Steve ... its appreciated. Yeah, this was probably one of the most "out there" bands I've ever worked with. They have a really, really crazy live set planned (they explained it all to me). Mostly just involves huge barrells full of fake blood and Super Soakers filled with fake blood. LOL. Anyways...

The drums are going to be a big problem because the guy they got the drums from gave them a stereo track for the drums. I think they got into an argument or something. I tried calling the guy to get the 10 tracks from him but he said "he was sorry but doesn't want to have anything to do with them,". I think the pentagram was a red flag for that ugy. So all I get was a stereo track of drums. I might call him again later to see if I can get the real deal, maybe make some sort of deal with him -- of course unless he erased them all from his workstation... :rolleyes:

Anyways, I do agree with you on Bloodspoon -- the vocals during the verses bury the guitars. I'll see what I can do about the hi-hat, though.

The idea to pan the guitar hard left was my idea -- do you think maybe I should give it a shot doing it in mono? I actually just panned it hard left and right when they recorded it, so I never heard it in mono. The band liked it.

Yes... "Dick Garrote" is a song, LOL! Pretty foul, eh? :D ... so for the silibance, I should be able to just de-ess it... Its that vocal processor they used that is causing it. If I de-ess, will it make the recorded stuff sound wrong/undesireable to what the client needs?

On Dickstab, we had ten people come into the studio to scream "DICKSTAB". I mixed it down into one stereo track and actually turned that track down before these latests mixdowns. I might turn them up again and turn more of the lead vox down.


I guess I don't really understand how to handle the over-compressedness. They process their vox, they have crazy distorted guitars, and to top it all off, the drums sound pretty compressed as well. Does metal usually have pretty dynamic ranges in it? I actually don't listen to a lot of metal and this is actually my first time recording it. Are these guys even metal?

Thanks again.. hope to hear from more of you soon.
 
Still have serious low end issues, still have WAY to much hats, and still way too compressed. :(

You say low end.. do you mean like maybe < 300Hz? Should I just drop a parametric EQ and hi-pass the master bus?
 
You say low end.. do you mean like maybe < 300Hz? Should I just drop a parametric EQ and hi-pass the master bus?

I mean less than 37hz. It's pretty outta control, and wasted energy.

As far as the compression problem, what do you have across the master buss? (comps, eq's, limiters, etc)
 
I mean less than 37hz. It's pretty outta control, and wasted energy.

As far as the compression problem, what do you have across the master buss? (comps, eq's, limiters, etc)

Literally nothing on the master bus. Dropped the input gain off to -6 before mixdown and there you have it. :o...
 
Why?

So, you are compressing the crap out of the drums individually? Or routed to a subgroup and compressed?

Well... the guys above said to bring back on the master fader. And since there aren't any plugs (comp, eq, whatever) on the master bus, it wouldn't make any difference...

Yes.. the drums (a stereo track) are going into an MBC... should I nix that? :o
 
Well... the guys above said to bring back on the master fader. And since there aren't any plugs (comp, eq, whatever) on the master bus, it wouldn't make any difference...

Yes.. the drums (a stereo track) are going into an MBC... should I nix that? :o

I don't see where anybody said to drop your master fader???

Did you just get a stereo drum track, or do you have them bussed to a stereo track?
 
this is hard to hear anything even after bringing the level up go re bounce this with the master fader at -3db then bring the mixes back this is insnaely low levels

I don't see where anybody said to drop your master fader???

Did you just get a stereo drum track, or do you have them bussed to a stereo track?

I got a stereo drum track.
 
I got a stereo drum track.

That sucks. They must of hit those drums hard with a comp/limiter. The MBC might be doing it too, but I assume you are using it to fit the tracks into the mix better.

As far as what doulos was saying, I'm pretty sure he meant the master fader peak level should be -3 db. Not the fader itself.........
 
That sucks. They must of hit those drums hard with a comp/limiter. The MBC might be doing it too, but I assume you are using it to fit the tracks into the mix better.

As far as what doulos was saying, I'm pretty sure he meant the master fader peak level should be -3 db. Not the fader itself.........

Yes, that was my reasoning behind using the MBC. I could try dropping that off and remixing the songs and then leave my master fader at unity. Maybe they won't sound so smashed afterwards...?
 
You leave you master fader untouched. That's your reference track for clipping issues. All your music should peak at -3db or -2db. Your master fader track fader (does it make sense?) must remain untouched.
 
You leave you master fader untouched. That's your reference track for clipping issues. All your music should peak at -3db or -2db. Your master fader track fader (does it make sense?) must remain untouched.

I suppose it kind of makes sense... except when it starts clipping, shouldn't I bring the master fader down so that it doesn't clip anymore?

Wait... I might have just realized it....

So you leave your master fader alone (at zero), and if it starts clipping start turning everything down? At that point you have to turn the monitors up?
 
I suppose it kind of makes sense... except when it starts clipping, shouldn't I bring the master fader down so that it doesn't clip anymore?

Wait... I might have just realized it....

So you leave your master fader alone (at zero), and if it starts clipping start turning everything down? At that point you have to turn the monitors up?

Pretty much. Turn the monitors up and down for listening purposes rather than the master fader.

I find that if everything goes in at the right volume when you're recording, start mixing with everything at zero, leave the master fader untouched and you won't have to turn anything down or up for any reason other than obviously the volume balance of the mix, rather than because the whole thing is too quiet or too loud...if you get what I mean.
 
I think that maes sense all of a sudden. I'm going to have to go back and remix these I think. I'm going to also pull that MBC off of the drums to see if that might tame those cymbals a bit too.

I'm not sure if it'll turn out the way I want it to, but I suppose it is worth a shot.

If this proves to be true, then I'll have to go back and remix all of my band's stuff, too. :o....
 
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