G
G
Greg_L
Banned
The only thing I use sends for is to cram the individual drum tracks to one group track. I've never in my life, that I can recall, sidechained anything, parallel compressed anything, or pre/post fadered anything. I have no idea how to use that shit, and can't say that I've ever wished I could.
philbagg
Just Killing Time
The only thing I use sends for is to cram the individual drum tracks to one group track. I've never in my life, that I can recall, sidechained anything, parallel compressed anything, or pre/post fadered anything. I have no idea how to use that shit, and can't say that I've ever wished I could.
Well, with the filter s/c thing I mentioned, you don't need to send anything
Chili
Site Moderator
The results:
I really enjoyed listening to the various mixes. Thanks everyone for playing along. I hope someone got something out of it. I know I did. I've never even considered flipping the phase on my snare mic.
Okay, here are my findings in no particular order, based purely on personal preference and general ear pleasingness. Every mix had pros and cons.
79 les paul
Pros: Good snare sound. Nice spreads on leads.
Cons: lopsided drums/bass mix - too much leaning left. Kick MIA most of the time. Strat tracks seems to be missing.
zer00
Pros: Pretty good levels - everything is there, but....
Cons: over-compressed ear fatiguing mix, drums sound one-dimensional.
LDS
Pros: Drums sound pretty good, although kick gets lost in low end resonance at times. Guitars sound good. Leads sit nicely, but too dry.
cons: Bass too boomy/overpowering. Kick kind of getting lost in low end resonance.
Pandamonk
Pros: Really clean, clear, balanced mix overall. Bass and kick thump nicely together with good seperation. Nice use of all guitar tracks, leads sit nicely.
Cons: Snare and cowbell seem a little too dry in comparison to the rest of the mix. The intro guitars have bigger reverb than the drums,
which is kind of awkward at first, but fine once song gets rolling.
Trumpino
Pros: Pretty good levels overall. I like the one strat track on the right during the snare roll breakdown.
Cons: Rhythm guitars seem a little too midrangey/loud. Leads a little dry. Overheads maybe a hair too loud. No cowbell?
Bulls Hit
Pros: I love the big growly bass. The whacked out leads are cool and unexpected. Nice triplet stutter on the main lead.
Cons: The snare sounds like a garbage can lid, and while the mix wackiness was cool, it doesn't fit this simpleton rock song.
Kudos for infusing your own style into it though. I was most curious about your mix knowing your penchant for the industrial and over-the-top.
Rami
Pros: Fantastic punchy drum sounds. I love the fattened up snare and the left-handed drum mix. Just enough reverb overall. Great kick/bass seperation.
Cons: Leads a little too loud/dry. Strat tracks could be more present.
Fadetomuffins
Pros: Mix levels pretty good overall. Nothing too terribly loud or quiet.
Cons: Drums way too roomy for my tastes. Overall mix kind of harsh/over compressed/hard limited/loud. Rough on the old ears.
Philbagg
Pros: Overall a very clean, balanced mix. Nice panning on the main lead, nice spreads on the end leads.
Cons: Editing in the intro is unnatural. Leads too loud/dryish. Cowbell too centered, kind of gets lost at times. Overhead spread seems diminished.
Guitarzero
I'm sorry dude, I really gave serious listens to all 3 mixes you submitted, but they're a mess. Muddy low end, weird midrange, not much clarity.
The first mix seemed to be a little better overall. I do like that you appear to have focused on the strat tracks, which almost seemed to be
an afterthought to some of the others.
Chili
Pros: I like the intro guitar panning with the hammer-ons centered and the "bomps" panned wide. I really like the crunchy bass too. Awesome kick/bass relationship without being muddy. Whatever you did to the bass is very cool. I like how you got the cowbell away from the hats and ride. Nice use of all the rhythm tracks. Clean clear mix overall.
Cons: Snare gets lost a little during the double-kick sections. Main lead panned a little too far and too dry. Intro/outro leads a hair too loud.
While the bass sounds awesome, it might be a little too loud. Something about the overall "mastering" seems a little bit harsh. Just a little.
PoeticIntensity
Pros: Overall a clean mix. All leads sit perfectly. Nice panning/effects on leads. left-to-right pickslide at end is awesome.
Cons: Drums a little compressed/clicky sounding. Bass gtr a little light in the mix. Maybe it's just the drums, but the mix overall seems to be a little bright.
Could use more beef in the kick and bass.
Timkroeger
Pros: Good levels overall. I like the "raw" vintage punk rock feel of this mix. The drums have a flatness to them that I'm not used to hearing, but I kind of dig it.
Cons: The "mastering" is kind of harsh, which lends itself to the rawness that I like, but it's a little tough on the ears. The leads are a little dry and midrangey. The drum overheads are sizzling.
And the winner is...........
PANDAMONK
His mix seemed to be the most balanced and smoothest mix to my ears.
Congrats, Pandamonk.
Very honorable mentions go to Rami and Chili.
Top 5:
1. Pandamonk
2. Rami
3. Chili
4. Philbagg
5. Poetic Intensity
I think this was a cool little experiement. If yall wanna do another, let me know.
The Greg hath spoketh.
Man, I've gotta say, that's a lot of work on your end. We had the easy part of only needing to mix. Thanks for taking the time and energy to put this together.
And major Congrats to Pandamonk. Way cool.
G
Greg_L
Banned
Well, with the filter s/c thing I mentioned, you don't need to send anything
I'll have to look into my plugs and see what all those buttons and knobs do. I've always known that I use Reaper at about 1% of it's capabilites. I've just never felt the need to get fancy.
G
Greg_L
Banned
philbagg
Just Killing Time
There's no harm in trying it. You did ask
The worst thing that'll happen is that you learn something
The filter thing though: A god-send for drum gating.
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
I gotta agree. I didn't even do a mix, but I loved listening to them, and then when I saw Greg's feedback on all the mixes--I was impressed. That really made it worth it as a learning experience.
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Greg_L
Banned
There's no harm in trying it. You did ask
The worst thing that'll happen is that you learn something
The filter thing though: A god-send for drum gating.
I gate my snare and toms all the time. I just use regular gates though. I time the snare gate to open on impact and slam shut before the hat/ride bleed comes in between hits. I gate the toms to close gently as the tail fades off. I don't gate the kick because bleed is negligible on that thing.
I'm a total philistine in my writing, playing, and "production". I'm not a purist nazi, but I'm pretty anti-trickery.
ez_willis
.
which ones?
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Greg_L
Banned
Well thanks. I figure, these guys took the time to participate, sit through the download, and take the time to mix a bunch of unfinished tracks that weren't even theirs, so I'm gonna do all I can to listen intently to their mixes and let them know what I hear.
G
Greg_L
Banned
Reaper gates. Reagate.
philbagg
Just Killing Time
You get a lot of bleed on your toms, and a fair amount on your snare IIRC. So, by setting up the snare gate to only open on mid-content, it will be less likely to open to kick and hats, and you might get better results. As for the toms, do something similar, so that it doesn't open to cymbals etc.
Is that it? The bottom three sliders look like what I was talking about. Play around with them.
philbagg
Just Killing Time
Oh, and I'm guessing that the "Detector input" can be switched to busses aswell. If so, then that gate has external (not filter) sidechain capabilites also, and I'd guess that Reapers built-in compressor (if it has one) does too.
Chili
Site Moderator
Yup, I went back and tried and BAM, there it is!!
So, why is that?? What is it out of phase with?? Overheads??
I used the UAD Fairchild plug and that's it. No eq or nothing.
DAW: REAPER
MONITORS: A pair of cheap HITACHI's that are hooked up to my REALISTIC receiver.
MIXNIG UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF: South Comfort and pot.
Man, I'm glad I'm not alone....
DAW: A really old version of Cubase.
Monitors: A pair of Bose bookshelf speakers with a sub-woofer (No kidding!!)
Mixing under the influence of: Wine.
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Greg_L
Banned
I keep the tom mics pretty far off the heads and my cymbals are insane. I don't have any problems gating them though. Same with the snare.
kcearl
I see deaf people
Fuck, sounds complicated. I'm gonna pass on all that.
hey i can manage it...it cant be too complicated, I cant even describe what a compressor does
Z
zero00
New member
Yeah, i realized that my mix was over compressed, but i didn't have the time to fix it, so i was waiting for that comment...
Hey Greg, thanks a lot for this exercise i never mixed a real drum kit before, so thanks a lot.
Cheers.
Hey Greg, thanks a lot for this exercise i never mixed a real drum kit before, so thanks a lot.
Cheers.
pandamonk
Well-known member
Haha, you must've liked the way the guitar tracks were, 'cause all I did was add a high pass and reverb to rhythm and a little more reverb to lead guitars.Sure, no prob. I reaaaalllllly struggled between your mix and pandamonks. Not surprisingly, you pwnd the drum sounds. His treatment on the guitar tracks was really the overall deciding factor.
Dude, if you got any unfinished stuff laying around that you might wanna spare, you should "host" one of these. It was pretty fun for me.
I mixed on my Behringer MS16 computer speakers in an untreated room and Superlux HD681 headphones. I could've went down to the studio (at the bottom of the garden), but I didn't really have the time/energy.
Here's a screen shot of what I did:
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kcearl
I see deaf people
Just shows you that if its well tracked it doesnt take much to get it sounding good....