Hard Rock Mix

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anxietyswitch

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Hey all!
So this is my first time posting a mix, so please, be gentle! lol

I just wanted to see what people think, I'm aiming for a Chevelle/Deftones style hard rock sound.

My main problem is with compression, as far as the mix goes.
I want to get it at least kind of close to what a modern hard rock recording sounds like, and I feel like I may have over-compressed with this mix, but I still can't get anywhere near that kind of volume. Any ideas for that one?

But anyway, any criticism is much appreciated!!!!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=601121
 
Firstly, good mix :)

I'm not a huge fan of that guitar scraping. Turn it down or mute it, it's like nails
on a chalkboard.

The singer has a lot of pitching problems, and it's not a strong performance.
Either retrack, or try tune him with melodyne or autotune. Then, try a little
distortion on him to really get that compressed, aggressive deftones-feel.
There also needs to be more backing vocals.

Lead guitar just came in, sounds great. How about a little delay? :D It's a little
dry. Guitars all over sound quite good, I'd pan them further though.

This mix is crying out for some more bass though. There's a big hole in the low
end of this track. Turn that shit up!

The snare needs to be louder, and I'd compress it to get it cracking!

Little more panning on the drums, especially the hi-hats. Its personal preference,
but I like high-hats off to one side as opposed to sounding center.

Kick sounds good.

Lastly, I wouldn't end so abruptly. You might be too far past the tracking
process though :confused: Maybe try and copy+paste another chorus to
the end if you can't retrack.

Sorry for seeming negative, I liked everything else. You're doin a good job :D
 
The mix lacks "air". It's not a bad mix, but it has no shine. The drum overheads have no stereo image. The mix is pretty dark.

As far as competing with commercial masterings, unless you have that kind of experience, super quality gear and software at your disposal, don't bother. Do the best you can, but don't try to match loudness with pro releases. You will never win. Get a nice, clean mix, and then moderately squash it for reasonable loudness.
 
The singer is me :( lol
I recorded this quite a few months ago, I was just pissed at the mix and decided I should try and re-do it. lol
I'm definitely thinking of re-recording it, especially the vocals - I know for sure that I can do it better now. I was just posting this to get some opinions so I could see whether or not I should try and do this all myself or go get it done elsewhere.

As far as the snare, I'm pretty sure I used the same compressor as on the kick and maybe even the same settings, I have to double check, and the guitars are actually panned as far as they can go!!!!???? lol

And it's cool, I actually thought about extending it, but i'm not sure if I really wanna mess with the structure of the song. lol

Thanks bro!
 
to Greg_L - I think it might be my monitors. After I posted I went back to listen to some Chevelle and noticed that it sounded a lot brighter than I thought it would, but I never noticed this anywhere else I've listened to that album. So maybe my monitors are a little too bright and I darkened it to compensate? I haven't tested this mix anywhere else yet, and they ARE new monitors.

And at the moment, I have a FirePod, Samplitude 11, and all the free plug-ins I could find. I don't think that really qualifies as "high-end gear" LOL
 
anxietyswitch said:
to Greg_L - I think it might be my monitors. After I posted I went back to listen to some Chevelle and noticed that it sounded a lot brighter than I thought it would, but I never noticed this anywhere else I've listened to that album. So maybe my monitors are a little too bright and I darkened it to compensate? I haven't tested this mix anywhere else yet, and they ARE new monitors.

And at the moment, I have a FirePod, Samplitude 11, and all the free plug-ins I could find. LOL
Click to expand...

Is your room acoustically treated? You're also probably not used to your new monitors yet. Listening to reference music through them is a good idea. Compare your mix to a pro mix that you think sounds good. Make the necessary adjustments. And get your room treated if you haven't already.
 
Nope, room isn't treated at all. I'm pretty much doing all of this in my family's "computer room", a medium sized bedroom used an office, we've got like 4 computers in here and crap. lol So my room is definitely NOT a dedicated studio, but in the confines of my home, it's the best I can do, at least I'm pretty sure. :(
 
anxietyswitch said:
The singer is me :( lol
Click to expand...

SING BETTER :mad: Im kidding :D You sound like the potential is there, but
like you're holding back. Get comfortable, and let 'er rip ;)

I'm definitely thinking of re-recording it, especially the vocals - I know for sure that I can do it better now. I was just posting this to get some opinions so I could see whether or not I should try and do this all myself or go get it done elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Vocals, yes. Drums, Maybe. Bass, I'd tell you if I could hear it :D The guitars
sound good, no need to retrack (IMO)

As far as the snare, I'm pretty sure I used the same compressor as on the kick and maybe even the same settings, I have to double check
Click to expand...

It worked for the kick, but not the snare. Try to avoid copy+paste for FX,
take a fresh approach every time and REALLY listen to what it needs. That
snare needs to pop!

, and the guitars are actually panned as far as they can go!!!!???
Click to expand...

Try using two different distortions. If they're the same distortion, same guitar,
same mic, different takes hard panned, they could sound slightly mono-ised.
Two different distortions would widen those bad boys out.

Thanks bro!
Click to expand...

No problem :D
 
anxietyswitch said:
Nope, room isn't treated at all. I'm pretty much doing all of this in my family's "computer room", a medium sized bedroom used an office, we've got like 4 computers in here and crap. lol So my room is definitely NOT a dedicated studio, but in the confines of my home, it's the best I can do, at least I'm pretty sure. :(
Click to expand...

Totally understandable.

So what kind of monitors are you using? Some of them have frequency attenuation knobs on the back. You can adjust the monitos to the room somewhat. Not the best solution, but it can help. If your room is making you think that you need to tame the highs, roll them back on the monitors and maybe your mixes will improve.
 
You can't hear the bass??? lol

I'm thinking maybe brightening up the guitars a bit more and giving the bass a little more room in the low-end to itself.
And i think the two guitar tracks were the same guitar, with slight changes to the amp EQ, and I tried to scoop a little bit of different frequencies out of each one.


And my monitors are M-Audio BX5a's. Got a pretty good deal on em at a pawn shop and they're miles ahead of what I was using before. lol
But they don't have any knob like that :(
 
SwitchDude :D

Not bad at all man.

If you can find a room you could dedicate and treat it would help quite a bit. If ya can't hear it ya can't fix it. Right?
That and learning your new monitors in that room.

Overall, it sounds pretty good. :drunk:
 
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