Hardcore / Metal band I recorded...critique this mix please

metalhead28

metalhead28

Hates Raymond
Hey guys,
I just recorded this band last weekend. I personally hate this music, but I still tried to make it sound as good as I could. The playing is pretty sloppy and devoid of feeling, but I guess it's somewhat extreme and I think that is all they're concerned with. Anyway, can you guys tell me what you think of this mix? I'm struggling with it in certain areas and I could use your advice as always! Thanks!


http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=1866
 
It is working now.

I like the way you have used surround sound. I think the mix is great!

And the drums/vocals are in the middle, Guitars on right and left. That is awesome sounding to me.

Excellent recording in my opinion.
 
true-eurt said:
It is working now.

I like the way you have used surround sound. I think the mix is great!

And the drums/vocals are in the middle, Guitars on right and left. That is awesome sounding to me.

Excellent recording in my opinion.
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Thanks alot True!
 
I think you gave them the gift of a polished turd...that's a compliment. That is some sloppy playing...mostly the guitarist.

Nice job on the mixing...everything sits well on my cheapo cans. The drums sound great for this genre.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
Youch, that music is horrible. Your mix is pretty good though. Good use of panning in my humble opinion.
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Much appreciated, and thanks for the listen! I agree about the music :D
 
David Katauskas said:
I think you gave them the gift of a polished turd...that's a compliment. That is some sloppy playing...mostly the guitarist.

Nice job on the mixing...everything sits well on my cheapo cans. The drums sound great for this genre.
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They insisted on getting 5 songs done in the one day session that I offered them for super cheap. I encouraged alot of retakes, but sadly this is as good as it ever got. I don't want to sound like an ass because these are cool dudes, but I definitely don't like their music.

Thanks for the listen! ;)
 
Mmmm the playing could be sloppier to be honest, heard a lot worse. I personnally dont like what you've done with the vocals, dont like the panning etc, everyone else seesm to though. Sound like it could do with a bit of EQ somewhere, sounds a bit flat and dull. Otherwise nice.
 
A big reason for the panning is that they have two vocalists. I was trying to seperate them on certain parts. I agree that it needs a little EQ work to liven it up a little. Thanks for the listen!
 
mix sounds sweet, maybe a little light on the bass

.. i think they would be classified as modern crapcore


(out of curiousity whats your setup?)
 
seismetr0n said:
out of curiousity whats your setup?
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DAW - Sonar 5 PE
Interface - M-Audio Delta 44 & Delta 66 (10 inputs)
Mackie CFX20 mixer & M-Audio DMP-3 pre-amps
Mic's used: Joe Meek JM27's (o'heads), Shure Beta52 (Kick), Sm57 (Snare)
SM58's or equivalent (toms)
Guitars are a Mesa Dual Rec + a 5150 II, each thru a Marshall cab miced with a SM57 and a Sennheiser e609s.
Bass is recorded direct with a Sansamp RBI rackmount.
Vocals were done with a Studio Projects C1.

Processing wise, I use Drumagog for the kick (in addition to the acoustic sound) and Elemental Audio plug-ins primarily.

That's about all the important stuff I can think of.

Thanks for the listen.
 
I think you've done a great job of mixing it. Only so much you can do with playing that's not rhythmically tight. The two guitar parts are always a litte off from one another, and not tight with the drums. Might sound better with one of the gtr parts eliminated and the other doubled and delayed.

Tim
 
I appreciate the listen Tim.

Your idea about eliminating one guitar is a good one and I had tried that at one time. The problem was that with only one guitar in the mix the mistakes on that performance were much more noticable. There are alot of mis-struck strings, obviously missed notes, and slurred phrasing. Actually the out of time second guitar kind of masks that a little because alot of its mistakes are in different spots, haha :D I also considered comping the tracks, but I decided that if they were happy enough with it after tracking, they should be happy with it after mixing!

These guys were cool as hell, it made me feel bad for pointing out so many mistakes. In the end they were happy with the session, and I guess that's all that matters. Again, thanks for the comments!
 
Sounds like you're in a situation as a mixer similar to a situation I was in when I coached groups of middle school rock and classical musicians... you could replace each of the parts with a better performed one, but the actual purpose of the song isn't perfection, it's the expression - however imperfect - of the original performers with whatever skills they had at the time. I think you've done a good job for them.

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
Sounds like you're in a situation as a mixer similar to a situation I was in when I coached groups of middle school rock and classical musicians... you could replace each of the parts with a better performed one, but the actual purpose of the song isn't perfection, it's the expression - however imperfect - of the original performers with whatever skills they had at the time. I think you've done a good job for them.

Tim
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An awesome thing for you to say. Thanks Tim
That makes me feel even better about it still! ;)
 
Personally, I don't find this so bad. Maybe some sloppy playing, and such, but far from overdone. I like the raw feel. Mix seems good in my opinion. Does it sound any better at 192K, or higher? I can't tell if there are some sounds being compressed due to the MP3 conversion, or if they are just goofed on there own. It only seems to be when there is a lot happening, so it's probably just the MP3. I think if you could pan the vocals a bit more to the center when there is just one singer, it might make that sit better. All in all, I'd say good job though. There is a lot happening, and I can still hear the runs on the guitar pretty clearly. And hell, I bought way worse stuff than this a few years ago, so don't find it bad at all.
Ed
 
HAILZ METALHEAD! I have to agree that it sounds a hair bit dull on the instrument side. Vox are crisp and so are the cymbals. It seems the guitars, bass and lower frequency drums could use some clarity. Thats all I have! Otherwise excellent mix!
 
metalhead28 said:
Hey guys,
I just recorded this band last weekend. I personally hate this music, but I still tried to make it sound as good as I could. The playing is pretty sloppy and devoid of feeling, but I guess it's somewhat extreme and I think that is all they're concerned with. Anyway, can you guys tell me what you think of this mix? I'm struggling with it in certain areas and I could use your advice as always! Thanks!


http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=1866
Click to expand...

Hey Metalhead,

I had a listen on my pc so my input is limited, once I got past the vocals...well I never really did....I struggled to hear the bass, but the mix sounded fine on my pc speakers!

Guitars were up front in the mix, where I think they should be but Iam no master player myself but you did good work there for what you were working with!
 
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