Help me improve the mixing?

T

TheHitman

New member
This is some band I'm working on, they're paying me 50 bucks for that.
This isn't supposed to be professional it's just a demo.
P.S
I recorded the rhythm guitar track 4 times, with 2 different guitars and sound. Each guitar has an extreme right pan and an extreme left pan.
I recorded the drums using 1 overhead and 5 mics on each piece (snare, tom 1, tom 2, floor, bass drum)
I recorded the bass using 2 inputs: I raised the treble on the direct track and the bass on the mic track.
What do you think? What can I change or add to improve the recording?

https://soundcloud.com/dedsin/metal-mixing-attempt1
 
I think it sounds a bit muddy.
- Th guitars have a ton of distortion and too much bass which makes them hard to separate and muddy.
- The drums are not very well defined. For instance the snare does not, imo, have the required punch to it, and the cymbals etc drown out.
- The solo guitar that comes in around 2.10 has a truckload of reverb which makes it sound a bit too distant.
- I'm having trouble hearing the bass guitar since the guitars eat up that spectrum.

But all in all, not too bad as a demo. I have heard significantly worse. :)
 
My honest opinion; snare sounds like ass. Something is going on with limiter (maybe), that is making the kick drum suck the life out of everything else in the mix. Not that the heavy rhythm guitars sound good to begin with, but something is 'sucking' them back even further. This is probably not what you are looking for, as far as a response...

I am not trying to be a dick. There is some really good stuff here. The guitar tone, second only to the poor drum sound, just needs some serious work.

Heavy rhythm guitar tracks, need to be recorded with a mic on a real cabinet, with a tube powered amp, for this style. Sorry, no amp sim, or solid state amp, is going to create what this song needs.

For a demo, I would say you have done a great job. I would spend more time with the snare, kick, and guitar tones, before moving further.


I would suggest, getting the drums to sound good first. Even if you found a useable guitar sim that worked, it would still sound like crap, if the drum track sounded like it does here. Get the drums to sound good, then other parts will fit into place more easily. Well, at least, the weaknesses will become more apparent...


Again, just my opinion. I could just be an idiot...
 
Sounds like a good song :)

My opinions:
- Need more bass
- You may be able to improve the guitar tone by taking out some of those frequencies in the 200-400Hz range
- Since you have 4 tracks of rhythm guitar, do try to pan them "all over" rather than just at the extremes
- Ease back a little on the distortion/compression on the snare. If it sounds like that to start with... EQ to try to "hide it" in the mix
 
You will get quite a bit of honesty around here. People that hang out in a forum to help and learn, are typically not here because they want to be dicks. We want to help, and learn from each other.


You might be surprised, at how often people are offended by honesty. Youtube is set up for stroking. This forum, is here to give 'real' advice.

You are already showing that you give a shit, by taking comments for what they are worth. You will do well here THit. :)

Welcome to the forum dood. :)
 
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