Here is a rough draft mix. Can I get some feed back?

[FoulPhil]

I think this doesn't sound very good, but I'm not really sure. Any feed back is welcome.

First MIX


MIX 2

 

[DM60]

From a noob, I thought it was good until the vocals. I think I know what you were going for, but I think it went over the top or didn't get executed as intended.

All of the other parts sounded decent, nothing out of place to my ears.

 

[FoulPhil]

Is it they are too loud, bad EQ or just sound like shit and need to try again?

 

[Steenamaroo]

I think you've got solid enough core parts here. The guitars strike me as too wide making everything seems completely separate rather than gelling and the kick's got nothing to it, but I'm guessing that's a trait of the genre?

Is there heavy limiting going on? The mix seems to shit itself once in a while.

Vocals couldn't be any farther from my thing but they sound solid for what they are.

 

[FoulPhil]

Ok I think I have to the vocals sitting in better. What do you guys think?

 

[jimistone]

Good performance. The guitars sound really good but the bass and bass drum sound a little weak in the mix. I think it may be because the guitars sound huge. Maybe cut some of the low end frequency off the guitars too yield room for a good bass guitar and bass drum in the mix. I hear a lot of metal guitarists that have, in my opinion too much bass in their guitar tone. It sounds fantastic on its own but in a mix it diminishes the bass and bass drum clarity and impact. You have to pick and choose I think. If you try to have a good deep bass guitar and real deep rich bass drum...you're going to have to roll the lows off the guitar or it will sound cluttered in the low end.
great riff and chord progression by the way phil

 

[DM60]

OK, vocals are better, I can now understand them. I am not sure how you get these where you can better understand what is being said and still have the effect. You think punching though with some mid-range, say between 2-4K? I am just guessing here, but it seems like the vocals should still be there a bit more.

 

[FoulPhil]

I think you've got solid enough core parts here. The guitars strike me as too wide making everything seems completely separate rather than gelling and the kick's got nothing to it, but I'm guessing that's a trait of the genre?

Is there heavy limiting going on? The mix seems to shit itself once in a while.

Vocals couldn't be any farther from my thing but they sound solid for what they are.

Yeah I had them all wide as hell, but I'll work them around once I get things going. Probably too much limiting among other problems LOL.

Good performance. The guitars sound really good but the bass and bass drum sound a little weak in the mix. I think it may be because the guitars sound huge. Maybe cut some of the low end frequency off the guitars too yield room for a good bass guitar and bass drum in the mix. I hear a lot of metal guitarists that have, in my opinion too much bass in their guitar tone. It sounds fantastic on its own but in a mix it diminishes the bass and bass drum clarity and impact. You have to pick and choose I think. If you try to have a good deep bass guitar and real deep rich bass drum...you're going to have to roll the lows off the guitar or it will sound cluttered in the low end.
great riff and chord progression by the way phil

Hey thanks a lot. I'll try is to cut back some Low EQ slowly until the kick and bass guitar can pump through better. I want to try to keep a good balance of thick and full guitars. As much as I can get away with. When I compare to albums in my genre they don't have much low end on the guitars. They actually sound too bright and not enough oomph. Almost to the point where it seems to lose some power to the music. I need to find that middle ground.

OK, vocals are better, I can now understand them. I am not sure how you get these where you can better understand what is being said and still have the effect. You think punching though with some mid-range, say between 2-4K? I am just guessing here, but it seems like the vocals should still be there a bit more.

I will probably re-record it. There are a few things that aren't working for me. And it's good to spend a lot of time getting the vocals just right no matter what type of music it is. You're not really supposed to understand the vocals unless you're into the music. To me I hear what I'm saying clear as day. There are some bands that I can't understand with out reading the lyrics. The main problem I have with my vocals is I have to edit out sibilance pretty heavily and it's a long annoying process...

...but here's the lyrics. I think reading them will help you see it's not that hard to tell what I'm saying once you get use to the vocals.

Agonous - Completely Broken

Verse 1
Drifting through the cosmos - A lost soul of my mind
My days are filled with agony - Worldly Ways Declined
Aboard the ship of insanity - The passengers all know
We furl the sails, heading straight to hell - Inner demons bellow

Pre-chorus 1
The rising tide of pain wont subside - Resonating, Perpetuating, Escalating
The lunar call echoes though the halls - breaking the barriers of mental walls

Chorus
Cleanse your thoughts, Break the mold, Don't believe anything you're told
The madness has just begun
Strike the match, Engulfed in flames, Don't sell your soul for loose change
Because in the end everyone dies...

Verse 2
Lost at sea for all eternity - Drifting amongst the waste
Sludge and goo infest the ocean blue - Daydreams are all I taste
My pockets are lined by the grime of all these desperate crimes
These sights go unseen all the time, but always haunt a fragile mind

Pre chorus 2
Completely deranged do you feel the same - magnify, amplify, intensify
The pain I feel could it be real - A prisoner of my mind

Pre chorus 3
The way I fell is too real to hide - Degrading, Fustrating, Humiliating
I swim through my extreme inner pain - like water washing down the drain

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I actually feel like the vocals might be a bit too loud in the second mix. This genre is pretty goofy lyrically, and the more you emphasize them, the harder it is to take them seriously.

That bass is really pronounced. Not saying it's good or bad, but it is interesting.

 

[FoulPhil]

I actually feel like the vocals might be a bit too loud in the second mix. This genre is pretty goofy lyrically, and the more you emphasize them, the harder it is to take them seriously.

That bass is really pronounced. Not saying it's good or bad, but it is interesting.

There is something weird about the vocals I can't put my finger on it, but I don't have ridiculous so gross it's funny type lyrics this time

 

[DM60]

Yeah I had them all wide as hell, but I'll work them around once I get things going. Probably too much limiting among other problems LOL.



Hey thanks a lot. I'll try is to cut back some Low EQ slowly until the kick and bass guitar can pump through better. I want to try to keep a good balance of thick and full guitars. As much as I can get away with. When I compare to albums in my genre they don't have much low end on the guitars. They actually sound too bright and not enough oomph. Almost to the point where it seems to lose some power to the music. I need to find that middle ground.



I will probably re-record it. There are a few things that aren't working for me. And it's good to spend a lot of time getting the vocals just right no matter what type of music it is. You're not really supposed to understand the vocals unless you're into the music. To me I hear what I'm saying clear as day. There are some bands that I can't understand with out reading the lyrics. The main problem I have with my vocals is I have to edit out sibilance pretty heavily and it's a long annoying process...

...but here's the lyrics. I think reading them will help you see it's not that hard to tell what I'm saying once you get use to the vocals.

Agonous - Completely Broken

Verse 1
Drifting through the cosmos - A lost soul of my mind
My days are filled with agony - Worldly Ways Declined
Aboard the ship of insanity - The passengers all know
We furl the sails, heading straight to hell - Inner demons bellow

Pre-chorus 1
The rising tide of pain wont subside - Resonating, Perpetuating, Escalating
The lunar call echoes though the halls - breaking the barriers of mental walls

Chorus
Cleanse your thoughts, Break the mold, Don't believe anything you're told
The madness has just begun
Strike the match, Engulfed in flames, Don't sell your soul for loose change
Because in the end everyone dies...

Verse 2
Lost at sea for all eternity - Drifting amongst the waste
Sludge and goo infest the ocean blue - Daydreams are all I taste
My pockets are lined by the grime of all these desperate crimes
These sights go unseen all the time, but always haunt a fragile mind

Pre chorus 2
Completely deranged do you feel the same - magnify, amplify, intensify
The pain I feel could it be real - A prisoner of my mind

Pre chorus 3
The way I fell is too real to hide - Degrading, Fustrating, Humiliating
I swim through my extreme inner pain - like water washing down the drain

I think the words are pretty good. You sure you want to use the vocal effect like you have it? The core music could accommodate a different style of vocals. I mean hard vocals, but not so grungy.

 

[FoulPhil]

I think the words are pretty good. You sure you want to use the vocal effect like you have it? The core music could accommodate a different style of vocals. I mean hard vocals, but not so grungy.

It's not an effect on the vocals. The first mix is just a dry vocal with no effects other than EQ and Compression. It's death metal man. The vocals are supposed to be as guttural as possible.

I've gotten all good feedback from people who like that style of music.

 

[DM60]

It's not an effect on the vocals. The first mix is just a dry vocal with no effects other than EQ and Compression. It's death metal man. The vocals are supposed to be as guttural as possible.

I've gotten all good feedback from people who like that style of music.

Fair enough.

 

[TripleM]

I thought the guitars sounded good. Well played. Good energy. Bass sounded pretty good to.

Drums were OK except maybe the kick. The kick was kind of loud and boomy. Some low frequency needs to be tamed.

I might shoot for a new vocal performance. Almost sounds as if the singer was reading it off a piece of paper. It was a bit "staged" IMO.

 

[TripleM]

On second listen, I think the guitars are a little too spongy. Maybe a little too far overdriven.

 

[FoulPhil]

On second listen, I think the guitars are a little too spongy. Maybe a little too far overdriven.

Not sure what spongy means, but I have tried it with much less distortion and it just didn't work. I originally had way more distortion on the guitars and toned them down quite a bit.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Not sure what spongy means, but I have tried it with much less distortion and it just didn't work. I originally had way more distortion on the guitars and toned them down quite a bit.

I myself would consider 'spongy' as soft and undefined. Soft like a sponge. I hear that too. It does sound 'mushy'. A new term to figure out.

Guitar does not have a hard edge to the tone that cuts through.

I have never been a fan of that type of vocal myself, but it is even less effective if the guitar tone is not in your face.

Just my personal opinion. Performance sounds good, just guitar tone issue sticks out for me.

 

[FoulPhil]

I myself would consider 'spongy' as soft and undefined. Soft like a sponge. I hear that too. It does sound 'mushy'. A new term to figure out.

Guitar does not have a hard edge to the tone that cuts through.

I have never been a fan of that type of vocal myself, but it is even less effective if the guitar tone is not in your face.

Just my personal opinion. Performance sounds good, just guitar tone issue sticks out for me.

I'll try some things, but believe me I've spent a lot of time screwing with the guitar tones and if it doesn't have the right amount of distortion or overdrive we get into the realm of Judas Priest type guitar tones. Love that type of tone, but just doesn't fit.

I'm also trying to figure out how to get the vocals just right. If you listen to the Holiday In Cambodia track I did just for fun, the vocals are pretty much what I'm going for.

 

[Greg_L]

What are you using for the guitars? I'm guessing it's a sim problem because it almost always is on these type of songs. They're flat and don't punch because there's no actual air moving. You can get all the "distortion" you want, but it's not a naturally pleasing type of distortion. I'm not knocking sims, but that's just an inherent problem with heavily overdriven sim tones. They're flat and two dimensional. Instead of punch and clarity, you get flat fizz. Some sims are better at this than others.

I don't have a problem with the vocals in the mix, besides them being dumb metal-growl vocals. They seem okay to me. I don't even pretend to understand this kind of music though, so I'm not the one to know about fine tuning this stuff.

 

[FoulPhil]

What are you using for the guitars? I'm guessing it's a sim problem because it almost always is on these type of songs. They're flat and don't punch because there's no actual air moving. You can get all the "distortion" you want, but it's not a naturally pleasing type of distortion. I'm not knocking sims, but that's just an inherent problem with heavily overdriven sim tones. They're flat and two dimensional. Instead of punch and clarity, you get flat fizz. Some sims are better at this than others.

I don't have a problem with the vocals in the mix, besides them being dumb metal-growl vocals. They seem okay to me. I don't even pretend to understand this kind of music though, so I'm not the one to know about fine tuning this stuff.

Yeah I'm not really rushing things. In the past I would get frustrated and call it done just to get it over with. This time I'm doing a little here and there to keep from getting burnt out. Learning new tricks as I go. I did record the guitar DI and even have a re-amp box, but I don't have a decent amp to record. I might end up re-amping and trying a few things with what I have. I will definitely go back and experiment with the guitars. Even just getting them a little better would be good, if that's possible lol.