How would you mix this?

[Scottgman]

Hi all,

I had a marathon recording session yesterday. I recorded three songs my ex-bandmates wrote so they could have a demo and I could get practice. I don't have any studio monitors yet so I haven't mixed these songs. However, I thought it would be cool to post my pre-mixed tracks to get feedback on my tracking as well as what might be needed during mix-down. If you are willing to offer advice/feedback, I'd love to hear it.

Anyway, I'm stoked because I don't think the mixes sound terrible right now-- and they haven't even been mixed yet (that means I did a decent job tracking right?). If the tracking is great, you guys get all the credit because basically everything I've learned has been from this BBS. If it sucks, I'll take all the credit.

I didn't write these songs or play anything so feel free to bash them if you want.

Here's the signal chain, etc.:

Drums: Gretsch (don't know model). MXL 603s for overheads-- x/y'd two stick lengths from the snare and centered on the kit. SM57 on the snare, couple inches off the rim pointed at the center of the snare. MXL v67 on the bass drum (we didn't have a bass drum mic). We made a very crude bass drum tunnel with a chair, thick blanket, and three couch cushions and stuck the v67 at the end of the tunnel.

Guitar: American Strat into a JCM 2000. Put a MXL 603 basically right on a cone and the v67 about 8 foot away as a room mic.

Bass: Ampeg head (don't know the model). Two Ampeg cabinets; a 4x10 and a 15. I put a 603 right on a cone in the 4x10 and a 603 right on the cone of the 15. The v67 was again about 8 foot away. One of the songs he used a Bass POD for effect-- I tried to talk him out of it... I really wanted to hear it dry.

Vocals: v67

I either used a Mackie 1202 VLZ or DMP3 preamps into a Delta 1010lt and recorded with Sonar. Used a little compression (ART Levelar) on basically everything. I used low-cut on everything but the bass drum.


I'd love to hear what you guys think...

WARNING: These songs have not been mixed. I don't think there is anything that will blow speakers (I've already played these songs on two HIFI stereo systems with no problems) but don't trust my newbie judgments.


http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3079&alid=-1

 

[Scottgman]

Anyone?

There's got to be someone out there with an opinion.

Come on. Somebody at least has one "that really sucks dude" comment out there. Lemme have it.

Have I been running my mouth too much in the cave?

Did I scare you with the warning?

Are the recordings so impressive that you are in awe of my raw recording talent and therefore can't speak? : )

Do they suck so bad you can't bear to tell me?

 

[pglewis]

Decaf brother, you're in the queue. Ain't even been 4 hours yet and if you haven't noticed, there's a few posts in here besides yours.

 

[Scottgman]

Decaf brother, you're in the queue. Ain't even been 4 hours yet and if you haven't noticed, there's a few posts in here besides yours.

doh! My bad.

Am I next? lol... I'll lay off the coffee.

 

[pglewis]

Downloaded "Dirty".

Any reason you're using the Levelar so much? Like the sound? Using it for transient protection?

I won't linger on the performance too much, but the vocalist definitely needs to work on some pitch issues. The recording is pretty muddy in general, but as you said it hasn't even been mixed yet. After a "recording marathon" it's definitely best not to mix anyway. Get some sleep, let the ears rest, and come back to the mix the next day.

Levels seem to be "in the ballpark", but I think there's some EQ work needed here. Not sure where to start with advice there, though.

 

[Scottgman]

Man.. that song is the worst sounding of the three in my opinion. I hope you check out one of the others... maybe 'Sold Out.'

I was using the Levelar for transients and it was never cutting more than 3db. You think I should not use it at all or lower the threshold?

I don't know how to fix muddiness. Is it the result of poor tracking and/or equipment? Or would a good mix-down result in much cleaner recording?

And what do you mean by the levels being in the ballpark? Do you mean in terms of each track relative to the others? I feel like I'm recording too loud in general and should probably lay off the gain.

Anyway, I just want to get better... thanks for the feedback!

 

[chrisharris]

I listened to Sold Out. I like that fucking song.

Dude, you have more stuff than I do, and you're mic'ing drums, which I wouldn't have a CLUE how to do, - oh, and if THAT weren't enough, I'm listening on headphones....lol...so all I can give you are VERY GENERAL impressions. It sounds like it was recorded live, in the same room...the room is not a large room - it's more of a bedroom sized room. Basically (and this is NOT a slam), it sounds like there's a band playing together (sometimes) in the same room - that's a goal many strive for. Obviously, you can make the room bigger with reverb when you mix it.

The hat and the guitar are off in the beginning for a bit, so if this is ending up in a computer workstation at some point, slide one of them over, lol.

The vocal - it's too low at the very beginning (when he's singing low), and it kinda' comes and goes, and that guy has a VERY dynamic voice, so you're gonna' need to compress the crap out of it at some point (I'm probably giving bad advice here). When the guitars kick in, that is just an absolutely cool idea, with absolutely the worst sounding guitar tone I've ever heard outside of my own rig. I have no idea how to fix that.

Also, the drums (actual heads) sound real "thuddy," and that's a sound I'm not super crazy about...Recording drums is a bitch, and I'm kinda' glad I don't have to screw with it, lol.

It'd be really interesting to see how much this improves when you mix it, b/c I like the tune.

That ride sounds nice...it's just refreshing to hear a real ride cymbal.

I just realized what this reminds me of...Did you ever watch that VH-1 thing where they put 3 or 4 unknown bands in some RV's and made them gig all over the country...kinda' like Road Rules, with amps. The band that won that thing ("Flickerstick")... I have some of their demos (they're from Dallas), and you probably don't care, lol...but I couldn't stop typing until I remembered who this reminded me of.

I hope some people who know something about REAL recording can help you, but even if they don't, repost a new thread when you mix this, k?

good luck...tear it up.

 

[chrisharris]

...and also

bass needs to be bigger. I'm getting lows from the guitars only, except for that one bass lick, I can't really hear it. It's gonna' need a big bump in the kick too, I think. yeah...BASS AND KICK...work that out.

-The vocal sound really needs something...what's a v67? Dynamic mic, right? Just compress the living shit out of it and try adding some highs and see if it wakes up any.

AND FINALLY...

"shit, that shoulda' been clickin'...ya'll wanna' try that again?"

No matter what, leave that in.

 

[Scottgman]

Wow thanks for the observations! They have definitely given me ideas. That cracked me up what you said about the guitar tone. The amp and guitar are pretty nice—it’s amazing how easy it is to get a bad sound out of decent equipment. Anyway, I guess I should’ve twiddled with his amp settings. But you know how sensitive people can be about that stuff. I asked the bass player to try ‘I Can’t Drown’ just once without his bass Pod… and you would’ve thought I asked him to give up his first-born son!

You nailed the room. The amps were in a small bedroom and the drums were recorded in a small living room. But we recorded each instrument separately. So if it sounds like it was recorded live… I think that’s a good thing (we captured the groove or feel of the song?).

I’m wondering if the ‘thuddiness’ of the drums could be fixed by a good tuning. I know he tuned his snare before we recorded… I don’t think he’s done the rest of the kit lately. Maybe some eq would help—but I don’t know, I’m a newbie to this stuff.

As for the vocals I don’t know what to do really. The (MXL) v67 is a LD condenser—so if you thought it was a dynamic, I must have done something wrong… lol.

Anyway, thanks again.

Cheers!

 

[TripleM]

Listened to "I Can't Drown"...

As far as mixing ideas, the first thing that came to mind is you're going to need to get the flanged guitar out of the way of the vocals. They're sharing a lot of the same space, so I'd play around and figure out the proper place to cut the guit.

The vocals should be brought up relative to the rest of the instruments. They're pretty far back in this early "mix."

Needs a bigger low end. Try boosting the bass guit.

A nice medium sized room verb on things, especially the vox would be cool.

Is it me, or did the tempo float around a bit early on in the song?

Anyway, those are my ideas...

 

[Scottgman]

Thanks for your comments. I've only been at this PC recording thing for a couple months... and this is my first time posting to the clinic. So everyone's feedback is really helpful.

 

[chrisharris]

The (MXL) v67 is a LD condenser—so if you thought it was a dynamic, I must have done something wrong… lol.

1. I should have known that mic.

2. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just a totally unaffected vocal at this point. It may sound kick ass when it's mixed.

BTW - lmao@ your bass player and his POD.

He deserves to be buried in the mix.