Just a quick mix issue...

[CrankyOne]

Well, I've been experimenting on getting the mix as loud as possible without it turning into a complete jelly. I made a quick Metallica cover without vocals (whew ). It's not played perfectly, even for such an easy song, and the guitars may not be in perfect tune. I can hear the mix is loud, but something in it doesn't sound right to me (besides my playing). I can't point my finger on what it is.

Here's the file:

 

[t-rok.com]

it sounds good to me i think it is a good mix! i have never heard that tune before. maybe that is why i dont hear any thing wrong
with it. Tim,

 

[Track Rat]

Good job. I even looked at it in Soundforge and I don't see any square waves. The guitars sound great too by the way.

 

[chrisharris]

The wav looks kinda' like a 2X4 once it kicks in, and the meters are telling me that it's clipping, but honestly...I don't hear it if it is. Sounds big and full, but not squished. I'd say you're fine.

 

[participant]

C.O....

Sounds big... a few more low mids, and you'd have it... (centered near 500Hz)... perfect slot for solos, and some vox (between 250 & 1k)

Very cool cover


Chad

 

[jake-owa]

I guess it sounds a tiny bit boxy. I like this guitar sound, you suck. I wish I could get sound like that, quit complaining.

 

[B.SABBATH]

It sounds loud yes, but it's almost too much.. I'm not looking at the wave, but it sounds pinned... I have mixed feelings about it, but my first thoughts are that it's too much, but maybe it's because the guitar is too loud.. if the drums were louder I might feel different.. You should have done some old Metallica. I don't think your recordings need to be any louder than they've been.. In some ways I almost like your older sound better.. like on 'Tyrant' and 'Too much.'

 

[mixmkr]

cranky...
maybe what you are hearing...(or not hearing) is what happened to your drums. Sure the guitars are loud, but what happened to your drums. Without hearing the raw tracks, or an unprocessed mix, I might guess that the drums might be a little less punchy and lower in volume. If not, then....well...I'll make another guess.

The guitars ARE extremely dominant...right in the in the middle of things...frequency wise, and... are they dominating the mix too much? Sounds pretty good, but possibly if you back things off a little, the impact of the song might increase a little more, rather than a direct guitar blasting away at you (like I love to do in the headphones!)

But...high quality stuff, never the less...even if a quickie, or self-presumed, less than steller playing... With the vocals, I'd bet your quibbles would slip by most unnoticed.

 

[CrankyOne]

Holy shit Batman. I believe the guitar is a bit too loud compared to drums. That must be it.

You should have done some old Metallica.

I definitely saw that coming

With the vocals, I'd bet your quibbles would slip by most unnoticed.

Yeah, I guess they would slip by, but my vocals would introduce a whole new batch of crappiness to sort through


... once again, thank you guys for wasting your time on my little thing here. Sometimes it's hard to hear from outside ears.

 

[B.SABBATH]

yeah Crankij, listen to 'Tyrant'... it is not harsh at all.. It has some room to breathe, and it can be cranked without distortion.. I really don't think things have to be sooo normalized.. It's funny because I have been having the same problem wondering if my recordings are too low.. Yours most certainly are not.. Maybe it's just because 'Tyrant' and 'Too much' were mixed better, but I like the sound of those better.. Raise the drums on this and lets hear it again..

or maybe just try an older Metallica song!

keep in mind your recordings and performances are better than normal..

 

[Myx62]

I backed off normalizing my stuff for a while, but started trying to figure it out again recently. I use endorphin on the final mixes and it seems to do ok.... You got the Metallica tone from the rhythm down well.... Did you mic an amp or direct. You just cant tell these days... I do both and mix em together-lol.... There was some strange noise in the background of the gtrs starting at about :50... The drums didnt turn to mush so the compression wasn't overdone. But what do I know. I usually squash my shit....
Myx

 

[CrankyOne]

I tried to do little volume checking, and I guess it's a bit better. I can't tell. It's more in balance now. I don't think I'll re-post the song, since the changes are VERY subtle. But thanks anyway guys. I learned something from all this. I also checked out my Tyrant cover. It had a nice wall of guitars in it for sure. Guitars were triple tracked (left, center & right) on it, so that may have been one of the reason. Looking back, the kick was a bit too clicky. Like somebody said earlier, like a typewriter. But it sounded much bigger than some of the stuff I did after that.

 

[HangDawg]

Great guitar sound. What did you use? Drums are a little low, but you know that already.

 

[CrankyOne]

I used my Zoom505-II and processed that crappy sound with a software plug-in called Revalver. It's basically an amp simulator, so it enhances the sound considerably.

 

[Lopp]

Thanks to Sam for pointing this one out.

Excellent guitar tone. Good volume on the whole mix.
However, it sounds like you got the great guitar tone at the expense of all the other instruments. I.e., the bass and drums sound a little lacking. Then again, I'm not using the best monitors right now, I might be missing something.

But the guitar tone rocks. Also, excellent technique on the guitar, which really helps the tone (aside from that little glitch in the beginning, maybe a couple others).

(Ok, looked back the other posts. I haven't told you anything new).

Who did the drums? Pretty decent tones.

 

[CrankyOne]

Thanks to Sam for pointing this one out.

Excellent guitar tone. Good volume on the whole mix.
However, it sounds like you got the great guitar tone at the expense of all the other instruments. I.e., the bass and drums sound a little lacking.

You're right. I lowered the guitar volume a little. I didn't repost the thing again, since all I needed was to know what's wrong with it, and now I can hear it too.


Who did the drums? Pretty decent tones.

I did the drums... Well, I programmed them