Live hardcore punk-rock band.

CMolena

CMolena

Active member
Hey guys.

So, I have to mix this live performance of a hardcore punk-rock band. The recording setup was:

Drums - Two Overheads using recorderman and one kick drum mic.
Guitars: Mic right in front of the amp.
Bass: DI and Mic in front of the amp.
Vocals: Do I really have to say?

I'm having trouble with the lack of consistency of the drummer. In the verse you cant hear the kick drum for shit...but then when he uses his double pedal thing, it just go crazy. Do you guys think automation is necessary in this?

Actually if you guys can point me where can this mix go to get better, I would be really glad.

The band want a Bad Brains vibe to the mix, so I hope you guys dont mind the "dirty vibe" of my mix.

Playing: Marcha dos Rejeitados.mp3 - picosong
 
Being from the DC area, I can appreciate the bad brains aspect.

The bass drum is getting lost. Try making some room by applying a mid cut to the bass guitar at 80Hz and a bump to the bass drum in the same place. You cold also apply high pass filters to the guitars to get them out of the way. But don't take too much from them. OK yeah I just got 2:00 in and this guy is insane on the bass drum. You need to feature that in the mix IMO. You could scoop it as well in the mids. BTW I'm talking 3 DBs one way or another. Maybe more but you don't have to go crazy.
 
CMolena said:
The band want a Bad Brains vibe to the mix
Click to expand...

So kind of homophobic? :D

Yeah, that kick inconsistency is pretty bad. you might be able to fix it with some automation. Or maybe a side-chain compressor ducking some other instruments.

How good is your isolation between tracks? That will go a long way to helping you clean up the mix.

*edit*
Oh, I forgot. Lots of pops and clicks throughout. Are those from clipping in the mix? In the raw? MP3 compression?
 
Last edited:
thanks, ibleed, that was really helpful! Will do that and see if the mix gets better.

VHS, Daryl Jennifer, bass player of Bad Brains cleared them out in an article I've read once.
He is a good drummer, but he should hit the single kick drum notes harder...cause when he doubles it...it just goes insane. I like a certain sloppiness in drummers...but consistency is good, haha.
I cant hear any popping...and I limited everything to -0.5dB...thats weird.
 
I'm sure I'm in the minority with this, but I don't even think songs needs a kick drum. :x

If you have bass guitar and a snare cutting through that's fine for a genre like punk. Listen to all the gritty/underground punk albums and you rarely hear definition in instruments. It's a blend/wall of chaos with a guy yelling over it, just like this.

The one thing I don't like about this mix is that clanky cymbal that comes in here and there (sounds like a ride) -- it is just way too loud and sounds in a different room altogether because of how much it sits above the rest of the kit.

I kind of dug the heavy guitars and overall vibe of this.
 
I'm also missing the kick drum, and just more clarity and punch from the low end generally. I guess your options depend on what you were able to capture on the various tracks, how much bleed you are dealing with, etc. It's a spirited performance. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but to me the standout problem on this track is the performance of the bass player. He is dragging.
 
Sounds like the drums are most up-front, I think it might be good to push them back a bit to let other elements come forward. There's a guitar in the left that's kind of ice-picky, I would try a little dip round 3k maybe. The vocals could come forward/up in volume a bit I think. Cool song, sounds like you did a good job recording it.
 
easlern said:
Sounds like the drums are most up-front, I think it might be good to push them back a bit to let other elements come forward. There's a guitar in the left that's kind of ice-picky, I would try a little dip round 3k maybe. The vocals could come forward/up in volume a bit I think. Cool song, sounds like you did a good job recording it.
Click to expand...

It's been my experience that the main obstacle of recording live bands is the band. Bands that have their shit together (arrangement, dynamics, proper microphone technigue, performance, timing, so forth and so on) are easy to record and bands that don't have their shit together are a bitch to record. You probably did a really good job of capturing EXACTLY what was hitting the mics. Kick drum inconsistency is the drummers fault not the engineer. I know because I'm learning to play drums and struggle with it. Same thing with the cymbal....he's either hitting it too hard or it just sounds bad because its a cheap ass pressed cymbal. or both. Turd polishing is hard and very time consuming.
I think you did a good job bro!
 
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