Man this metal rhythm sounds GREAT !!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter VesuviusJay
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VesuviusJay

VesuviusJay

Poser Roaster
Hey boys and girls!

I have been working very very hard on this track. It has been 3 months since I got my new triple rectifier rig and I finally have the recorded tone super close to my satisfaction. Last night I got real close and slapped a rough mix on it. It needs fine tuning now and and some lead work punch ins but it is 90%. You veterans out there please critique and tell me how I may polish it up even further!

 
Mixing Tip No. 1-6031: Everything must have its own space. Figure out what frequencies are absolutely necessary for each instrument and cut whats not needed. The Kick for instance, does not do much between 180-2k or so. Cut it out and compress the rest. Theres a page floating around somewhere with some good starting points for EQing, what frequencies dif instruments tend to inhabit, etc. Look around for it.
 
Then there has to be some kind of an instrument ==> Frequency range chart...No?

Does anyone have a handy dandy chart or sliderule that shows the target frequency ranges for each instrument? This will help me gate the tracks a little more intelligently. Thanks
 
How vague can I be...

I saw something like that, somewhere, on Blue Bears' web site.........

I think,.....


Loved the song, you've been working on this a while haven't you?

I have two versions on my computer...
 
Never heard of them, assuming it is a band...

What genre are they in??? I'd gladly give them a listen....

Actually I just dwell, you guessed it, in my cellar...

Where all of my toys are.
 
JuSumPilgrim said:
Mixing Tip No. 1-6031: Everything must have its own space. Figure out what frequencies are absolutely necessary for each instrument and cut whats not needed. The Kick for instance, does not do much between 180-2k or so. Cut it out and compress the rest. Theres a page floating around somewhere with some good starting points for EQing, what frequencies dif instruments tend to inhabit, etc. Look around for it.
Click to expand...

As I said previously, I have found the chart you referred to, assuming there are no differences, and printed for reference at home.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet figured out how to apply it! I don't have a good EQ plug-in, and Ntrack only has the three knobs (as far as I've been able to locate anyway)

Anyway, Vesuvius, glad to hear metal here, as always. I am going to have to post something soon to validate my existence and give everyone something to poke fun at!
 
I think a document or website with some insight to the frequency spread would help me tremendously. Now I play everything by ear. As you can imagine, mixing is a long process of mix until my ears are dead, wait a few days to a week and start work again with fresh ears. If only I knew the secrets of the parametric EQ and spiking very specific frequencies up in my mixes... For now I guess I will just use Nuendo's gate and track EQ and mess with the tracks until the sound right.

Again, any shortcuts to this painstaking tedious process would be extremely helpful! It would be nice to know which frequencies to begin targetting so I don't waste my time with frequencies that overlap into other instruments' ranges. Of course it still takes the earpower to fine tune the mix and ice the cake, but that's what we are all here learning or teaching each other to do. Is it not...?

Come on frequency experts, chime in on this one will ya? Hehe. At least link us to any good threads you may have stumbled apon. I know everyone preaches "search engine" and "do your homework before posting the same question for the billionth time". Just so everyone knows, unless a thread is sticky, you're chances of finding the thread you are really looking for are slim. I have been studying this forum for a year, thouroughly using the search engine and stickys, and I never came accross that cabinet mic placement technique until someone bumped it back into being. I wonder why it never came up while searching for "metal guitar mic placement". Anywho, COME ON FREQUENCY CHART!!! :)
 
From an 'old-school' point of view, you couldn't be more vintage in your mix. Sounds like I could be sitting in my high school parking lot listening to a Nuclear Assault tape on my Radio Shack generic 6x10 car speakers!

But today's mix would have a lot more depth. EQing is huge (as everyone else has pointed out), but I'd also look at recording balances. My guess is everything is maxed out and the only way to push more sound is through compression.

Check out how much sound you throw on each track. Try to maximize each instrument so you don't have to make up for it later in post.
 
What would you recommend then as far as setting the levels on the input gain? My current method is to try and crank the gain to just under clipping on both microphones. Is this advisable? Or is there another approach? I am definately going to print a hard copy of that blue bear page and get myself primed up for EQ. I think you are correct that I need some in depth EQ work on this track. Any tips or techniques, as always, are appreciated!
 
Showdown said:
From an 'old-school' point of view, you couldn't be more vintage in your mix. Sounds like I could be sitting in my high school parking lot listening to a Nuclear Assault tape on my Radio Shack generic 6x10 car speakers!
Click to expand...

Perhaps you could have said that with less tact?

Probably not.
 
Keep it up V!!!!!!!

Nnnaaaahhhh, Probably not. Alot of people around here like to be smart asses when they reply. You get used to it. Alot of people decide to take a few cheap shots when replying to posts, WHY NOT JUST GIVE SOME FEEDBACK WITHOUT THE COCKINESS. Positive feedback is far more useful than smartass comments. Keep plugging away Vesuvius and you'll get it.
 
People do like to be smartasses. I included. BUT, there is a major lack of definition and EQ in that mix.
I am a big fan of gothneburg bands like in flames, soilwork, meshuggah, etc and the ethos of the day for that genre is HUGE on bottom and defined and very compressed, as in completely mashed up against the glass, everywhere else.
Dig?

Check this out..

http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0900/primer.htm

-J
 
Re: Keep it up V!!!!!!!

Analytical Man said:
Nnnaaaahhhh, Probably not. Alot of people around here like to be smart asses when they reply. You get used to it. Alot of people decide to take a few cheap shots when replying to posts, WHY NOT JUST GIVE SOME FEEDBACK WITHOUT THE COCKINESS. Positive feedback is far more useful than smartass comments. Keep plugging away Vesuvius and you'll get it.
Click to expand...

Dude! I couldn't agree with you more. Actually, I am more interested in negetive feedback if it is knowledgable, intelligent, and gives me something to shoot for, or shows me a point of view I hadn't thought of. This is what drives us who are teaching ourselves this masterful art. I love this forum because it allows me to interactively teach myself the masterful art of engineering by sharing what I have done with professionals. And all the appreciation goes to those of you who have genuinely listened to what I have done and commented positive or negative. All comments from this forum have helped me shape my skill.

Thanks! \m/
 
cellardweller said:
Perhaps you could have said that with less tact?

Probably not.
Click to expand...

LOL! Actually, I wasn't trying to be a dick. I really like that vintage sound. When I wrote that comment I was thinking about how cool it would be to record that 'era sound' on purpose. Sorry if it came across as flippant.

VesuviusJay, in response to the level issue, a common mistake during mixdown is pushing each track level too hot until there's little dynamic in the mix. Try backing off on all of the levels and focus on getting better depth, then add compression to the entire mix at the end.
 
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