metal/experimental. how is THIS mix?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shackrock
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shackrock

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aight guys, so you tore apart my other mix beautifully. that emo/screamo band. Now, this one is a bit more metal. I'd like some critiques on this.

some things to note-
*these guys hate their vox - they don't want them very prominant, just there.
*gear list: www.shackrockrecordings.com/recording.shtml
*this is from about a month ago. they are coming back tomorrow/monday to record 4-5 more songs, suggestions on mixes would be superb because then i can not make any of the same mistakes twice.
*I am having them bring some gear (a real nice 8-track for the extra pre's, some extra boom stands, and a load of mics to use on drums - so i have more and better options - the drummer's dad owns a "vocal" studio for doing commercials on the radio, etc. - so he's got a mic arsenal.)

rip it apart!!

posted at recordingproject.com - http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=6984
 
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha whats up man.

lets see. The guitars sound pretty in order. The whole mix i think needs some more high-end. Its a bit muffled on my speakers anyway. The drums actually arent bad. Id consider making the kick a little more slappy since its metal but thats a bit cliche. Sounds prtty good though

good luck
 
what kind of amp are the guitars running in?
i think they need a bit more gain for the style of music.
the vocals need to be a little raised...
 
I agree w/ Systmovadown...
Vocals have to come up, no matter how bad they are.

More gain on the guits...

Not too shabby though, nice job...
 
I feel very strange saying this, because it's usually totally the opposite problem for guys recording this type of music, but it sounds like it needs a big 'ole smiley face eq on the mix bus. I'm just hearing too much midrange and not enought highs and lows overall. You did a pretty good job though. It's really interesting that you seemed to have totally avoided all the obvious mistakes that people usually make, but to the point that it may have gone in the wrong direction. Good job though.
 
Yeah sounds good man. I know what you said about the singers but it could do with being a bit more prominent in the mix. THe drums are nice, but the guitars sound a bit too much, might be the eq, maybe take some mids off and put some low mids on the bass guitar and boost gain.
Sounds good though. Nice one.
 
EQ for the most part,should only be used as a last resort,barring extenuating circumstances.This "fix it in the mix" concept has seemingly replaced good sound recording techniques and that is wrong.If you need an analogy,think of someone who builds a front porch all out of level and proportion and then tries to make it seem even and square by giving it a good paint job!!!!It's not going to work and neither does "fix it in the mix".Proper acquisition is key here-remember"garbage in,garbage out".

If you get your signals down properly from the get go,the rest is just academic and artistic.
 
Sounds identical to some of the early heavy stuff I used to record. It's hard to record the kit and then still deal with such a low end on the instruments. You end up over-listening to the mix and putting way to many mids in.

I'd just start over; place the kit exactly where you want it, bringing up the kick and snapping the snare a bit more. Then add the guitars (only because I think they need to be thicker and darker), then add bass (to drop the low end of the mix), and finally mix the vox where they like it.

The drums just stick out too 'tinny' on the mix. Fill it out.

Nice chops on the board, though. The comment was made earlier where you aren't making the typical mistakes. That's a good sign of a great ear!
 
i think youve allready heard the criticisms you needed to hear to improve your mix.
I just wanted to say i liked the song. :D
 
To me the mix lacks any kind of high fidelity sparkle. The guitar tones recorded were terrible to begin with so what's the point of mixing them? The bass guitar is non-existant sounding. Overall lack of separation and crispness. The overheads/cymbals sound really trashy and cheap and the snare is indistinct and dull sounding.

While major mistakes may have been avoided in the mix I would look to improve the quality of the material coming in. Better mic placement, better overall tone dialed into the amps.

Better band too, there sounded like a few screw ups in there. At the very least everything sounded rushed and sloppy.
 
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