Metalcore Song - opinions on the recording please

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amra

amra

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Please give me any contructive feedback/opinions/thoughts that come to mind when you hear this. I am mainly thinking of the recording itself, as that was my involvement in the song, but any thoughts are welcome.

A couple of notes before you listen:

The band intentionally wanted the vocals to somewhat subdued in relation to the guitar. I don't understand why, but that's how they wanted it.

Also, to give you some context, I am not very experienced in mixing, and my gear is rather limited. So, being realistic I am shooting for maybe a bit nicer than average "demo quality" recordings at this point.



Thanks!
Mike
 
Just a few comments and questions...

Drums first. The cymbols are at a good volume for the overall mix, but the snare and toms need to come up a lot. The snare can pass where it is, but the toms are way to low, especially on those fills.

Secondly. Where did you record the vocals. I noticed some reverb that sounded like a bad room to me. It didn't sound so bad on the heavy parts with the screams, but when he was singing it was a bit to noticeable.

Did you DI or mic guitars, because the clean part is sounding a bit picky/plucky, if you know what I mean. Try getting a warmer sound with EQ.

The vocal volume is actually fine to me. Just some EQ could really get this mix sounding good. Play around with it.
 
I agree with emergencyexit about the drums.

Guitar tone is terrible for this kind of music. All fuzz and buzz and no definition. I'm guessing you did your best to capture the sound they had going on, so can't really tell you what to do there if that is what they want...

Also agree about the vocals. The screams don't sound too bad, but the sang and spoken lines have a really bad room sound (like a garage or something) happening. If that is reverb get rid of it on those parts (at least most of it). Perhaps overdub the clean spoken things seperately to get rid of that sound.

Other issues would just be mostly performance related and no fault of yours, unless you wanted to hound them about getting their stuff a little tighter and together.

But all that aside, for what it appears that you're trying to do, you're doing great. A lot better than most demos I hear!
 
Id retrack the guitars with alot less gain and a different amp maybe.
No definition, which could be the player too to some degree.

Also, the drums need more high end and attack.

Screams are good.
But the spokens and singing....did you have him do those like 4 feet from the mic?

Thats what it sounds like, and it dosent sound good.

Might have to retrack those too.

-Finster
 
The drums are super buried on my Event 20/20s. All I can really hear during the heavy parts are the hi-hats and a little snare. The kick and everything else is non-existant. The vocals are a little low but you addressed that. I think the guitar tone (aside from teh clean) sounds pretty close to what these bands are using. The clean tone needs some serious help. I don't really know what to say other than maybe try retracking it. If there is a bass in there, its pretty buried or its getting masked.
The timing and transitions are below average for even this style (which I don't hold with very high regards LMAO). If you get a chance to pass on constructive criticism to the band, those are the 2 main things they need to work on IMHO.
 
Guys, first of all thanks for all the great feedback.

Most of it is right inline with my own thoughts about what was lacking in the recording (except the cleans, I kinda liked that sound..lol, I guess I am a fan of that plucky, 'chimey' type clean sound) but after you hear a song so many times, you kind of get lost on where to go next.

Now, some more details and some answers to your questions.
The drums: I am limited to 2 channels of recording for now (audiophile 24\96), and I really only have 2 usable mics. The drums were recorded with a SM57 in the hole in the front of the kick, and the rest of the kit was recorded overhead with a Studio Projects B1. All I could do was have someone move it around while I listened in the recording room with headphones until we got the best possibly sound we could. I think the toms really suffered the most, doing it this way. I can definitely bump up the kick a bit, I think the kick sounds ok by itself, so I guess it just got buried.

Guitars: The distorted guitars were completely doubled, note for note using 2 different amp setups. Could this be causing the lack of definition? They seem to be lacking a little in the highs, can I fix this with EQ, I wonder?

Bass: These guys don't use a bass player, maybe this is contributing to the weak kick?

Vocals: We are recording vocals in a carpeted room, approximately 14'x12' with some amps and other gear in it, but otherwise empty using the B1. I am not sure if he is backing off of the mic during the softer part, but I know I sure don't like the boomy way it comes accross. This is the thing that is bugging me the most right now. How can I fix this? We tracked the soft parts seperately, so I could turn down the compression and up the gain on the pres compared to the screaming. BTW, is recording screaming really hard or is it just me?

thanks guys,
mike
 
Hey, Amra. I liked the sound quality of all the instruments, especially the guitars. They're not tight rhythmically though, and I think that makes your job pretty damn hard. Don't know if there's any way to dump one of the guitar parts, but they are stepping all over each other to my ear, with the rhythmic sloppiness. I miss the bass. Think the softer section with the spoken vocal around 1:30 sounds a little disjointed from the rest. Too close and clear. Dunno, maybe I'm wanting to hear it farther away, where I have to strain a little to hear it - a la Room Machine "put it in the corner" ambiance. The clean guitar before the spoken vocal comes in kind of abruptly at 1:12, and is too close too IMO. And when the drum enters in that section it feels way off rhythmically. I know you're looking for mix related ideas - and my thought is that perhaps those things that are done with less rhythmic finesse by the performers could be hidden more in the mix, or even smeared with processing/effects to mask the problem, or some edited out with a shorter song. Thinking nasty geurilla tactics here, not good processing/editing ethics. Think the drums would add more with more transient attack, not just volume. Tough job. What can you do when the musicians cant keep the beat? Man, nothings really different in that aspect between this and classical.

Tim
 
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Do you have access to ANY kind of mixer so that you might use more mics on the drums but still mix them into your 2 inputs? Even some cheap mics on the snare or toms would help this alot.
 
Yea, I have a 16 channel Soundtech. I didn't really think of that.
I guess I could have done the kick on one channel and then mixed whatever mics I could come up with to mic the kit through the mixer on the other channel. I would have to live with whatever I got, but then I do anyways using one overhead and I would have more control of the sound.

I am going to try to post a remix that i did, where I copied the overhead track and then Eq'd it on one copy of the track to boost the tom and snare (at the cost losing some cymbal) and then mixed the other copy of the track where the cymbal sounds good (at the cost of losing the toms and some snare). Together I think the two seperate copes of the track sound better than the one track mixed to a compromise. If it still sounds like poo-doo when I post it, then I will go back to the drawing board and most likely redo the vocals and drums.

Thanks for the idea and the feedback.
amra
 
its not going to sound more hifi until you get those drums mixed in stereo. trust me. the distortion definitely needs to be less fuzzy and more crunchy. the vocals need to be recorded in a better room, not in the bathroom. i can't hear the bass but that might be cause i'm not listening to it very loud.
 
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