mixing metal

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crookedcreek

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i just got done recording this metal band. they were just kids that were 17 and looking to cut a demo. anyways, they came in with little tiny practice amps. i asked if they just wanted to use an emulator. i have amplitube 2 with great metal presets, but they were just fixed on playing with their amps. i tried to explain if they want a good sound, we need a better guitar tone. they disagreed. they were kids and it was just a demo.

i used a 57 few inches away from the cone and an st55 about 3 feet away pointing towards the amp. they were both going through an a.r.t. mpa gold to behringer mixer with direct outputs to m audio delta 1010lt. all the levels were nice but it just didnt sound good. i tried many and many different mic positions. i also tried to change the amp settings. i couldnt get a sound that i liked and what they like. i explained to them that its the small practice amp(not to mention, they were using horrible guitars that didnt stay in tune and buzzed like crazy). we were running out of time, so we just settled for the best sound we could get(which is really bad).

i eq'd them just a little. high pass on the lows around 175-230hz and boosted around 2khz just a little. i put a little reverb like 1.6 in the mix. it just doesnt sound good.

anybody have any ideas?

heres a link to one of their songs. this is a very rough mix. i need to fix the bass guitar and vocals. but i really like the drum sound, except for the cymbals.

 
I'm not sure about the boost at 2khz. It makes the guitars sound very brittle to my ears. Thankfully it only lasted a minute.

I'd be inclined to prune the top end of the guitars a bit more and see if you can get a bit more body into them. Than danger, of course, is that they may encroach on bass space. Try cutting around 3kz, and try boosting between 300 and 1k

The early snare hit sounded good, and I don't mind the cymbals that much. There is some funny high thing happening around 50 seconds. I can't figure it out.

Their timing is hazardous at the start, but settles later on.

Lyrics are awful

Well . . . best of luck!
 
Shit remains shit no matter what you do to it. Those guys will leave with a demo that sounds crappy (but, like them) and YOU will be the one who's name people hear when they ask who did it. Next time, instead of arguing with a client, just take a DI to have in your pocket for mixing. Although 17 year olds know everything don't they? I know I did.:p
 
Yeah I'd echo the whole 'record a DI at the same time' thing. What amps were they using? A decent 15watter can sound great when cranked.
 
dump the whole thing and re-record it...the guitars could cut thru steel lol
 
No offense but this is shit. I know you are just trying to make them happy but I would have said my way or the highway. The whole DI/re-amp later thing is a good idea....but it still wont make them play any better.
 
thanks!

yeah its hard to record shitty bands that dont want to listen. i will repost the new mix some time this week. i ended up just cutting the lows on the guitars...and thats about it. they know its going to be shitty. they recorded four songs in about 5 hours haha. they all just did one take and was happy. so conclusion of it all...dont record shitty metal bands! but thanks to all the replies!
 
if you took your car to a mechanic and then proceeded to tell the mechanic how to fix your car, he'd tell you to go away.

the band comes to you to record them. it's your job to use your skills to do the best you can, even if it means telling them no and here's how it'll be done. with that said, if you still deliver a shitty product, then it's on your shoulders. actually, it's on your shoulders regardless, so do it the way you want. the worst that will happen is they'll go away.

it is always best to establish the ground rules up front. all that matters is the end product, not how you get there. if you deliver something they like, they'll hardly remember about the process, unless you're just a big a-hole. learn to inspire performance and tactfully disagree.
 
1. Lose the distant mics on the guitars.
2. High pass the guitar an octave lower, like 70hz to 100hz
3. Low pass the guitars at 6-8k
4. Add some midrange (300hz to 1k) if there is any

5 Take out a ton of 900hz in the toms, add somewhere around 100hz in the high toms and 60 in the low toms
6. Take out something in the 400hz to 900hz range in the kick and add 50 hz and a high shelf at 8k
7. More 2k and 6k in the snare
8. Add 800hz to the bass
9 Mute the vocal
 
Better, but still crap. No reflection on you though.....you did your best, they just suck.
 
yeah i know, i could only do so much. when a band doesnt know a 4/4 count, i highly doubt the cd will sound good. in the other songs, it was all off time and sounds horrible. those guys were one take guys and they didnt care too much about their demo.

anyways, check out my other samples at: myspace.com/crookedcreekstudios
 
I can't hear on this computer, but I've developed a juicy trick for bandaging sucky, shrill, solid state beetone guitars. Multiband compression! Cut the signal into the usual guitar freqs, bass (>500), mid (up to 1000), high (2000-2500), presence (whatever's left). I usually crush the mids, squeeze the presence and bass a bit, and barely touch the highs. Use the individual band levels to bring down the shrill, hissy presence, attentuate the highs a tad, and bring/leave up the now-tightened mids. Or whatever. Play around with it. EQ the resulting mess as usual.

It won't turn those Behringers into Bogners, but it might work well enough in the mix that you won't have to remove your name from the disc.

EDIT: Next time, get a DI signal with the live takes, and you can reamp.
 
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