Mixing Project - Son of Amittai

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mase0013

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I wanted to share this in hopes I can learn mixing techniques and for feedback. I recently purchased EZDrummer and wanted to record this song to experiment with it. The more parts I added to the song the more I wanted/need to learn on how to mix (and record) better. And I've figured out mixing with headphones doesn't work.


Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance!



*disclaimer* - Novice recording engineer & song structure is unorthodox.
 

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The drums would sound much much better if in EZdrummer, you take the 'Room' mic level and lower it a bit, it makes the drums sound a lot tighter and stops the rather hideous (in my opinion) room reverb. Also did you compress the drums at all? And is the acoustic guitar DI or miced?
 
I will tweak the "room" mic level. I have the overhead and room mic at the same level. Should I lower both? I did not compress the drums. I know a little about what compression does but I have never been able to achieve good results for drums, vocals, etc. to be honest. Any suggestions would be welcome! The acoustic is DI. I have always mic'd it in the past but tried DI this time...

I really appreciate the feedback. It is quite the learning process.
 
Don't lower the overhead too much, as it will make your cymbals lower in volume too. Also lowering both the room and overhead too much will make the kit sound very very dry, which tends to sound rather dead in my own opinion, As for compressing the drums, if you want to downwardly compress them, then start by setting the threshold to 0db, choosing a ratio perhaps somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1, i tend to use the higher end of that on EZdrummer, but its your call, choose a faster attack and release if you really want a more punchy sound from the drums, then simply lower the threshold until you start hearing an audible change in timbre of the kit, I find it's best to make sure it isn't compressing all the time though, as it sounds to muffled etc, removes punch altogether, so don't set the threshold too low. And as for the Acoustic guitar, I would personally try micing it, I find DI'd acoustics sound too eletrpoinics and lack warmth, but again, it's your call, trust your ears on everything i've said. There's no right way for it to sound, only what you think sounds best!
 
Mic the acoustic. I think it would sound a lot better. 1:25 is a good example of where you can tell it's DI and not miced, and it does not sound as good. For that kind of solo stuff you need a good authentic acoustic sound that you would get through micing. Also, I think the vocals pop out of the mix a bit too much. Try turning those levels down a bit more. Actually, the first half of the song is where the vocals tend to jump out. The parts where you sing about the fish coming or something sound alright.
 
George: I will try the mic levels and compression. We'll see if I can figure the compression out! I really appreciate the advice. And I need to edit the stop midway through the song. Not 100% pleased with it. and I'm a bit of a perfectionist..

Jguitar: thanks for the vocal mix feedback. I had that thought but wasn't sure. I will lower the vocals in the mix.

I have always been of philosophy of micing an acoustic rather than DI and I can def. hear the difference. I have been recording some songs in an actual studio over the last couple of months and the engineer recorded all the acoustic parts going DI. Which I thought was weird. So I thought I would try it myself. I am a fan of a more warm acoustic tone from micing..

Thanks for the advice/help.
 
I brought the room mic down on the drums and added a compression with the threshold to 0db and ratio to 3.5:1. I brought down the vocal volume in the first 2/3rds of the song. I haven't re-recorded the acoustic guitar with a mic, so it's still the same DI acoustic track.

I added a new lead for the instrumental part as well. I was thinking after the instrumental "build-up" in the song (~1:53) the song needs something more when the vocals come in.

Any thoughts are welcomed and I appreciate the help thus far!
 

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mase0013 said:
I have always been of philosophy of micing an acoustic rather than DI and I can def. hear the difference. I have been recording some songs in an actual studio over the last couple of months and the engineer recorded all the acoustic parts going DI. Which I thought was weird. So I thought I would try it myself. I am a fan of a more warm acoustic tone from micing..
Click to expand...


Yeah, micing is 1000% better than DI on an acoustic. I've never heard a decent DI sound. Stick with micing.
 
NL: just more confirmation in my Mic>DI assumptions. I'll definitely stick with the mic.
 
You're going to want to raise the threshhold of the compressor from 0db remember.
 
Drums sound much better on 2nd mix. All in all, sounds good and I like the song. The little build up at 1:53 needs to be much softer, it comes in out of nowhere and really sticks out. Might use a global boost in the low end, but not by much.

Welcome to the site.
 
George: I guess I'm not quite understanding... here is what I have for my compression. Threshold is at 0.0db (the highest it allows).

Pardon my ignorance..

Screen Shot 2012-11-11 at 9.54.00 PM.webp
 
Chili: thanks for the feedback. I will boost the low end. I'm trying to mix through my Sennheiser headphones until I get some descent monitors.. so that is an obstacle. And I can hear what you mean about the build up. Are you referring to the overall build up (at 1:53) or just the drums, guitars, etc?

And wish I would've found this site a long time ago. There are some great ears and wealth of knowledge on here.
 
Heya, I mean just that one guitar that comes in at that point. It should sit further back in the mix.

For the compression, there are some other things to consider, like, are you bringing the drums out of EZD as a stereo mix or as individual tracks? If you're using it as a stereo mix, then the one compressor might work kind of like a drum buss. As George said, start at 0db, but you've got to lower it to get it to work. Leaving it at 0db is theoretically a bypass mode. Bring it down to hear a difference and set it to where it sounds good to you.

If you bring in each drum track from EZD as individual tracks, then you'll have to tend to each track. I typically don't run my drums to a drum buss to apply overall compression. I find that EZD doesn't need a whole lot of work. It's pretty well preprocessed for us. I do turn the room mic all the way down, but as of late, I put a reverb just on the room mic and turn it up so I slightly hear it. I don't use reverb on the other drum tracks anymore, just the room mic.

BTW: Glad to have you here. Look forward to hearing more of your tunes!!
 
gotcha on the guitar. I will adjust the guitar into the mix a little better. thanks for that tip.

The EZD drums are all in one track (you can see it in the screenshot if you look closely). I'm assuming that is what you meant by "stereo mix." I messed around with another built-in compressor in GB and had the threshold lowered considerably. I noticed when I lowered the threshold, the overall output was lowered. Is that pretty standard to have to raise the overall track when compression (threshold lowered) is added? I will mess around with the threshold and see if I can get it satisfactory.

And I have the room mic at 0.0db for the whole drum track.
 
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