my first new song in awhile

drossfile

drossfile

nope
hey folks, i spent the last 4 days putting this together and need some feedback. it's the first mix that has ever sounded fantastic through my monitors, but on the computer speakers it's pretty lacking.

it's a raw file, very little eq applied to the tracks, and nothing on the master bus. as a result, it's a bit quiet but i'll throw it though a limiter once i'm happy w/ the mix. tear it apart, this is the best i've ever done with tracking, and i want the mix to be right. thanks!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=721637&content=music

(windmills raw mix)

lyrics:

windmills

seething in the dark
breeding contempt like mosquitoes
oh the things i could confess
yet i keep on asking what went wrong
yeah i aim my finger
what have you done?

i've been tilting at windmills again
shake my fist, you're gonna pay

a seed amongst the thorns
choking out the light
i will carve that cinder
right out of your eye
yeah, it seems i've forgotten
that there's a beam in mine

i've been tilting at windmills again
shake my fist, you're gonna pay
i've been cursing my symptoms again
while my soul lies in decay

how can we change
when we're in love with our evil ways?
how can it be praise
when i wish You'd look the other way?
who can i blame?
cast off my shame
find someone to blame.
 
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Sounds pretty fucking awesome for a raw mix. Everything sounds good, but I'm focusing on the drums. Fantastic performance. You hats and cymbals sound great. I'd personally like a little less boxiness in the snare and a little more boom from the toms, but that's just personal taste. They sound good as-is.

I especially love your kick sound. And if that's raw, that's phenominal. What head combo and mic are you using?
 
Greg_L said:
Sounds pretty fucking awesome for a raw mix. Everything sounds good, but I'm focusing on the drums. Fantastic performance. You hats and cymbals sound great. I'd personally like a little less boxiness in the snare and a little more boom from the toms, but that's just personal taste. They sound good as-is.

I especially love your kick sound. And if that's raw, that's phenominal. What head combo and mic are you using?
Click to expand...

thanks man! the kick has the stock reso w/ the home-cut "gregL special" 6" hole. the batter is also the tama stock (evans g2). i'm using an audix d6, but here's the rub--when i said "very little eq," i meant as a total amount applied to all tracks. get a load of this: my kick drum gets severe eq before mixing, and i mean severe (it's the only non-raw track). luckily my dps12 has a really nice eq section. ready for it?

203.5 +4 dB
401.6 @ 0.5 Q -12 dB
1.5k +10 dB :eek:

to that end, what would you suggest for eqing the snare? i'm with you--i think it sounds a bit boxy and i would certainly prefer more crack. i played with the settings a bit, but found nothing i was fond of so i left it raw.
 
drossfile said:
thanks man! the kick has the stock reso w/ the home-cut "gregL special" 6" hole. the batter is also the tama stock (evans g2). i'm using an audix d6, but here's the rub--when i said "very little eq," i meant as a total amount applied to all tracks. get a load of this: my kick drum gets severe eq before mixing, and i mean severe (it's the only non-raw track). luckily my dps12 has a really nice eq section. ready for it?

203.5 +4 dB
401.6 @ 0.5 Q -12 dB
1.5k +10 dB :eek:

to that end, what would you suggest for eqing the snare? i'm with you--i think it sounds a bit boxy and i would certainly prefer more crack. i played with the settings a bit, but found nothing i was fond of so i left it raw.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah that sounds about right. My kicks about as wild. I have a Remo Powersonic and a custom reso head. It has plenty of natural low end punch, so I don't do anything to the super lows. I usually cut a nice broad scoop out around 400 and boost around 3k to get some attack. I'm always tearing down and re-setting up and the mic/drum is never in the exact same spot, so it varies on how much boost and cut I use.

For the snare, maybe try scooping some out around 300-600 and slightly boosting around 5-8k. Something in that general ballpark may get you where you want to be.
 
Greg_L said:
Haha, yeah that sounds about right. My kicks about as wild. I have a Remo Powersonic and a custom reso head. It has plenty of natural low end punch, so I don't do anything to the super lows. I usually cut a nice broad scoop out around 400 and boost around 3k to get some attack. I'm always tearing down and re-setting up and the mic/drum is never in the exact same spot, so it varies on how much boost and cut I use.

For the snare, maybe try scooping some out around 300-600 and slightly boosting around 5-8k. Something in that general ballpark may get you where you want to be.
Click to expand...

thanks, i'll try that as soon as i get enough various feedback to go back downstairs and remix.
 
My only nit is the sound of the snare... It sounds just like Greg said, a bit boxy and dry. Maybe try a boost at 2K and some wet verb?
 
Rokket said:
My only nit is the sound of the snare... It sounds just like Greg said, a bit boxy and dry. Maybe try a boost at 2K and some wet verb?
Click to expand...

thanks, i'm definitely gonna eq it. the reverb may be a problem though, because i've never gotten my daw's internal fx to work. it's an old model--the akai dps12, which i bought new back in '99 or 2000. it still does the job, so i'm averse to ponying up the $$$ for a computer-based setup. once it dies, i'll have no choice.

thanks for listening! :)
 
drossfile said:
thanks, i'm definitely gonna eq it. the reverb may be a problem though, because i've never gotten my daw's internal fx to work. it's an old model--the akai dps12, which i bought new back in '99 or 2000. it still does the job, so i'm averse to ponying up the $$$ for a computer-based setup. once it dies, i'll have no choice.

thanks for listening! :)
Click to expand...

Get Reaper. You can download a fully functional trial version that never expires. It's basically free, but you should pay for it if you like it. I think it's like 50 bucks for the license, and it can do anything..
 
Hey drossfile--cool tune. I love the contrast between the light & heavy parts--w/even the light parts sounding heavy (or at least dark and forboding).

Besides what folks have said about the snare, I'm not sure I noticed anything that wouldn't be fixed in a more final mix anyway. In general, things don't feel like they're completely sitting together. Like the vocals aren't in the same room as the guitars and the guitars feel farther away than the drums--that kind of thing. My mixes often have these issue in their raw states, as final touched of compression, eq and even light reverb across the master seem to glue things together into the same space.

Can't wait to hear the final!
 
Greg_L said:
Get Reaper. You can download a fully functional trial version that never expires. It's basically free, but you should pay for it if you like it. I think it's like 50 bucks for the license, and it can do anything..
Click to expand...

problem with that is, my computer is upstairs for community use (my wife takes online classes, priority 1), and my studio is downstairs. plus, it's a 5-year-old dell, no firewire. and even if i could take this thing to the basement, i'd still have to buy an interface with a minimum of 6 inputs (and really, i wouldn't buy one that didn't have 8 or more).

so, it's not really the software platform that's the problem--it's the entire changeover process.

thanks for the advice though. :)
 
WhiteStrat said:
Hey drossfile--cool tune. I love the contrast between the light & heavy parts--w/even the light parts sounding heavy (or at least dark and forboding).

Besides what folks have said about the snare, I'm not sure I noticed anything that wouldn't be fixed in a more final mix anyway. In general, things don't feel like they're completely sitting together. Like the vocals aren't in the same room as the guitars and the guitars feel farther away than the drums--that kind of thing. My mixes often have these issue in their raw states, as final touched of compression, eq and even light reverb across the master seem to glue things together into the same space.

Can't wait to hear the final!
Click to expand...

duly noted, thanks! :)

i think i'll end up giving it the rest of the day for further input, and then i'll eq the snare, remix, and toss it through soundforge and repost. that way the glue will be there and make for a more accurate reference for critique.
 
Cool drossfile...there's so many different soundscapes in this piece. I enjoyed the ebb and flow of the music and the way the vocals were both soothing and screaming. The mix sounds good overall, although the snare may be just a hair loud....not really that much but every so often I felt it pop out a bit...
Good song, well written arranged and played....:cool:
 
ido1957 said:
Cool drossfile...there's so many different soundscapes in this piece. I enjoyed the ebb and flow of the music and the way the vocals were both soothing and screaming. The mix sounds good overall, although the snare may be just a hair loud....not really that much but every so often I felt it pop out a bit...
Good song, well written arranged and played....:cool:
Click to expand...

thanks! :)

this is my first song with my current setup, and before now, i never really heard the need for compression. but while i was mixing this one, i thought, "now i see why everyone has a compressor." an rnc 1773 is next on the list.
 
You have some great dynamics happening in this song from the slowly moving intro to the tension building end. You are using sparse parts very well all through it. Like all others have said the snare could be eq'd for a better mix but that is a very small thing.
Some of it made me think of Tool and King Crimson-in a cool combination of the 2...
 
Anfontan said:
You have some great dynamics happening in this song from the slowly moving intro to the tension building end. You are using sparse parts very well all through it. Like all others have said the snare could be eq'd for a better mix but that is a very small thing.
Some of it made me think of Tool and King Crimson-in a cool combination of the 2...
Click to expand...

woohoo! on my soundclick page, i actually listed tool and kc under the "for fans of..." part! :D

thanks!

remix coming later...
 
man, drossfile this is really interesting stuff...
starts off jazzy evolves into metal, then prog and just keeps evolving...real cool!! I love the growls and the drumming's real good. The guys have already said what should be fixed. But this is damn good :D:D

Cheers
Joe
 
The new mix sounds great. The snare sound is much improved. There's something about it though that's just not in my face enough. I can't pinpoint what it is. :confused:
 
Pro's- Vocals, drums, when the song came in, it was great very tight rythms....surprising actually.

Neg- the intro was a bit long. 40seconds almost.. Thought it was a totally different type tune at first. the strummed guitar chords and silence intro...

btw, I'm a huge billion dollar producer arranger so listen to whatever I say.:rolleyes::p
 
2nd mix does sound a bit better, though I'm with Greg, it's just not quite "full blown". I love the different directions the song goes in, it does remind me of Tool a little. Better than anything I could hope to do, very compelling and really well performed.
 
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