My mixes are all damp and muddy! Mixing advice needed!

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FattMusiek

FattMusiek

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Just an example of what I mean. I posted my drum sound a while back and everyone said how it lacked hi-end. I can't figure out what it is, but all my recordings lack hi-end! I need help!

Equipment:
-Delta 44 (4 I/Os)
-Behringer 1604A mixer (4 XLR inputs)
-Yorkville YSM1p monitors

Drum micing:
-Pearl Export drums (:() with the back head cut in the middle, there's about 2-3 inches of head left on for micing purposes.
-2 Oktava MK012 cardioid condenser mics as overheads
-Shure SM57
-Shure Beta 52

Heres what my downstairs looks like, I don't know the exact measurements, but the proportions are fairly accurate.

I'm going to post the individual tracks for the song I gave you all the link to to see if it's just my pathetic mixing or my room. STAY TUNED! If you're willing to remix the song, I'll gladly post the tracks!
 
"My mixes are all damp and muddy! Mixing advice needed!"

Dude, get the "Un-Mud" plugin. Trust me on this, I have the harshest mixes on the net.

Okay, I'm kidding...lemme' go listen and see if I can give you shitty advice from an amateur :D
 
Oops, didn't include guitar info:

I'm using a 30 watt Marshall amp and micing it will a 57, the mic 3 or so inches from the "cone". I have a Line 6 Spider 212 but I don't like the idea of micing a digital amp.

For bass, I usually go direct into the mixer. I think I'm the only one who records bass last, by the time it's time for bass I get too lazy to pull out my small bass amp :(.
 
Fast responding man, what on earth are you doing up so late?
 
God, 4 am brain farts...I forgot to tell that I'm remixing "Juliet".

Prepare for a crap mix.
 
Man, it's not muddy. It sounds to me like a combination of a thuddy kick that's probably a bit too loud, with the rest of the drums (especially the hardware) being waaaay too far back in the mix. The snare has no top end at all, from what I can hear.

Yeah, it's not a guitar issue; it's mostly drums, and I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY SUCK AT EVERYTHING INVOLVING DRUMS.

Nice wide spot in there for a vocal.

In Summary:
1. I know nothing
2. See #1

Cooooool song, btw.
 
If the bass didn't sound EXACTLY like the kick drum, that would help a lot too, I think. I usually royally fuck up when I start eq'ing the low end, but I've gotten lucky sometimes just rolling off everything on the bass from about 80Hz down, cutting a spot at 112 for the kick, and then doing whatever else Toki987 tells me to. :D
 
That's just the thing, and I've heard it before: the drums are too far back in the mix and I don't know how to solve it.
 
Oh my god, I just realized I posted this in the Mixing Clinic. Someone please kill me.

I'm gonna post this in Mixing/Mastering too.
 
Well, I agree with what Chris said. the drums are too much like the bass and/or the drums are boomy with no snap. Whats the drum track sound like by itself? Is it boomy. Can you fx/eq it so you think it sounds "too bright" and then listen to it in the mix.
I dont know if that will be your answer but its worth a try :)

Other than that this sounded good to me.


peace
Bill
 
No man, MY brain farted when I posted in the other thread...I thought I was in here, lol...So I looked at your thread, and like 3 of my posts weren't there.

I'm dumb. BTW-there's no reason in the world why this shouldn't be here...it's supposed to be a mixing clinic, right? You're mixing, right?

BTW - I sleep about 2 hours a day...been that way since I was about 15. I know a LOT about info-mercials and late night headphone mixing, lol.
 
Hhaha! I know what you mean, I have literally memorized the Oxy-Clean infomercials. I'm basically nocturnal when I don't have a job hah.
 
Hey, how much control do you have over the individual elements of the kit at this point? Do you still have 6 tracks?

I'm assuming the 57 was on the snare and the Beta was on the hat?

My suggestion would be to turn up the snare quite a bit, and then do that with the hat too, lol. That snare, btw...it sounds like it doesn't have any snares on it?? Maybe it's just a really fat drum sound, which would work perfectly for this, but it's gotta' be louder...

Snare = UP
Hat = UP

Really, it's not all the drums that are too far back in the mix. The kick is NOT too quiet...
 
I WISH I had 6 ins, I have a measly Delta 44 :(. The strangest thing happened earlier today though, I had an IDEA. I was thinking I should replace what is my current left overhead to a hihat mic using another 57. What do you think? I could focus the current right overhead on picking up the toms and cymbals. I usually keep experimenting to a minimum, but it's a thought. What do ya think?
 
This summer, I am HOPING to upgrade my audio interface, I'm baffled as what to get though, maybe you could help me out? People have been kind of reluctant to help. I want to be able mic my set with at least 8 mics, I'm basically inviting phase problems. Meh. I want to be able to mic the snare, kick, hi hat, hi tom, mid tom, floor tom, and 2 overheads.
 
I wouldn't think that adding 3 tom mics would increase your phase problems...if they're close mic'd. And if you're gonna' do that, then you can EASILY get away with one mic for the high and the mid tom...if the levels end up off, they're really easy to fix with a little EQ on the louder one...that's how I mic drums live, anyway.

Whenever I get lucky enough to have somebody send me real drum tracks to mix, I personally try to get

1. Kick
2. Snare
3. Hat *SUPER* important to me to have control over this all by itself.
4. Lo Tom/ride (they're not only next to each other on the kit, lol...but they don't share a lot of the same frequencies...Life is good).
5. Cymbals and higher toms...Just a stereo track of the overheads... 6 mics, 5 tracks.

Again, a drummer needs to talk to you, lol...Drums give me fits.
 
Ha, I think I'm gonna make a similar topic in the Drums/Percussion board. Thanks a lot for your help Chris!
 
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