New Guy here with my first

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadMax
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Just to let you know, I recorded it all on a VS1680 with no external processing or FX. Buster, my drummer played the kit which I mic'ed. And I played everything else myself. I sang all the vocals also. I'm not the best singer and I know the vox sound a little nasally. The bass was probably the hardest thing to get a good even level sound on. I used three steps of compression on the bass. once on the amp, once inserted on the input channel while tracking, and once again on mixdown.
This is my first mix that I'm proud enough to post, so please give me some feedback. Thanks!
 
Hey,

I took a listen, and found it a bit heavy on the low end side. Might be the bass guitar mostly, but sounded like the rythem guitar was contributing too. The vocals sounded like they could use some more clarity, as could the snare. might be that the mix is lacking in the mids. Also the vocals were kind of low in the mix. Other than that, it sounds real good, tight performance.

Good work!
 
Yes, I agree about both issues. The bass heaviness is due to my crappy listening environment which I think has some standing bass waves. The vocal level is also due to me not liking my own voice. I have submitted a remix to mp3. com and it will be up in a couple of days. Thank You! and I'll bring this one back up to the top when the remix gets posted.
 
Im listening on headphones (and I may be getting the remix?), but the bass is tight and punchy just the way I like it...definitely bring the vocals up, I really liked them.....a little more snap to the snare and you have a killer mix....hard to believe that was done on a 1680....are you into Cheap Trick at all?......
 
Yup, all on a 1680. I did use an Allen & Heath mixer for the preamps on the drum mics. I don't think the remix is posted yet. As a matter of fact, Cheap Trick was one of my early influences, but on this song, I was going for more of a Foo Fighters type of sound, but what do I know?
 
Ive never heard the Foo Fighters, maybe Ill have to check them out....I just picked up little hints of Cheap Trick in it.....you mentioned your listening environment, what are u using to monitor?....thats my weakest link right now...I just got a decent sound card, but Im monitoring thru a stereo reciever and crappy speakers, so mixing is a bitch.....i still havent mixed anything I'd post yet....
 
I'm using a Mackie 1202 as my playback mixer and I run it into some Roland MA-12 powered micro monitors and some Crest powered Alesis Monitor 1's. I alternate between the two to check the mix.
 
Just to let you know I was listening to your tune through a pair of Yamaha PC speakers. I am right now listening to collective soul(I love their sound), and it sounds great. Your tune rumbles my desk a bit... I guess it is all subjective..
 
I'm sure not an expert at mixing, and admittedly I have problems with my monitoring system, so I don't expect it to sound like Collective Soul. Thanks for the critique.
 
I wasn't comparing you... just kind of validating what I was listening on... I also listened to U2 this afternoon... I was just trying to say..hey I listened to some commecial CD's and in comparison your stuff sounded a little rummbly on the low end.

Trust me what you put out sounds great.. please dont take my last post as a put down...
 
No offense taken. I really do appreciate the critique. You know what your speakers sound like, and if my mix rattles your desk, then I'm overmixing the bass. Like I said before, I have this same problem here. When I do a mix that sounds OK thru my monitoring system and then burn a CD and take it out to the living room or my Jeep, it's usually bass heavy. I'm learning to compensate for this, but I'm burning up a lot of CD's to do it. Luckily, my son likes to use 'em for B.B. gun targets. If he hits them just right, they explode and the little metal flakes go everywhere.
 
Cool, the BB thing and all. The only thing I have to say about the mix is the drum tone. Hats and cymbols sound could, but the snare tone is pretty lacking.
 
Good mix..

Max,

Good mix in general. Nice wide image. That bass heaviness everyone has noted sounds like a couple of things:

The kick drum is a bit loud. I think the tone is OK, just a bit too hot in the mix. It's better in the remix, but I think you could still back it off a bit.
On the bass guitar, mess around with EQ around 100-200 Hz.
Cut the lows a bit on the rhythm guitar tracks. Maybe pump the mids some. More snarl. I like to add a third guitar track that's very mid-heavy (at the amp, not the console) with a tad less gain, then mix this in to give it the 'bite' I want.

How did you mic the drums? Did you use overheads? If so, try turning them up a little and letting more of the room be heard, unless the room is just really bad-sounding. I think it would open up the snare sound better than digital reverb. The digital 'verb on the VS is a little too synthetic for my taste. Based on the mixes I've heard I think you can get away with it and not make the cymbals too loud. If you have a limiter that will help too.

BTW, your vocal is better than you think. :-) In general everything is very tight as someone mentioned earlier.

Just two cents worth, I'm probably wrong...
 
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