Noise rock first recordings!

[Warwick720]

Hello! I just recorded my band's first EP, which also happens to be my first time recording. I'm just looking for some feedback on the recording and mixing, if you'd be so kind!

I'm new to the forum so it won't let me post URL's. The address is 'newwavehookers.bandcamp.com.'

It's obviously VERY rough, and there are a few problems I'd like to sort out the root of if possible! The biggest of these is the glitchy, cold and generally gross sound of the hi hat. They do not sound like this listening to the raw tracks where I mixed. Could this be the monitors I mixed them on, and the room etc., or is it a problem mixing down the file to a .wav and uploading onto the internet?

We're about to record a full-length and I'd really like to improve the quality of the recordings as a whole, so any advice/criticism is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Preston

 

[ashcat_lt]

You know, I like this? I sorta feel like you should just let Steve and his friends do this, and find something a bit more original to do for yourself. But you do it really well! If somebody put this on and told me it was some dusty 4-track Shellac demo, I'd believe 'em. There's something there, but I think you guys need to expand on the part of this that is really yours.

Frankly, I think that the production is appropriate for the genre, and for this stage in your career. A lot of my favorite albums sound like this or worse, but I'm sure glad they got out! I haven't downloaded it, and yes the streaming audio from bandcamp is actually better than you'd expect for the bitrate that it runs, but you'll often hear that kind of weirdness in the cymbals and sometimes in reverb tails and things.

But you do have some serious issues in the low end. I'd say especially on the drums, except that would be redundant since there isn't any real bass in the other instruments. This might be part of the issue, but I also suspect you're mixing on bass deficient speakers in a poorly treated room. You're leaning too heavily on the sustain from the low drums to fill the bottom end of your mix, and whatever you're doing to get there is making into a somewhat boxy, ringing and rumbling mess. Again, I think funky and trashy works for this music, but I'd like to have the drums at least a bit more focused first so that they can have some more meaningful impact when they do hit, and also so that there can be a bit more room for the rest of the band to be heard. The snare sometimes sounds really wimpy because the rumble of the rest of the kit is so much louder...

I don't like the reverb on the guitar. I think that if the reverb was mixed lower that sound might work, but if you're going to leave it wet I think you need to find something different. That's not what's killing this mix, it's just my opinion.

The vocals are supposed to be buried, but I think you've gone too far in that direction too. Just a little louder maybe, with a bit narrower frequency spectrum.

I spose this one is already out the door, but maybe some things to think about for next time.

 

[Warwick720]

Thank you so much, Ashcat! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I think you'll appreciate our full-length, as we're more accustomed to playing together and it's definitely much more our own sound.

Yes, I know what you mean about the reverb. The only reverb used at all other than the snare on the very last song (edit: oh, and the vocals, of course) is the mastering reverb in Izotope Ozone, and listening back after giving it a week's rest I definitely have reconsidered. The mastering plugin has a lot to do with the low end issues as well, I think, and I want to get to know the tool better before using it.

The drums were recorded Glyn Johns style-with spot micing on the snare and kick. I think the trouble with the toms is that to make the cymbals sound right, the toms have to have the same EQ applied to them which does make them sound rather puny. Maybe EQing more to suit the toms would help to counteract the digital weirdness going on in the cymbals!

The vocals are intentionally buried, but I understand what you mean. There are some nice analog delays on those that I think used to come across much more tastefully when they were louder in the mix, but so far buried they're just clutter.

Other than that, I think mixing without a sub on cheap monitors in my bedroom has a lot to do with it.

Also I want to replace all of the plugin compression with hardware compression since I've got a compressor available now. That might do some good for the bass and bass drum sound. I think I must have overcompensated for the distorted bass tone by making it thinner to avoid muddying up the mix. This seems like a shortcut, and that can probably be dealt with by spending a little extra time with the bass and kick drum EQ.

I think there's definitely enough to be done that it warrants a revisiting. Not too big a deal to just upload new mixes!

Again, thank you very much for your input!!

 

[Warwick720]

Alright, got a very dope, super lo-fi live tracking setup for the next release, probably just gunna re-record it anyway. I'd love to post the new tracks for feedback!