old-ish dog - new tricks (mix review request)

S

Simes

New member
hey kids,

I'd appreciate it if any of you could take a listen to my new offering and reference check the mix for me. I've recently upgraded to a new recording platform (finally) and looking for feedback on a new instrumental. It's probably best-classed as Post-Rock, in style.

Details:

http://shallowendswimming.iuma.com - it's the first track in the list - "Antinovel".

Equipment:

(Real)
Les Paul guitar thru POD v2, Line 6 DL-4
Hartke 5 string bass thru Bass POD
Fingers, heart and half-a-brain.

(Inhuman)
PC w/SB Live
Cakewalk SONAR (recording/sequencing/mix)
Assorted pro/home compiled drum & perc loops
Cool Edit Pro (mastering & loop editing)
Waves, Hyperprism, ANWIDA and Cakewalk DX plugins.

Thanks for listening....appreciate constructive input as usual.

Cheers,

Simon Kean

shallow end swimming
 
Man, I wish I was more of a recording engineer so I can explain this but something is wrong. The song just does not sound right......I first thought it may be timining, but I could be wrong.

Sorry for not being more help bud.
 
eeek!

Re-checking at the moment. The only timing thing I can think of which I'm currently changing is that there is a guitar part which has a "reverse stuttering gate" on it. The guitar is panned hard-left and seems to clash rhythmically with the rest of the piece.

Any chance this might be the problem you noticed?

Rgds.


Simon
shallow end swimming
 
too much verb

Here's what I make of it...

You got too much reverb on just about the whole thing. It's placing all of the instruments into the background and turning the whole thing into mud. It sounds like some guy is recording a live band from the end of a big long hallway.

I really don't like the weird drum loop crackley thing at the beginning (and in other segments), it sounds too harsh (probably because it has too little reverb compared to the rest, making it more in your face)


The more technoey sounding stuff near the end sounds much more clear.

Remember it's not how much of an effect you use but how much relative to the other instruments. If you throw the same effect on all or most of the instruments you get mud.

Hope this helps...
-Sal
 
Cheers Sal,

Agree with the points you've presented. I've been battling the "big" vs mud problem with this one for the last couple of days. I've changed a couple of the FX settings on two of the guitar tracks and also felt the same way about that "crunchy" electro perc loop I had in there. I've restored that to it's original form and thrown a touch of reverb on it, hoping it'll blend a little better.

V. constructive feedback, cheers.

New mix @ http://shallowendswimming.iuma.com shortly.

Cheers,

Simon
shallow end swimming
 
the "jangly" guitars, panned opposite, are by far most the most dominate sound...and I don't think it should be that way. When it gets around 2:00, the sense of timing really gets lost, as there is a real bad balance on the gtrs, VS the drums, etc. The scratchy drum loop could also probably be replaced with something more sonically pleasing. The comment about recording a band at the end of a long hall, holds true to my feelings also. It gets so lost in the *wash*, it really becomes a problem of deciding what you actually wanted to say musically. Also, the sense of direction of the song/idea is not clear to me. It seems to be just some thoughts looped together, too much reverb applied, and then presto...your tune.
 
I've completed a second mix for the tune and posted it to the site(http://shallowendswimming.iuma.com - "Antinovel"). Still has some problems, but I think it's an improvement.

Thanks for your comments Mixmkr, I agree on the points concerning the balance issues with guitars vs drums. Have removed some of the processing from the electro loop in the beginning/ending as well.

As to the "sense of direction", comments I've received from other boards from users who've listened to the track didn't really "get" the ideas on first listen either, but got into it after hearing it a few times. It's essentially a weird A/B structure. I think the problems with the mix obviously detract from the ideas as well.

Appreciate the feedback.

Cheers,

Simon
shallow end swimming
 
I like the tune, first of all. At the beginning, I thought I could detect the guitars just starting to burn a bit (digital clipping?). The drums sound like decent samples but they're in a different room, so to speak. I just wanted them a little closer in. Everything is fixable. Great effort so far.
 
cheers Trackrat,

Woke up this morning, re-listened to the tune and hearing changes again already :) Says something for not trying to finish off a mix when your ears are tired I guess.

Someone else (on another forum) mentioned the drum "room" issues. Unfortunately, they're loops and the reverb processing is embedded. I agree that there's a distinct seperation where there needs to be cohesion. Ideas anyone?


Thanks again for the feedback,

Simon
shallow end swimming
 
Drums sound a bit harsh, with a strange verb. They sound pretty "real" tho.... It's a pretty noisy mix.. The bass is nice, but could come up a bit.. Maybe the guitars could be lower and with less reverb... I like that little loop a lot tho.. and around 3 minutes it sounds good...

A little more controlled mix and vox would make this a a really good song..
 
Humm...I kinda like the drums. I like the groove and all. Dont like the reverb though. Nice guitar melody. Nice toms.

Cool song. Mix isnt too bad.

john
 
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