Paper Thin rough mix

[Yonce N Mild]

This is a rough mix of one of my bands older tracks. We are going to be doing some recording on Sunday and I'd like to get some objective opinions on what needs work.

Any comments on the recording/mixing performance and the song itself would be appreciated.

The song is called Paper Thin and it is dedicated to the fine folks at Fox News and CNN.

Also what genre would you call this? Alternative? Metal? Just plain old rock n' roll?

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=11493

 

[Greg_L]

Lol. That kick sounds awful. You should quadruple it.

Disclaimer: Semi-inside joke from the drum forum.


It really does though. Lol. The rest of the drum kit sounds pretty good. Maybe could use more overheads. Is that a real kit? The cymbals and hats sound kinda "fake", but it could just be the processing or that they seem low in the mix. There seems to be some low end muddiness clouding the bass/kick definition. Guitars sound pretty good. Vox can come up quite a bit. The intro "newscasting" is kinda long and boring. Maybe cut it back 10 seconds or so. Not a bad song. I guess I'd classify it as radio-rock.

 

[Yonce N Mild]

Lol. That kick sounds awful. You should quadruple it.

lol! wont that just make it louder?

Kick is top of the list to re-record. It's a hybrid electronic kit. We used a set of v-drums and a dm5. I have midi tracks of all the drums except the kick. I tried just re triggering it but the kick is so freaking muddy that it doesn't work properly when the double kick really gets going.

Bass is next on the list I wasn't happy with the bass tone at all. It took some heavy eqing to get it to show up at all without turning the entire mix to mud.

Sounds like you are hearing the same thing I am which is reassuring.

Interesting comment about the intro, I never noticed it being to long. I guess it does go about 15 seconds on it's own before and instruments come in.

Thanks for taking a listen.

 

[Yonce N Mild]

Shameless bump.


Anyone else or is everyone getting so bored that they can't make it past the intro.

 

[ido1957]

Radio intro is too long for us with ADD....lol...An intro for radio rock is "supposedly" 15 seconds optimally....

Vocals are low - might also need some high eq to cut through a bit, they sound a bit mid - y.

The guitar squeals are at times a little distracting/piercing. Not sure how you would tame those - maybe compression??? The guitar tone overall sounds bright - what are you recording through?

The writing is good, mix could use a bit of work, but nothing that can't be tweaked fairly easily...GregL has some good comments to refer back to...

Sounds a lot like those guys who did Kryptonite or Hootie maybe on the vocals... cool.....

 

[Yonce N Mild]

Radio intro is too long for us with ADD....lol...An intro for radio rock is "supposedly" 15 seconds optimally....

Vocals are low - might also need some high eq to cut through a bit, they sound a bit mid - y.

The guitar squeals are at times a little distracting/piercing. Not sure how you would tame those - maybe compression??? The guitar tone overall sounds bright - what are you recording through?

The writing is good, mix could use a bit of work, but nothing that can't be tweaked fairly easily...GregL has some good comments to refer back to...

Sounds a lot like those guys who did Kryptonite or Hootie maybe on the vocals... cool.....

Thanks for the input.

I agree that hey get a little carried away with the squeals on the guitar. I think is because it's our oldest song and they can play it in their sleep so they get a little crazy.

The guitars are just running through Behringer v-amps. They've toned down the highs on the guitars a bit since we got our PA setup and it's not just my ears that they are shredding.

We plan on this being the first song on our album so I think what I'm going to do is just make the intro just a track of it's own to kick things off.

I'll post up the results of our session Sunday as soon as it is ready.

Thanks for the listen.

 

[Supercreep]

I think the intro is a little 80's.

Kick is not happening, nothing that can't clean up.


I think the arrangement works ok, but a couple of things can work in your favor:

Stop doing so many goddamned pinch harmonics, it's distracting.

Re-sing passages that are out of key. Compress the vocals to keep levels even.

I like the switch to double-time, it works.

 

[Yonce N Mild]

I think the intro is a little 80's.

Kick is not happening, nothing that can't clean up.


I think the arrangement works ok, but a couple of things can work in your favor:

Stop doing so many goddamned pinch harmonics, it's distracting.

Re-sing passages that are out of key. Compress the vocals to keep levels even.

I like the switch to double-time, it works.

pinch harmonics? Is that the guitar squeals? If so I agree, I'll try and convince the guys to cut back a bit.

Which parts do you think are out of key in particular? That's something I can definitely fix.

I only have light compression on the vocals. I'll try cranking it up a bit on the new tracks.

The intro is a little 80s huh? That's 3 thumbs down on the intro. I like it.
Hmmm maybe I should try something different.


Thanks for taking the time to listen and thanks for the tips.