Please give me a brutally honest opinion

[protein]

Since I'm charging my mates' bands to record (not much but they are still parting with money) I need to be doing the best job I possibly can.

I would therefore appreciate your honest opinion of these mixes. Are they too compressed, too dry, too effected, drums too quiet/loud etc?

Here are some really tiny MP3s of four acts I've recorded recently.

Ignore the acoustic guitar sound, I recorded it with a PZM and a really cheap condenser and I know it's a little dodgy. I'm getting all new equipment very soon.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fivestar]

sounds pretty good. the vocals in the "rock" are a little overpowering to me, but maybe they're meant to be that way. everything does sound a BIT over-compressed, but that could just be the mp3 encoding. i'd try using a bit less compression though. overall, i thought it was good, though.

 

[Prizmaxic]

Dude, who are you? If anything all your stuff sounds like, too polished. Really good stuff. I loved the acoustic song, I would buy that cd. Why are you getting all new equipment, you seem to be getting killer results from the stuff you already have?

 

[protein]

The rock band was a toughie. They just got signed and the singer sacked half of the band. He came round after I mixed it and said "No! Too much guitar! Turn the damn vocals up!"

I think I agree aboout compressing too much. I seem to struggle to get everything to fit in it's place and compression seems to help that.

I'm getting all new equipment because I can only record 8 tracks at once and playback 16 (I have a Yamaha AW16G) and sometimes that isn't enough. Plus I'd like all the benefits Protools can offer. 16 tracks of simultanious recording and 32 tracks of fully automated playback for starters.

Plus I've come into some money so I should invest it wisely rather than spend it on beer.

 

[protein]

Anyone else got any ideas where I might be going wrong?

 

[FattMusiek]

I especially enjoyed the metal clip. "They'll - be - no escape!"

\m/

 

[powerkor]

theres nothing wrong about those recordings, really top notch stuff.

what mics did you use to record the drums and what kinda kit is it?

 

[ecktronic]

Yeah the recordings are really good, nothing to worry about really apart from the vocals on all the tracks exept the acoustic one. The vocals dont stand out enough atall. Maybe bring the level up on the vocals or use a vocal enhancer if not already using one as they can make vocals really stand out and sound great if enhanced with the right frequency.
Keep it up, i wish my recordings sounded like yours. Maybe one day...

 

[protein]

Hmm vocal enhancer eh? I'll check some out.

They were various drumkits of various quality. It's me playing on the "indie" one and I got that kit for £50 and the snare for £80.

The mics are AKG d12 on the kick, SM57 on the snare, two really cheap kareoke type mics on the toms, a cheap and nasty Peavey condenser and a Tandy (Radioshack) PZM as overheads. I use those mics on everything else too. SM57 on amps, D12 on bass amps and either SM57 or the cheap and nasty Peaveycondenser on the vocals.

The reason I'm asking is because there was a discussion on a local forum near me about all the people who offer local recording and they pretty much said that I wasn't worth going to. I need to work out if it's just the crap gear I'm using or the way I'm doing things and what I can do to improve.

I think my main problem is that everything ends up sounding a bit mushy and there isn't much definition. I hope that recording at a higher resolution with better mics and with better mixing in Protools will fix that.

 

[boingoman]

I think they sound pretty good, pro. The vocal and guitars sound great. The only thing I would say is the drums and bass need some tightening up. It seems like that's where your lack of definition is coming from. The low end kind of smears the rest, and the fact that they sit a bit far back kind of dulls the impact of the tracks.Drop some low end out of the guitars, leaving a bit more space for kick and bass. Get some high end back in that kick. I really like the snare on the indie song.

Good monitors are really important, especially for hearing what is happening down low.

Keep it up, man.

 

[protein]

Yeah, that's what I was kind of thinking. I get that mush at the lower registers and just kind of hope for the best.

I think I will have to get some monitors and keep trying to find some cheap rockwool here in the UK (which is a nightmare by the way).

 

[boingoman]

Yeah, that's what I was kind of thinking. I get that mush at the lower registers and just kind of hope for the best.

I think I will have to get some monitors and keep trying to find some cheap rockwool here in the UK (which is a nightmare by the way).

LOL. That's the way I've been doing it. I've been mixing on my computer speakers and just kind of guessing . I look forward to hearing a big can of ass coming out of the speakers when I play my stuff on other gear and am rarely disappointed.

The D12 and it's later version the D112 are pretty sensitive to placement. Moving them an inch or two can make a huge difference in the sound.
BTW I have a cheap PV I use on hats as well- it rules IMO.

I'm kinda surprised rockwool is hard to get- a lot of hydroponics places around here carry it in big slabs, it gets used as a growth medium. I guess I just have this progressive vision of Europe, everybody with hydro gardens, solar houses, etc.

 

[protein]

I can find rockwool pots for growing weed and I can find suppliers that will sell me a truckload of slabs, but nobody is willing to sell just four or five slabs to me. Well, there are the people who upholster the stuff and sell it as specialist acoustic treatment but I'm not giving those guys my money if I can help it.

Thanks for your help.

Anyone else want to give me hell? I promise I won't cry.


much

 

[boingoman]

Growing weed ? Who would so blatantly break the law like that?

 

[powerkor]

50? thats all, damn... you got some mad skills with the mixing then. What type of heads do you use and can you give me any tips with recording?

I have a fostex vm88 hooked up to a computer via digital-in. I'm getting a adat compatiable sound card soon, but i only have a digtal-in one now.. all mics = one track... tuning drums to make them sound good on the mix, to me, is a hit or miss thing.. I don't really know what I do wrong sometimes.. but it feels like the snare is always missing body to it... any tips for that? that seems like the biggest problem.

and can you compress after its recorded with like cool edit or something? if you can help, id appreciate it very much