Please Listen & Share Opinions

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andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

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Only been at the mixing game for about 6 months. I do NOT have top of the line equipment. Most of what I have learned, I have gathered from my ears, this site, and similar sites.

There are no vocals on this mix at the moment. A main melody complete w lyrics exists, but I simply haven't had time to get it down yet. Drums created w SD2 (I'm not a drummer, but wrote the majority of drum parts, only using one or two preset grooves). THIS IS NOT MASTERED. Just a rough mixdown from Studio One Pro. No Limiter has yet been applied - Please adjust volume to your best ability.

Please let me know how my sound is shaping up...hoping to compete w modern radio-friendly rock/alternative sounds.

Let me know if I can provide ANY info (equipment, techniques, etc...)

Please respond, no matter your thoughts. This is critical to my development in writing, recording, and mixing.

Thank you kindly

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt/mayflower-rough2
 
Some quick points I realize I should have put into my original post:

-I do not have an actual bass guitar. The bass you hear is a Fender Strat through Ampire's bass amp simulators (a plugin) w preset Bass compressors and bass (warm & round) EQ.

-I am hearing the cymbals on the right competing with the "fuzzed out" rhythm guitar on the hard right. This song needs cymbals for emphasis, but I'm unsure of which instrument to "back off" with the high end EQ

-I have NOT EQ'd the drums yet. Only a minor 2:1 compressor (S1PRO preset "hard drums")

-overall, I spent little time mixing. The majority of the time was spent customizing the autofiltered guitar that sweeps around during the verse. I wanted some ambiance and space to the verse, and this seemed a good path to go down.

thanks!
 
Pretty decent job. To me it sounds heavy on the right side which gives it a weird sonic effect. Maybe bring the distorted guitars on the right side down a little and see if that brings the mix in more evenly.
 
Thanks for the reply! yes, something is bothering me on the right. the guitar i'm using @ 100% R is bypassing any cabinet, as to make it more fuzzed out. Maybe that's what I'm hearing that's competing w other things on that side. I'll try to even those guitars out a bit when I get home.

thanks so much for replying
 
I thought this was pretty good. I also felt the mix leaned to the right a little bit.

The guitar-as-a-bass sounded OK. It was a little indistinct - one note kind of blended with the next. It seems to have enough low end to it. But the low end is just kind of indistinct.

Drums sound good to me. Nice snare and kick sound. Cymbals are a little swishy, but that could be due to and MP3 conversion or player issue.

Crunch guitars sounded pretty good. Personal taste thing, but I'd back off the high end just a bit. A little too much presence for my tastes. I'd also back off the preamp gain just a bit. Just personal preferences, other people might like the way it sounds.

But overall I thought it was pretty good.
 
Nice track! Cool guitar sounds and panning; they sound clear and separate. I especially like the jangley one in the left ear.

The cymbals sound swishy on the top end and you could use more kick drum. Also, I would go with 16ths on a the hi-hat for the phrase at 1:30–1:42 for a change of pace.

Cool ride cymbal idea at 3:14 but it's too loud.

Overall, nice!
 
"The guitar-as-a-bass sounded OK. It was a little indistinct - one note kind of blended with the next. It seems to have enough low end to it. But the low end is just kind of indistinct."

-Anything other than the 6th string carries little resonance or depth when I use my guitar as a bass. I might try some synth basses...or bug a friend to borrow theirs


"Cymbals are a little swishy, but that could be due to and MP3 conversion or player issue."

-yes. help me make them not so swishy! is it my piece "choices"? nothing on drums is eq'd yet either, perhaps that would help the issue?

"I'd also back off the preamp gain just a bit. Just personal preferences, other people might like the way it sounds."

-it's honestly set to about 3/10. I am not sure why it runs so loud. it'll clip at about 4.5 when just strumming hard. but, yes, I can move it down farther. it's a PreSonus USB interface, if that clears anything up!

"But overall I thought it was pretty good."[/QUOTE]

-thanks!
 
"The cymbals sound swishy on the top end and you could use more kick drum".

-tips on removing the swishy sound? nothing is eq'd on drums yet. how are the cymbal choices themselves? i'm not a drummer.

"Cool ride cymbal idea at 3:14 but it's too loud."

-also, I have yet to manipulate any velocities for specific hits. I will tediously go through them to make sure things are at a decent level for the context of the song.

"Overall, nice![/QUOTE]"

- thanks!!
 
It's possible the swish I'm hearing is due to an MP3 conversion or a player issue. Do they sound swishy when you're working on them in a DAW?

Next, how were the drums recorded? What mic's? Where were they located?
 
Pretty much agree with what the others have said... it's a bit toppy for me, probably because of all the cymbal action... nothing that can't be EQ'd. The quiet section where the ride cymbal is needs work, there are timing issues and a not particularly well hit note stick out, as well as the cymbals themselves requiring some volume adjustment overall and individually to give it more feel...

Good stuff.

Oh, and you know there's a quote function on the board, right?:thumbs up:
 
Drums are programmed. Superior Drummer 2. nothing has been eq'd on drums
 
"The quiet section where the ride cymbal is needs work, there are timing issues and a not particularly well hit note stick out, as well as the cymbals themselves requiring some volume adjustment overall and individually to give it more feel..."

-yes, I have not meticulously gone through this song. I have a separate idea for the bridge, regarding drums, and I forgot to take this part out. thanks for reminding me. i'm not too concerned with timing or how loud particular drum hits are..i will go through all this later and patch that stuff up. i literally put this together in about 3 hours last night. most of what i am thinking is being confirmed here, such as cymbal clarity and the right side harshness...so that's good!


"Oh, and you know there's a quote function on the board, right?:thumbs up"

- i see it, i hit it, but I really don't think i'm doing it properly! lol..thanks!
 
There's a kind of fritz on the top of the mix - it's really obvious near the opening - which is just white snow irritation. You can hear it again really clearly at 1.10 when the tambourine or whatever it is comes in. I like how the tune motors, but that high end glitz detracts from the enjoyment.
 
Guitar as a bass.....wow now I've heard it all! Reminiscent of the sound that was going round in 1994 but needs more pain or something. Actually as it is it sounds like a Gin Blossoms number!
 
Thanks so much for all the replies. I spent some time re-working the EQ's, transients on drums, and distortions types last night. If anyone is up for it, i have uploaded an additional mix. Let me know if any of the changes liven up the track or clear things up. I'd best benefit from giving it a break for a few days, I'm sure, since my ears are being numb to the cymbal that's being hit so consistently in the right ear. I honestly cannot tell at this moment if it sounds any clearer or more distinct than the first version.

Some things I changed in the newest mix:

- extensive EQ on Drum Bus, and a few individual drum tracks. added transients to most drum tracks (preset option on SuperiorDrummer2)
- added a touch of reverb to drum bus
- brought down High-end on a few guitars, cymbals, drum bus, and master bus.
- brought down a bit more around 500 on master bus to clear up some more muddiness I noticed (not to mention that each guitar track has around 4-5 db cut at 500 and about 2db at 1000)
- changed the distortion in the left ear from a "crunch" to a "drive"; someone described it as "jangly"...definitely not the word I was looking for or sound I wanted to create, so I switched it and eq'd it for more punch and drive.
- fixed the note or two on drums that was off-time in the bridge. thanks for reminding me, whoever posted that.
- brought up in volume, and further eq'd, the filtered guitar that "floats" during the verse

Please let me know how the changes shaped up. In all honesty, I'll probably go home and work on it some more, regardless if anyone replies or not. Can't say I'm 100% satisfied yet, and I'll be working on it for some time...especially since I have 7 other songs to get the music down on. But if you have some time, please listen and share your thoughts. I really appreciate all the suggestions the first time around.

thanks everyone

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt/mayflower-rough3
 
I like the opening tone a LOT but the super distorted tones following are quite distracting. Personally, I think the overall sound would greatly improve if you retracked both left and right guitars trying to use no distortion at all but rather...getting all that energy instead from very tight, clean tones....maybe only a TINY bit of tube driven distortion that happens only when you drive it with your right hand.
 
Thanks for listening and for replying! I, too, like the opening tone. But the distortion has to stay, it fits the genre. In fact, those tones are about exactly how I imagined it. Also, its hard imagining the tune without hearing the vocal timbre or melody.

I have a vocal track completed and will upload it soon. Hopefully some insight to the vox mixing will be something you guys can share with me.

Thanks again for listening.
 
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