Pop-punk cover (no vox)

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IronFlippy

IronFlippy

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Here's a cover of Alkaline Trio's Mercy Me, minus the vocals. I'm particularly worried about the bass, it's hard to get a good balance on these speakers. The guitars are having a little difficulty sitting well, and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of that clicky sound that they make. Suggestions please? Thanks.

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=6671
 
Those guitars sound pretty good to me - once in a while I get a bit of fuzzy guitar on the left, but overall they sound pretty sweet. Nice timing between the two (or is it three/four) tracks. Bass and drums sound great too...I'm having trouble picking out any problems...really....sounds good.... :)
 
Yea, the distortion that I'm using isn't the cleanest thing (Rat 2, not quite meant for pop punk). I think there is just a tad too much distortion though.

Practicing with a metronome paid off! Plus, it helps when you track the second guitar immediately after the first, so you're still in the same "zone".

Thanks!
 
For this style of music, I think the tones sound good. I don't know if you can get a bit more top end out of teh bass when it is playing the higher notes. That might muddle the rest of the song. If you could get a bit more of the mids, or higher mids, it might sound cool. Might not. The balance as fars as the 3 parts, guitars, bass and drums, seems pretty good though. I hear all of them pretty well.
 
Thanks dogman. The only bass I have is a P bass with a Dimarzio split P in it. You're right about the highs, but my bass just doesn't do that type of sound without excessive editing.

My goal with this mix was to leave it as natural as I could (no over compression, massive EQ, reverb, etc.). There were a couple frequencies in the guitars that had to be fixed with EQ, some compression on bass (plus EQ to let it sit with the kick), snare and kick, and that's about it. I wanted to let the sound of each instrument come through.

The guitars might be a little high, but I'll see what it sounds like when vocals are added.
 
Sounds very good. I like the clarity of the bass part. Gtrs need a couple more dB around 1 kHz IMO.
 
Thanks for the comments guys!

Timothy: Good ear. For some reason (experimentation, I suppose) I had cut those frequencies. I also panned the guitars slightly more and lowered their level to make room for the vocals, which shall come in next week sometime.

Dogman: I boosted the high end of the bass a bit, thanks for noticing.

I also made the snare a bit more crisp, I felt it was getting lost. Here's the revised edition:

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=6700

EDIT: I have a secret about how this was recorded. Any guesses?
 
the second mix sounds like an improvement here but the guitars in both mixes sound a little weird (can't explain it). no idea about the secret.
 
Like I said, the Rat isn't traditionally a distortion you'd use on pop punk, it has a very grainy edge to it. It's probably a combination of that and my "secret".
 
Yo yo , my favourite gerne ;)

The guitars are probably recorded with treble 10 the way the guitar player likes it. Tape his feet to the floor and put that treble doowwn alot!
If it's not that then you have not turned your mids up or you pointed the mic dead center at the speaker.

Basguitar sounds a bit card-board , will probably be the bass guitar.
Tough I would cut some of that 200 hz , add a little 60-100 and add alot of 3k ;)

Sounds like you have some bleed in the snare track, maybe try a gate?

This style screams for loud snare and kickdrum that sound like a hyperactive maniac is hitting them with a jackhammer.

If you happen to have waves : transx is a nicee plugin to achieve that effect.
 
Here's yet another new mix. I added a ton of gain at around 3k to the bass to get that high end to stick out a bit more and tried to get rid of the cardboard sound. I fooled around a bit more with the guitars. I managed to decrease the clicking that was occurring, but it was at 1k and that's somewhat of a vital frequency for these guitars. I don't want to re-track them quite yet, I think they're still very usable. Keep em coming guys, I need all the criticism I can get!

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=6714
 
I'm listening on some pretty lo-fi computer speakers, but since I'm familiar with the original I can offer one piece of advice - perhaps limit the bass more. The smooth, punchy sound of the Alkaline bassist is one my my favorite tones, and I often try to emulate it myself.
 
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