Review my mixes?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AJScott
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AJScott

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Hey guys, just joined this forum cause I really want to try and improve my mixing! I have two songs that I'd like feedback on. They're both metal songs, one is a song called Dispossession by a band called Northlane. I didn't record this, I downloaded DI'd stems of guitars and drum MIDI and mixed using Superior Drummer (without any expansions) on Reaper. The other song is a very old song from my band (no vocals recorded) which I've just recorded today. I think my main issue is drum sound? What can I possibly do to make my drums sound more alive and real, rather than just sounding like a drum machine?

soundcloud.com/ajscotty/dispossession - Dispossession (mixed raw stems)
soundcloud.com/ajscotty/one-day-bias-jamup-test - Part of a song I recorded.
 
I listened to dispossession. I don't know that there was a ton bad about the mix. Some of the toms and cymbals were panned a little wide. The kick sounds a little thin and wimpy. You might be able to turn the bass/low end up a little. But that was about as far as the mix IMO.

Not your issue but I didn't like the way the guitars were recorded. That seems to be the way metal is these days - but the guitars are so damn fizzy.
 
I listened to dispossession. I don't know that there was a ton bad about the mix. Some of the toms and cymbals were panned a little wide. The kick sounds a little thin and wimpy. You might be able to turn the bass/low end up a little. But that was about as far as the mix IMO.

Not your issue but I didn't like the way the guitars were recorded. That seems to be the way metal is these days - but the guitars are so damn fizzy.

Thanks for the input on the drums, I'll take that into account! Regarding the guitars that was sort of the sound I was going for, harsh Meshuggah type tone. But I could smooth it out a bit with a low pass filter?
 
Regarding the guitars that was sort of the sound I was going for, harsh Meshuggah type tone. But I could smooth it out a bit with a low pass filter?

I am not exactly sure what you mean by "smooth it out" - but if it were me I'd stay away from a low pass filter on it. It has barely enough low end as it is. If it were me, I'd retrack it without all that dialed in gain. But that's just me.
 
A low pass filter cuts off the high end frequencies, for example putting a low pass at 8kHz. "Let the low pass through." A high pass filter cuts off the low end "Let the highs pass through" haha. Maybe you were thinking of a shelf?

The guitars are just DI'd so it's not a real amp, I can just cut the gain as it is.
 
Oops brain cramp, sorry. My brain was thinking high pass.

Anyway, I still wouldn't touch the guitar with any EQ. To me, there was too much gain used during tracking. The only way to fix that would be a retrack.
 
Oops brain cramp, sorry. My brain was thinking high pass.

Anyway, I still wouldn't touch the guitar with any EQ. To me, there was too much gain used during tracking. The only way to fix that would be a retrack.

Thankfully it was DI'd so I can just reduce the gain on the amp sim
 
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