Rough mix of a rock track

[mattr]

Happy new year everyone! I'm a bit partied up so please excuse any typos

Anyway, this is what I've been working on today before the celebrations kicked in. We recorded the drums last month then added all the guitars yesterday, and I've spent today battling with all the tracks to try and make some sense of them. I've had Sonar for less than a week so I'm still struggling my way around that (there are sooo many buttons!)...

So here's the rough mix. Its called 'Shadows'. Still got vocals and some pad/synth to add, and a huge load more work to do.

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=16107

Things I don't like about this mix / would appreciate help on...

• The transitions between sections are quite scrappy, in particular between the verse and prechorus. The wall of sound is quite muddy after the snappy and tight verse. It seems this is partly because the stereo image in the verse is very wide and then the lead guitars pull it back inwards. Do I sacrifice the nice image of the verse so the transition isn't so strange, or pan the lead guitars out wider in the next section?
• Some bits are very muddy in the high-mids. Some of the lead guitar parts need pulling back and softening up. This is true around the prechorus and chorus. I think some of this may sort itself out though when I pull everything out and scoop some mids out to sit vocals in.
• The bass doesn't pull through that well. Any hints how I can bring this forward just a tad without smothering everything? Its already EQ'd into its place at the bottom - everything else is high-passed and sits there nicely just its not quite strong enough, but when I try to bring the level up a tiny bit it seems to ruin everything. Another touch of light compression? Play around with a multiband?
• Its LOUD. Apologies for this... I shoved through a limiter just for giggles.
• The drums in the verse sound very compressed and punchy, which I'm not sure totally fits with the feel of the section. Thoughts?
• Still not totally convinced by the snare sound I have. By the way, the drums are real ...well, real(ish). I've done quite a bit of fixing here and there, but all with samples from the recording session. Maybe I should give in and dig out the drummagog?
• The ride hits (recorded separately) aren't in time with the overheads in some places. Just needs a bit of tweaking.

Thanks guys

 

[mattr]

Done a bit of tweaking, mainly bringing down the lead guitars and smoothing out the high-mids, but not enough to constitute another upload.

I'm still struggling with the snare sound - tried a few samples but can't seem to find anything that fits. The sounds I'm getting are either too muffled and get buried, or end up sounding like a sharp tap. I just can't seem to get a nicely compressed, fat, chunky, tone. Help! Anyone got any recommendations for good samples?