Still really new to mixing. Not happy with my results.

ncmail

ncmail

The Banana Man
Hey there. I started my studio mostly to work on my band, Ivyside's, recrodings. We have been working on tracking for quite a while. We have not started mixing anything yet. But, this weekend a band who is close to us came and ask if we could record a quick demo for them. We took the time and got everything all set up right for them. But when it came to mixing I realized I was actually very unsure of what to do. So I just kinda did what sounded natural to me. Honestly it sounded AWESOME in the studio. But now that I have them up I am listening to them and I think they f#*&ing suck. I have just started reading some articles written on here, but I wouldnt mind some individual criticism. The 2 tracks we have up are on PureVolume™ | We're Listening To You The band that we recorded them for is super happy with them, but Im not. Im gonna be working on them some more tomorrow after work to try to improve them. Any pointers?
 
And after reading some things I am finding I did EQing all wrong. I boosted everything. I never dropped anything below the 0 line on the "graphic" EQ that came with Sonar X1 producer.
 
Here is another one, its the one entitled "Last Time" PureVolume™ | We're Listening To You we simply have used these to get song ideas to each other when in school but last time is a serous one we have been working on. I thought the mixing was done until I listened to it about an hour ago and found myself unhappy with it as well.
 
ummm sounds like a sex pistols sound. Nothing really stands out. There is no right or wrong when mixing just what sounds good. all i can say i be aware that things like the kick and bass will interfere with each other if not eqed to sit around each other. same with the snare, the snare will disappear in a mix if you haven't left space for it through the guitars.
 
ncmail said:
And after reading some things I am finding I did EQing all wrong. I boosted everything. I never dropped anything below the 0 line on the "graphic" EQ that came with Sonar X1 producer.
Click to expand...

There's no right, or wrong if it sounds good, it's only wrong if you screw it up. ;)

The advice givin above is spot on, always leave space for the instruments to "sit" in, if the guitars, or synths, (notorious frequency hogs), are present, roll off some of the extreme low, and highs to make room for the kick, bass, cymbals, etc, they need space too.
Same for the vocals, always clear space for the singer, you'll be suprised at how well this process works.

NEVER consider a mix finished if you've been at it for hours, set it aside, and listen again tomorrow, you'll likely be shocked at how different it sounds, ear fatigue is a real condition, and you CAN NOT get a good mix with tired ears, not on purpose anyway.

My method is to start with the kick, get it sounding good and tight, then the bass, they should not try to compete, but augment each other, then the rest, snare, overhead, etc., use panning and subtile reverb to create a "scene" reverb will push something back, be conservative though, too much is not good, then pan the various instruments as if they were on stage, play around, be creative, it's fun, and if you get good at it, you'll love your mixes.

Good luck.
 
NcMail, if it's any consolation, I've been at this nearly 20 years and my mixes are still kind of crap ! I'm in the process of remixing alot of stuff recorded over the last 15 years because the original mixes I did, I just find were too muddy. It's a frustrating experience with some of the songs. Fortunately, it's also great fun and the hard ones are few and far between.
Alot of my problem with the ones I'm remixing stems from the fact that while the songs themselves I really like and are experimental and ambitious, my actual recording was, shall we say, less than stellar ! And you'd get things like singers not singing loud enough or drums badly miked and on just one track and effects that sound wonderful on the voice or instrument solo, but a nightmare to mix.
However, since I started recording on a 12 track,{previously, I was on an 8 track cassette portastudio} and reading up alot more what people share here, without a doubt my recordings are better. Whereas before, to clip was no big deal, now, it's like touching a leper to me !
Once I've got those 100 or whatever portastudio remixes out of the way, I will take alot more pleasure in my mixing. Because I'm writing, arranging and recording very much with the final mix in mind. That's one of the lessons that took a while to sink in.
So persevere. But don't become obsessively perfectionist.
 
Everyone's mixes suck for a long time. Don't be discouraged, keep plugging away at it. Mine suck too, and I've been doing this a while.
 
ncmail said:
And after reading some things I am finding I did EQing all wrong. I boosted everything. I never dropped anything below the 0 line on the "graphic" EQ that came with Sonar X1 producer.
Click to expand...

You should try a parametric eq instead of graphic for mixing.
 
What kind of monitors are you using? I am listening on cheap PC speakers but it sounds like it was recorded from a single mic. It sounds like there is hardly any low end and the vocals are about 4x louder than anything else. Have you listened to the mix in some other systems? Like burn it to a CD and check it out in your car?
 
Try uploading a track from a commercial artist (with a similar sound) into your project and solo it. listen for awhile and i mean REALLY listen... then mute it and listen to the stuff you recorded. Try to get what you recorded as close to that sound as possible using all the tools that these knowledgeable people have provided you.
 
yeah... it's true that when you start mixing, you'll suck for a while. It's also true that you'll be way more critical of your own work then others. I've been mixing for some years, and I think all my mixes sound awful, but other people often like them. some of them anyway.

anyway, about your mixes... i started mixing rock, specifically punk, fairly recently. After doing a little bit, i learned learn some common practices for mixing rock. These are not done all the time obviously, but it's a good place to start.

guitars are often doubled and panned to the extremes or near to the extremes, often thickened again using a haas effect (google it if you don't know what it is).

with the guitars at the extremes, you can bring them up a lot (yours are pretty quiet compared to the vocals), theres lots of room for the drums and vocals, and the whole mix sounds wide and spacious.

Get the snare to sound really meaty, not "knock"-y like you did in the second one you posted. don't eq out lows, but maybe use some parallel compression (compressing a copy of the original and mixing them together) to make the hi-mids punchier. This can apply to the kick too. the low end is important, but the mid to high range is what gives it definition. parallel compression is a great tool for making drums punchy and defined.

don't take any of this stuff as gospel, though, just mess around with it. When I was just beginning, I would take certain advice and apply it to everything. This can mess up a lot of mixes. always use your ears in the end. If someone's advice makes your mix sound like crap, get rid of it. Don't keep it just because someone more experience suggested it.

overall the stuff doesn't really sound that bad. just keep improving.
 
ForceBacon said:
yeah... it's true that when you start mixing, you'll suck for a while. It's also true that you'll be way more critical of your own work then others. I've been mixing for some years, and I think all my mixes sound awful, but other people often like them. some of them anyway.

anyway, about your mixes... i started mixing rock, specifically punk, fairly recently. After doing a little bit, i learned learn some common practices for mixing rock. These are not done all the time obviously, but it's a good place to start.

guitars are often doubled and panned to the extremes or near to the extremes, often thickened again using a haas effect (google it if you don't know what it is).

with the guitars at the extremes, you can bring them up a lot (yours are pretty quiet compared to the vocals), theres lots of room for the drums and vocals, and the whole mix sounds wide and spacious.

Get the snare to sound really meaty, not "knock"-y like you did in the second one you posted. don't eq out lows, but maybe use some parallel compression (compressing a copy of the original and mixing them together) to make the hi-mids punchier. This can apply to the kick too. the low end is important, but the mid to high range is what gives it definition. parallel compression is a great tool for making drums punchy and defined.

don't take any of this stuff as gospel, though, just mess around with it. When I was just beginning, I would take certain advice and apply it to everything. This can mess up a lot of mixes. always use your ears in the end. If someone's advice makes your mix sound like crap, get rid of it. Don't keep it just because someone more experience suggested it.

overall the stuff doesn't really sound that bad. just keep improving.
Click to expand...

Well said. Especially the tip about the haas effect. That really improved the imaging in my mixes
 
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