Still trying to get this one bangin'

[thewhat]

Hello,

I posted the home-recorded mix-in-progress of a song called "68" a week ago and got some excellent advice from fresh ears, such as:

<<vocals and wah wah are a bit loud

I could use more drums

Sonically, this one's missing some top end

Too much Whah>>

So I've made a remix of 68 which you are kindly invited to critique:

http://www.thewhatband.com/mp3.html

Many thanks,
Maxx

 

[A1A2]

I think the drum sound is a big issue in this mix. They've got too much room sound for this tune to sound "studio-made". But if you are going for that garage sound, you've naile it.

The bass is a tad low in volume, and kinda quiet at some spots, either retracking or compression can easily fix that, I think. I dunno, I keep wishing the drum was more up front, but I really like how the bass and kick fit with each other, yet you can still hear them as seperate instruments for sure. Good job on that!

The guitars sound a bit too mono and hard-panned to my taste. Maybe you could add some short delay on each git and pan it to the other side to create a more stereo feel.

I hope this helps

Al

 

[thewhat]

Al,

I suppose we were going for a garage sound, since we did it live to a cheap 8-track reel-to-reel, rather than our usual multitracked-to-digital route. We were also using a mackie board for pre-amps since I hadn't yet bought a couple RNP's (Really Nice Preamps from FMR audio). But I still want the drums to sound present rather than washed out. At this point I am basically on a salvaging operation for poorly-recorded tracks; we cannot re-record the song since we already made a little video to go with it. But yeah, the drums aren't quite hi-fi enough. But if that makes us sound like the Germs, so be it I guess.

Yeah, I'll try what you said about adding some stereo feel by creating guitar delay tracks. Off I go.

Max

 

[pglewis]

Is the kick on a track by itself? It could be tightened up and I think that might help the drum tracks some here. A boost in the ballpark of 70-100Hz might bring out the thump a little more. You might also experiment with cutting a touch around 400Hz as well. If you have a decent outboard compressor or a decent plug-in, that might bring some more focus to it. It's an experiment thing for me here, and it's easy to over-do.

Bass guitar seems a little low in the mix as well.

Might improve things if you can get those two dialed-in a little better. Nice tune, hope you get it where ya want it.