Transmit The Dead - 3rd Song for Concept Album. [Hard Rock/Metal]

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STAT1STICK

STAT1STICK

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This is a song I've recorded numerous times. Many people have had their hands on it but I've never been truly satisfied with the mix. So, now it's my turn. I'm taking total creative control. I want to give it the mix and finish it deserves! I plan on adding vocals to this just as soon as I get my microphone back up in working order. I'm getting a new mic, too... So, I'll probably update with vocals with my current mic and then again with the new mic. Please give the mix a listen and let me know if you think anything needs to be adjusted. By the way, I used my new bass for this one! I'm pretty happy with it.

 
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I went back and remixed the whole thing. It makes a lot more sense now. There was some clipping on the drums that was really ugly. I feel that there's more balance with the guitars and bass now. Feel free to compare.

 
I have updated the original post with a new version of the mix. I've changed quite a bit. It sounds a lot fuller now, IMO. If you don't feel like scrolling back up to check out the new mix, that's ok. It's right here, too.



Please let me know if you'd change anything. Maybe you have an idea for a better mix?

Something?

You don't have to reply if you don't want to. I understand. Really. No joke.
 
The main problem that I hear is the drum mix. The snare sounds weak/cheesy and it has far too much reverb/ambiance which makes it sound separate from the rest of the kit. The kick is all low end boom with no beater attack and doesn't mesh well with the bass guitar. The hats and cymbals are loud and harsh. If you are run the entire mix through a compressor to make it louder the cymbals can get too loud and nasty very easily.
 
I think the guitars and bass sounds good, but the snare sounds really bad. It needs more bass and less treble. The bass drum is also pretty weak. Some of this might have to do with too much compression, but I'm not sure.
 
Hey, thanks for listening, guys! I think you're right about the compression. So I toned it down some. I also agree about the kick. It needed more attack from the beater so boosted the highs a bit and brought some of it back. I adjusted some volume levels and it's sounding better. But something still bothers me about the low end. I can't seem to get it sorted out. The sweet spot for the bass seems to be around 80hz and the kick is around 40hz. But, I can't help but feel that it's a muddy mess. Here's the new mix as of this morning.

 
That mix is better but you are right about the low end. It sounds like the kick has too much low end and it's stomping on the bass guitar. Try running the kick through a high pass filter. Start at about a 50hz rolloff and adjust higher as needed. Once the kick is thinned out a bit you should be able to raise the bass guitar level.
 
I might attribute some muddiness to the heavy crashes at the beginning (and 2:30). When those are out, it seems pretty clear.

The keyboard is interesting. Barely perceptible.

The lead line towards the end is pretty muddy too. Do you have a ton of reverb on it?
 
Try putting a high pass on the overheads if you haven't already to help with a bit of that boomy bass, also sum slight reduction around 500 hz might help tighten up things as well. The snare needs more punch, a bit too much high end still, also the cymbals have to much highs IMO, probably tone it down a bit. If a metalhead's gonna rock to this then it's really gonna tear his/her eardrums at higher volumes, so keep that in mind.

EDIT: Also, again back to the kick drum, a tip I picked up is to duplicate the kick track and invert the phase on it. Put a high pass filter on the duplicate around 50 db put a fairly wide reduction at 250 hz (or somewhere around there, this will help greatly reduce some of that boomy kick), then put a very steep gain bump around the 1.5k hz area to bring out the beater/slap. Then you sorta do the opposite with the original track.

If that doesn't fit the job, then route both tracks to a bus and parallel the sh$* out of em, but probably bring the fader for that buss track to about halfway, or to the point where it adds punch and not flab to the mix.
 
Thanks for all of your advice! I really appreciate it. I've been working on it. I'm testing out some vocals now. Finally got my microphone up and running. I've also added some synth in the beginning because I didn't like how the song just started so abruptly. It's coming along better than I had planned. So, I guess that's good. I've changed up the mix a whole lot. Give it a listen. And don't take the vocals too seriously. I'm just testing the waters for now. Here's the updated link:

 
I listed to the last mix.

Guitars sound great.

Bass could maybe use just a slightly stronger low end.

This will probably make your skin crawl, but I'd like to hear a double tracked vocal on this. I'd like less reverb and a "smaller" reverb on it too. Vocal wavers in a spot or two.

the ambient vocals and strings near the end could come up 3-4 dbs probably.
 
Ok, I've made some changes. I re recorded the vocals and mixed a bit differently. Here's the new one:

 
Are drums sequenced? I think I heard 3 hands at a few points. (i.e. crash and a double hit on the snare).

Otherwise, the mix sounds pretty good. Good guitar tone, and I like the synth.

I'm not excited about the vocals. You've got that generic "modern hard rock, breaking benjamin/creed" tone going on until the scream kicks in at 2:30. I guess some people must like it, but I've gotten tired of that style.
 
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