Uigg - Monstrosity (extreme metal)

  • Thread starter Thread starter TrevorQ
  • Start date Start date
So is it that
1) no one cares?
2) my mix is perfect and requires no commentary?
3) my mix is so terrible that no one can think of anything bad enough to say about it?
 
I say none of the above. I think the problem is most people don't want to take the time to download a song then listen to it. You might have better luck posting a link on soundclick or something like that. I will take a listen if you decide to do what I suggest.
 
Yup.. That "sendspace" is horrible. I almost didn't put for the effort to listen to it - especially since it's "zipped". Please realize that people on here are listening and critiquing music as a service. Make it as easy as humanly possible to allow them to do it - if possible in one click.

Yours required at least 10 along with typing and multiple windows.

Okay... Critique.

Drums seem slightly ahead of the rest of the instruments. consistently. Just move the track back a bit, and should fix it.

The high-end seems pretty good for me. The vocals seem a bit too crisp, but not by much. The vocals actually seem in their own space by a large margin.. Very detailed.

I like the bass, too.. It's in its own space, too - nice clicking on the high-end of the bass (guitar)...

The kick drum seems a bit lacking in click - probably would compete with the bass guitar.

The snare is very unique to this type of music, too.. Nice fat sound.

Guitars are very subdued, and defined. They sound dry. It works for me!

Yeah... The more I hear this, the kick drums almost completely disappear in the fast parts, because they really don't click... The bass guitar click creates kind of a slight mess of things on the fast parts, because I want to be hearing the clicking from the kicks (more tightly timed), but instead I'm hearing the bass guitar. Might wanna address that.

All in all, the sound didn't grate on me at all, and music of this genre usually grates horribly on me. I enjoyed it.

Biggest grip is your host, and that you zipped the file up. Put it on soundclick or host the mp3 directly, or something. Waaaay too much trouble to download, unzip, and then play the file.
 
Your guits sound like they are being played through a peavy bandit. Or a 1x something.

They need some life brought into them. They don't really fit with the rest of the mix. they just don't bring that gloomy atmosphere.

drums sound aight.
 
Another reason you don't get many listens is you're an unknown. Most people here are willing to listen to someone's music when that someone is listening to theirs. So be sure to listen to other tunes in the MP3 clinic and make some comments. Let them know what you think of their song and chances are they'll return the favor.

So, on to the song. I don't typically listen to this stuff, but to my ears, the mix is pretty good. I'm hearing the kick-click pretty good. I like that you've got the guitars tamed down; no ego showing through, in balance with everything else. The bass seems in need of some defintion, but I'm listening with a sub-woofer, so maybe the rumbling could be my system. I think I'm hearing some clipping and my LED's are pegged and don't move, so I think you've got it squashed too much.
 
TrevorQ said:
Here's a new, and I'm hoping final mix/master.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8779421
Click to expand...

Sorry, dude, but I think this mix is a step backwards... The guitars take over the show, and are pretty grating. The kick is barely audible now, so that's a good thing... (as opposed to totally gone in the last mix)... The bass guitar is totally lacking personality. If possible give both the kick and bass their own space, so we can hear them both. In this mix, I can kind of hear the kick, and can't hear the bass-click at all. It also seems like the two guitars (R/L ears) are way out of sync. Sounds like one guitar is about 30ms ahead of the other. Maybe that's the effect you want?

Yeah... All I hear now are guitars. They all but totally drown out all the rest of the instruments. I liked the first mix much better.

Sometimes, I can listen to a mix so much, and have so many filters put on everything that it becomes overwhelming, and I start making the mix worse with each change. I've come to realize when I'm at that point, and honestly - I start from scratch then. I usually take off all filters and begin mixing again. Sounds like you might be at that point.

Sorry for the negative-ish review, but I hear some serious potential in this song. If mixed right, this would rock! Keep at it! Maybe give it a day or two before you listen to it again.
 
Are you using headhphones to mix with?

This sounds like an old am radio mix...

like one of those new fangled noise cancelling bass enhanced set of head phones or some shit?
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Sorry, dude, but I think this mix is a step backwards... The guitars take over the show, and are pretty grating. The kick is barely audible now, so that's a good thing... (as opposed to totally gone in the last mix)... The bass guitar is totally lacking personality. If possible give both the kick and bass their own space, so we can hear them both. In this mix, I can kind of hear the kick, and can't hear the bass-click at all. It also seems like the two guitars (R/L ears) are way out of sync. Sounds like one guitar is about 30ms ahead of the other. Maybe that's the effect you want?

Yeah... All I hear now are guitars. They all but totally drown out all the rest of the instruments. I liked the first mix much better.

Sometimes, I can listen to a mix so much, and have so many filters put on everything that it becomes overwhelming, and I start making the mix worse with each change. I've come to realize when I'm at that point, and honestly - I start from scratch then. I usually take off all filters and begin mixing again. Sounds like you might be at that point.

Sorry for the negative-ish review, but I hear some serious potential in this song. If mixed right, this would rock! Keep at it! Maybe give it a day or two before you listen to it again.
Click to expand...


I actually agree 100% with you hear, and yes I also feel that this might be the time to hit the reset button. The band is actually pretty happen with the mix before this one, so I might just default back to that one or might start from zero now that I have a good idea of where I can get this to be.
 
Do you do much comparision...A/B...switch back and forth... of your mix and sound with similar work of your favorite metal bands?

I'm not a metal mechanic, but I listen to a lot of it...and some of it just zooms for reasons beyond my ability to explain why. This one doesn't zoom so much.
I can hear that the tune would really be great if mixed and recorded to best practice, though. Get the references happening to pro work you like. One instrument, peice of a kit, mix of two... listen until it hurts...take notes. Re-approach your mix! The composition sounds authentic. The recording is not as good.
 
It wasn't really that extreme. It sounded on the verge of extreme, the vocals hold it back. Maybe if they were more death/gore it would be EXTREME.

Anyway. The recording is off to a good start, kind of. One things that pops out first is that the guitars don't have a really good tone. The drums sound pretty good, but need to be tweaked and mixed into the song better because I want to hear more of them. I want to hear more consistency in the drums through out the song.

It's lacking some clarity. It sounds too jumbled to follow sometimes and you should separate things more. It think you could have a really good sound, but the biggest problem for me is the guitar tone isn't the greatest.
 
FoulPhil said:
It wasn't really that extreme. It sounded on the verge of extreme, the vocals hold it back. Maybe if they were more death/gore it would be EXTREME.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was looking forward to the song the way it was introduced it but didn't find it all that extreme, either.

Leaving that aside, though I disliked a few things about the mix, it kinda worked for me - I suppose it's greater than the sum of its parts ... *if* we take it as a demo (as a finished song, it would've worked maybe 15 years ago). Though the guitar tone isn't too good, it was the drums that annoyed me the most: the kick was too clicky (and usually I don't mind that all that much), and the snare is a classic example of overcompression with the attack of the compressor way too fast. Didn't like the snare tone either, but that's a matter of taste, and the cymbals were too low for me, though it has to be said I'm a cymbal freak.

I thought the vocals worked best from the technical standpoint, though they were kind of underwhelming despite the angry attitude - I didn't feel them, in other words, but again, that's the last thing I'd re-record.
 
Yep - too much treble on the mix. Not enough bottom end in either the bass or the drums. The guitars are overwhelming the mix also. Even panned out far they are too loud.

The caliber of instrument playing is really good and the vocals are very very good.

Time to try and bring some bottom into the mix. Lots of potentail - just needs some tweaks.....

Are you getting any airplay?
 
Our first album got a bunch of college play and charted on the Canadian college "Loud" charts for a few weeks.

I'm going to re-work this sometime in the next few days.
 
Ok, here's a new mix, completely reworked with new guitar sounds.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8792889

I could probably push the vocals a little more, I'm just not sure I want to or not.

Is there a limit to how many times I can edit a post? I wanted to put this new link in the first post of the thread but there is no "edit" option...
 
Last edited:
TrevorQ said:
Is there a limit to how many times I can edit a post? I wanted to put this new link in the first post of the thread but there is no "edit" option...
Click to expand...

There's a time limit of one week. No problem, people can see your latest mix in your last post. I can put the latest link in your first post for ya!!
 
I played the tune on monitors and phones. It really cooks with the bass on a two-band EQ jacked up about +6 to +8. Thuga thuga. Too little bottom, still, as it stands, IMHO.

ps...if you want to hear for yourself what your tune lacks, listen to PoeticIntensity's "Polished Turd" on a nearby thread. Got da zoom in da boom.
 
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