Hey NTB,
The drums in the intro should come down. Vocal up. I can barely hear a snare.
Hello, DID. I hope you are doing well. You didn't dig the intro? I thought that was the best part. Having no formal drum training, I have this thing where if I can't figure out exactly what drums are being used but it sounds kind of like a 16" floor tom and kind of like a kick (or maybe both, but it doesn't sound right in my mixes when I hit them both at the same time), I just use the 18". I think I might compress the vocal a bit to make it stand out against the mix more and be more consistent, but I don't think I want it louder. Rock and roll is about guitars, you know, not some liquored-up dummy yelling. Well, I guess it's both. I'll turn the snare up a smidgen. I agree with that one. I think the hihat drowns it out. Thanks.
kindafishy said:
The vocals and snare are well balanced in my space, so maybe that means there is a translation issue to figure out here. I'm on A7x's in a relatively small treated space. Have you done "the car test", "the stereo test", "the laptop test", etc?
Just the laptop and the stereo test, and they sounded decent. The car test is something altogether, though, isn't it! That's how I know I never got a mix anywhere close to optimal. I never got one that sounded good on the stereo AND in the car. I have gotten either one or the other, but I don't think I ever got both.
kindafishy said:
Overall, sounds like a punk mix. I like it. The sounds are good and raw, and they gel really well. I think that the bass could cut though the mix better with a lot more upper mid content, but the drums are punchy, the guitars sound good, and your vocals are awesome.
That last big hit is a bit of a miss, but hey, it's close enough for punk.
I did cut some of the bass at 450Hz... my stuff tends to sound muffled so I cut all the drums (except snare) and bass here. I'll see how it sounds if I give it a +1 back in the other direction. I appreciate the vocals comment. For as hard as I was yelling, I was expecting them to sound thicker or something, so I may EQ or compress them a little to get them in line with my expectations. Thanks.
mjbphotos said:
The floor tom (I assume that's what it is) was very loose-head sounding.
Yeah, I straddle the line with the 18"... I used to choke it, but I learned here that it sounds better if I let it breathe a little. I will try a few more moongels on it, but I think I might fuck up the sound if I tighten it any more. Thanks.
StuGort said:
It's pretty good. The rhythm guitars to the side sound a bit over processed (squashed) enough to drain energy from the mix. If there's a lot of compression of those in the mix I'd try to minimize or eliminate it to get the energy level up a notch on those. and yes...drums down a bit...vocal up.
Only a little compression that I had on it as I recorded the guitars... lots of gain, though. I put a little compression on the guitars as I record them just so it keeps the recording level more even. I don't think it makes much of a difference in the recorded sound, but maybe it does. I never tried it with none. I will next time, just to see. Thanks.
TripleM said:
I liked this a lot. Great energy. I liked the guitar tone, bass tone, and (except the kick) the drums too.
I thought the kick was just a bit too woofy. Just a bit.
The vocal sounds like it's in a different space from the rest of the instruments.
But that's it. Minor nits. Good job.
Thanks, MMM. When you say the kick is too "woofy", you mean the kick and not the 18" tom, right? And "woofy" means too much ring?
VHS said:
For a cheap punk sound, it's pretty clean. I've heard a ton of classic punk mixes that are utter garbage compared to this.
As to critiques. The snare is pretty good. The kick kind of feels like a lifeless thump though.
The gang chorus could have more punch. Maybe bring down the lead vox, and bring up the gang.
Thanks. The "gang" was my lead vocal and a different vocal from me with a slight delay. I asked a couple friends to come over and do some yelling a couple times but by the time we left the bar we could barely stand and we all forgot about it. I'll see if adding another or two helps.
Are you saying the kick needs more attack? Perhaps that's what MMM was also saying.
Thanks, guys.
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