david-
thanks for replying....
and thanks for the feedback.
i'm curious to know, what kind of system are you listening to the playback on?
is it a home system, or your monitor system?
here's the reason i ask...
i'm always battling to get a good even balance on high energy guitar parts, and a balanced bass sound that will sound good on any size system.....
i'm talking about too much energy in the high mids, and not enough of the RIGHT frequency in the bass guitar, to translate well to all systems.
you know, i work in digital now, as most of us do i imagine, and the longer that i play around with my mixing schemes, and different mics, and whatnot, there is a continuing annoying frequency that i hear, on individual tracks, and collectively as a whole as i mix, that starts around 900 hz..... all the way up thru about 2.5khz...
this is on FLAT eq'd input sounds, and FLAT on mixdown.
the longer i work with digital media, the more i feel that there were certain frequencies that ANALOG were 'more kind to'.....
whereas digital, gets it all, good AND bad...
now, this is just my own personal opinion, and based on nothing, except what my ears like to hear at this time in my life (how many ear-bone cells do i have left?!!) LOL
but it seems i'm happier with certain mixes, where i take anywhere from 900hz up to 1.8khz DOWN on guitar tracks, with a Q of about 1, so it's gentle.
no more than a DB, but definitely a dip, sounds better to me.
and on a lot of earlier mixes, and this one too, i was scared to take anything out, and would generally leave it, but honestly felt that it sounded better taking it out til it felt smooth on my ears.
now, i listen to certain crunchy guitar sounds that i really like (malcom young on highway to hell comes to mind) and i know he's got a lot of high mid bark, more than i have, yet it sounds absolutely smooth, even at volume.
i also know, that moving the mic even 1/64" to the left or right, of WHERE EVER it was, makes a sonic difference.
so on any given day, if i move the mic just a smidgeon, it makes or breaks the track.
i probably spend more time making micromoves of the mic, than i do playing the track.
a 'good' engineer wouldn't need to do all this BS, they'd just know how to get it quick, and move on.
i'm constantly struggling with it.
it should sound pretty full......
it kills on my monitor system, and sounded even better after falcon eddy mastered it, but clearly, i'm missing something in the low end of my mixes, especially with bass guitar, that is in the low mids, where there is a special MEAT eq, that comes across on ALL systems.
please tell me what that frequency is, so i can be rid of the demon.