2 Mixes (Working Progress)

[bensnookes]

I have uploaded 2 mixes im working on atm.

I used EZDrummer + PODXT through Pro Tools, i've done no mixing as of yet, and there is no bass guitar either.

Would you guys check them out and let me know your thoughts on the guitar tone, levels etc?
Any advice would be appreciated.

www.myspace.com/bensnookesrecording

 

[lilhermiejobo]

Alive and Free: first off the guitars seem a bit loud and sloppy (might just be the pod settings mudding up), bring the drums up a db or so, especially the kick, it gets buried in the mix pretty fast and ends up a faint click. Aside from some minor production issues I really like your ideas man, very well rounded.

Why So Serious: I dig the live feel of the 1 mic jam room sound breaking into the full stereo image. The guitars sound a bit muddy on this as well compared to the drums. Maybe try adding a db or 2 somewhere between 3-6khz for some high end on the tarz. Again your kick gets buried pretty quick in the mix and the drums are pretty dry overall and could use some verb, maybe try blending a tad of chorus on the overheads for warmth/clarity. The tarz mud out instantly on the fast bits but they sound more fitting on the slower breaks. Again aside from minor production issues I dig your material.

What pod patch/settings are you using?

 

[bensnookes]

Thanks, i'll try use a bit of your advice on the mixing.
I'm using a J-800 Marshall set up, with a Tube Screamer on, and im using a BigBottom with a chunkier tone to thicken it up a little.

It's just a case of experimenting atm really, trying to find 2 tones which compliment each other with enough clarity and aggression as i want.

 

[lilhermiejobo]

Thanks, i'll try use a bit of your advice on the mixing.
I'm using a J-800 Marshall set up, with a Tube Screamer on, and im using a BigBottom with a chunkier tone to thicken it up a little.

It's just a case of experimenting atm really, trying to find 2 tones which compliment each other with enough clarity and aggression as i want.

Are you double tracking the tarz or quad tracking? I've found that less is more when recording guitar(s). As a rule of thumb when preparing to track turn the gain down as painfully low as possible just before you lose all balls, this way you still get the gain/distortion and the bonus of added clarity which translates as the aggression you're looking for. Definitely not like just rocking out with the gain cranked up for the sake of being metal. I'm probably not one of the best guys on this forum to take advice from anyway.
There's lots of patches on this forum from other dudes using the pod that can make for great starting points to help give you a better idea of what works and how to tweak your pod to get more out of it.
Also what does miracles to the pod tone is replacing the cab sim in the pod itself and using freeware like Voxengo Boogex + speaker impulse files made from real guitar cabs. The differences it makes are instantly unreal.
There are tons of free and really good sounding impulse files on this forum and pretty easy to find using any common search engine like google or yahoo.
I hope this helps bro!!!

 

[bensnookes]

Guitars are 2 100% either way, and 2 80% each way.

What are impulses, and how are they used?
I've seen them spoke about quite alot, but never really looked into it, you got any kind of insight to them for me?

 

[lilhermiejobo]

The easiest way to understand an impulse is to consider how different speakers sound, how different mics sound, how different rooms sound, and ultimately how any combination of speaker/room + mic sounds. Basically in your pod it has a cab sim which is meant to model after different kinds of speakers as well as different kinds of mics. An impulse is similar to that BUT instead of modeled software its actually the speaker and mic combination recorded as a wav file.
To record your pod's amp modeler with an impulse you just turn OFF the pod's cab sim and on the guitar track you want to record you insert the Voxengo Boogex vst and load an impulse file taken from a real speaker cab and your pod will sound more life-like and realistic without a lot of tweaking. If you listen to the pod without the cab sim it'll sound pretty crap so its important that on the guitar track you turn down the playback volume and enable MONITORING so you'll be able to hear your pod + impulse.
There are lots of posts here from guys with more experience that can help if I'm not able to make sense for you.

 

[bensnookes]

Ah thanks alot dude, real helpful!
I'll check out some of those threads tomorrow!