A new toxic grind machine song up.. please give me some honest feedback on the mix...

[Black neon bob]

Right... here is the link again:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=283678

The one on top.. called "leviathan"...

It's the same ole deal... DFHS plus samples, POD XT, reason for bass, synths are A1, embracer, choirs from east west, imposcar, rob papen blue and albino... however, i mixed everything a bit different this time, took me about 3 weeks to finish this one, because i was forced to a different approach this time due to some hardware errors/nuendo combination.. wont go into that too deep, it's boring...

I would really like some feedback.. anything goes.. let me have it... i compared it to my other mixes, and am still not too sure what sounds better and what not, might be able to do that tomorrow when my ears have had a good night of rest.. i hope you guys like the structure, but im looking for feedback on the sound, drums and guitar and overall mix in particular really.

Cheers in advance!!

 

[Ermz]

Great stuff as usual man.

Only qualm I have so far is that the guitar and bass seem to get in each other's way. I don't know what it is, but it isn't perhaps as clear as it could be. I think it's mainly just the low-end being a bit *whoompy* if you know what I mean. But I suppose that sort of comes with using bass samples through reason.

 

[KeithRT99]

from a musical standpoint i didn't really like the intro, it didn't really get me pumped up to hear the song. the guitars sound alittle saggy,the need to be tighter. the song starts to get better when it gets faster. i wish the synth would be a smidge louder. the blasts are cool. the guitars are the biggest issue. i also think it would be better with vocals, because it feels a bit long.

that said, it's still pretty good. i like most of the toxic grind machine tracks you post.

 

[Seizure.]

The riff around 4.40 is awesome! and it seems that you need time to get into the triplet bassdrumparts (on guitar) when they come in, doesn't seem 100% tight when they just come in, or maybe its just me!

 

[Blessed]

Sounds nice bud!

 

[kev]

sounds fricken great as per usual bobby! I hear the need for some sweep arpeggios I agreed with the others on the bass thing, but now ive listened a few times its not obvious at all to me anymore....
Musically, the start was pretty great as it was a slightly diffrent take on the typical EQ cut intro and a more subtle fade in- which put a nice slant on things for me (i was thinking ok... guitars are just gonna go bang in a second LOL)! Great use of the choirs- really bloody eerie!!! Perhaps not the greatest riffs ive heard from the bobmesiter, as there seems to be a tendancy to come back to hitting that low power chord all the time (probably personal taste for me)-but good nonetheless some bone cracking ones in there Definitely up there with your best methinks Bob!

 

[smy1]

Hey Bob,

currently listening to it for the first time and that's my impression:

1) guitars could be tighter in a few parts. I do like the sound, though. Sounds synthetic and cold, so it fits the atmosphere well.

2) Kick could use more boom. It's very clicky and plastic-y which is okay in the fast parts, but why don't you add in some serious oomph with a layer of 909 or similar on the slower parts? I'd have preferred a more organic kick, because the "typewriter" style always seems to take realism away for me.

3) Hah. Song gets much cooler at around 4:30 or something. Got me banging in my deskchair. YEA!

4) Cymbals and hats seem to be breaking up/distorting a little and the hats are very loud and upfront. That's just a matter of taste of course. Although you gotta tell me how you made the ride stick out that much. It's awesome clear!

5) Fuck, that riff at 5:38 is sick! Haha! Rules!

6) Surely gonna listen to it again (and again!). Very cool stuff!

7) Intro sounds very nice. Maybe make the guitar fade-in shorter and quicker so that the main song hits "harder". I'd also lower the level of the intro because the deep kick sounds more powerful than the song.

8) Would really like to hear that with vocals cause right now I can't really make out a structure like verse/chorus/bridge etc. ...

9) Synths are not loud enough for me

 

[sorceron]

what sorta settings you using on the xt?

 

[CJWall]

hmmmm, okay Bobby here goes:

First off, let me start by saying I dig how the drums sound, especially the cymbals and snare. Kicks always seem to be a matter of taste around here, but I like what you've done with this once. Nice and tight. I might try pitch-shifting the kick in Drumagog by like 6% or whatever sounds best, this may help it find it's spot in the mix. I find I have to almost always pitch shift my samples to get 'em to fit the mix correctly.

My main gripes would be the guitars in this though. Sounds like a combination of too much low-end and a bit too much gain, personally. If I were you, I'd look into trying out a tubescreamer or a Boss GE-7 (which is what I use with the ENGL). I think that'll tighten the guitars up nicely. Or get that damn 5150 combo already bastid.

Bass gtr sounds nice!

As for the entire mix, my other main problem is the elements don't seem to glue well with each other, as in the guitars stick out a bit too much and aren't playing their cohesive role. The drums sound small in comparison almost... I'm not sure what you have on the 2buss, but maybe try some kind of mastering compression. I quite like to the Sonalksis SV-315 for this myself, give it a shot Bob, you may like it. Adds some nice glue.

And in closing, excellent synth work my man. Hope this helps....

Regards,
Charlie

 

[cobhc]

fuck me! lol, bob you fuckin rule dude, i can't wait to hear the whole new world of pain you're gonna unleash when you get mike's 7 string.

 

[Black neon bob]

Hey thanks guys!

Glad to get feedback like this.. it helps a great deal when most of you point out the same thing.. guitars and bass seem to be fighting indeed... i have not done anything drastic on those, except import both of them out of seperate sessions to save some RAM in the main template... still not sure why they are fighting now and never did before really.. but yeah, guitars need looking at, soundwise and playing wise, good spotting!

Sorceron: i used kazrog's patches.. they should def. be here somewhere on the forum...

Oh and i will bring up the synths as well.. thanks for pointing these things out y'all!

 

[cobhc]

yeah, defo make the intro quieter as well, that first riff needs to kick you in the fucking chest.

 

[Black neon bob]

Thanks Stee and Charlie...

Im getting what you are getting at Charlie... as of now, im not all that happy with that tone at all, it just grew on me for the last couple of days of recording this one, not really realising it's a bit too mid happy and over-ruling the rest of the stuff... im doing them again soon, taking out some mid and high so i can make space for the rest, and make it all a bit more weighing on the synths bass and drums..

Good call on the kick!! i will pitchshift it, see how that sits in the mix.. cheers!

 

[cobhc]

is this why you aint been on msn for time?

 

[Black neon bob]

Oh yeah, vocals will be added on all of these toxic grind machine songs, a nice low grunt and a higher pitched scream for ultimate death metal pleasure! this is the last one, so i will mix all of them again, seperate the drum hits a bit so their not perfect, im happy with the synths and bass, will probably keep all the drumsettings, except snare and kick, anything could happen with those two.. and im def. redoing all the guitar work, i need it to be super tight, and better sounding then they are right now... maybe the 7 string will add something to the recordings as well, as it might play a bit tighter then my gibson.. i dunno, we'll see...

 

[Mendel]

This is amazing, enough said..

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

Darnit, Bob. I went to reply and the site froze and lost all my stuff. Grrr.

Is that you on vox at the 1:30?

And also, I asked if you ever play leads? Do you rip like so much rip, or are you just the riff/song meister?

 

[Oguz286]

Fucking brutal as always Bobby

There are a few things though:

1. I dont like the kick, you had a better kick in your other songs IMHO, but it's also taste.
2. The bassthing... yeah i heard it too, but after you listen to it a couple of times it's not noticable anymore, maybe if you tweak it just a little bit, it would be fine and dandy. Compared to your other songs this one sounds a little muddy.
3. Synths could be a tad louder.

That said... if i could have 1/10th of your sound i would be so frigging happy, it's undescribable Keep it brutal man! \m/

 

[Razorjack]

Good job, I like it.

 

[Black neon bob]

Hey thanks guys...

Well Ether, i dont play to many solo's really, all the solos i know are blues and rock solo's, and i totally suck 100% on metal solos..

Thanks Oguz, im not too sure about the kick either.. this is the pantera kick sample.. i will first try and pitchshift it a bit like CJWall said/does... after that, i think i might blend this one with my old one.. see how that works out..
Im def. liking this snare better though!

nobody thought this one is a bit too long?