advice welcome

[bryan_kilco]

Just more random riffage I made while bored. Practicing mixing.

I feel like I've totally hit a brick wall and simply cannot improve anymore.

I guess being stuck with the single drumkit in the only drum vst I own is not helping matters as well as not owning a bass guitar.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6443251/Random 1 Tweaked 1.mp3

I normally start with a template and presets for guitars/bass/drums and this time I started from scratch and used X50 for guits.

I did a bunch of subtractive EQ on the guitar bus as well as HP/LP on individual tracks.

I just feel like I can never get past the cloudy mid-high area. Even with guitars LP'd at like 8.5k they seem shrill and bright. And when the lead kicks in, everything is just undefined.

I'm seriously clueless as to how to get over this. Like always - I think I have it sounding pretty good, then listen to some of the stuff on here and am instantly . I just can't seem to get the punch and depth.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Nothing? That bad, huh?



I actually spent a little while the day after I posted this and using a reference track (which I rarely EVER do because I want my own sound and not try to mimic someone elses).

I'm fairly certain my main issues lie in the guitars midrange, the bass (pitch shifted guitar just will never sound as good as a real bass), and my OHs high end. It's almost hard for me to tell how the low end is doing on my Equator D5's sometimes.

 

[schust]

naw, it ain't bad! tough to get comments these days... i know! here's a couple comments for what it's worth...

the mix as a whole here sounded kinda squished to the middle. i think it would benefit from sounding a little larger - more breath - highs. some thoughts on doing that... i think the kit could add some more depth. are the OHs/AMB panned out? what kit vst are you using? the snare sounds like it could be dropped a notch or two.. (personal pref). the guitar tones don't sound bad, although i think the lead tone could be a little better. i always LP at around 5k believe it or not. i never have anything worth hearing above that. of course when doing that i have to be very careful not to cut anymore (except for 2k), or i'm definitely got a dull sound. i almost always HP at 93/99hz too. i would definitely add some highs (3k? 5k?) on the cln guitar. are your rhy guitars panned out wide L/R? double tracked? one going L and the other R? that always gives me a really wide guitar picture and lets everything else sit well up the middle (kick/bass, etc).

anyway... a couple thoughts.. not sure any of it is new..

 

[bryan_kilco]

Thank you.

I have gotten some feedback on another of my mixes about my guitars being too centered. They are just double tracked and panned 100% L/R. I have used a stereo widening tool before and had some luck with that. But yeah, the guitar tones are both the same exact chain so maybe I need to change a few things up there to get it wider sounding.

The kit is the SSD4 Essential pack. It limits you to basically 1 drumkit. But I have some single shot kick/snares blended in. And the OHs are on a single track as that's how this sampler is set up. To me, the snare sounds too quiet and like it needs more body. Thanks again!

 

[Mago]

I don't think that the cloudy hi-mid area is something to get a hold of with post eq.
maybe try a less himid prominet ampsim, or less tone on the ts sim (if you use any), or some subtle eq before the ampsim (slight dip somewhere between 2 and 4-5 khz maybe).
See if it fixes that

 

[Chris Lucas]

Honestly I think one small thing that would help this mix be more brutal would be to make the snare more ridiculous. Ya know, outrageous pop, Snare 10 type stuff.

That's just me though hahaha
Edit: I say this because the snare sample now sounds like a drummer hit a snare at a medium volume. It doesn't really sound like a CRACK. It sounds like a barely hard hit, not a fuckin SLAMMIN hit.

 

[jarrysopa1984]

Honestly I think one small thing that would help this mix be more brutal would be to make the snare more ridiculous. Ya know, outrageous pop, Snare 10 type stuff.

That's just me though hahaha
Edit: I say this because the snare sample now sounds like a drummer hit a snare at a medium volume. It doesn't really sound like a CRACK. It sounds like a barely hard hit, not a fuckin SLAMMIN hit.

+1

that's right the snare just sounds very blunt to me, maybe blend in another sample that just adds the crack sound, lowcut the sample even below 1k that you just get the attack out off it.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Thanks. It's one of the Slate snares blended with CJ's Death Snare. Only a tiny amount of EQ on the snare bus and nothing else. Maybe a bit of compression would also help get more smack?

About the guitars - this is one of the first times I really got into the X50 and really dig it. My ears were completely shot last night and I was putting beers down while tracking so by the time I started mixing I wasn't in the best shape. Going to take a bit of time with it again today.

 

[GearMan2point0]

Compression can definitely get you more snap broskie. If you happen to have waves Transx Multi Mono, then use that bitch, it really adds some crackin slap all over that snare. Or, compress using 5-8:1 ratio, with 50 atk, and 50 rel. That should give it some too.

I feel like I've totally hit a brick wall and simply cannot improve anymore.

Try mixing different genre's, it has always helped me. OR use shitty as samples, and make them sound good. It has always helped me understand how to really alter a sound. Like making the 14x24 kick in Superior/Avatar kit sound something from the Slate's library. It just takes a lot of compression (as a transient shaper) and using EQ. Using them both in a way that completely changes the sound of the kick. Just try doing stuff like that.

 

[bryan_kilco]

See, one thing I always get weird about is compression. If I do HUGE gain reduction, I get the awesome smack that I desire but then I'm absolutely destroying the snare track. I guess this is where parallel comp comes to help, but on this project I don't have it set up. Trying to get things sounding good with very minimal plugins.

Here's part of a song a tracked yesterday of my old, old band except I redid everything (programmed drums, guitars, "fake" bass) with the same SSD sampler that I used in the OP clip and just about the same guitar and bass chain as well. Any better?

I did about a 4-5 db cut at about 700HZ on the guitar bus as I noticed a weird resonant frequency about there, but it seriously altered my guitar tone....not sure for better or worse

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6443251/AOB/GutHer 2.mp3

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Honestly I think the only thing that's really holding you back is the levels. Imo the guitars are a tad quiet and the drums are a bit weird as far as balance (somethings too loud some too quiet.) I think the biggest thing is something to do with the guitars. They just aren't up front enough. I would say it has more to do with mic position and settings than anything. They don't dominate enough of the high end

 

[bryan_kilco]

Ok, so I originally did a bunch of cuts on the guitar bus to get rid of any annoying or fizzy freqs, and I think that's what killed the air and high end in them. I removed that EQ and left just the HP/LP one on the individual tracks and now the guitars are a bit more present. Also it seemed the snare had way too much low end thud in it so I tried to get rid of that.

Spent too much time on this and I have this problem where it starts getting late and I'm half drunk and stoned and I tend to keep on fucking with it, hoping to make it better, when I'm probably just destroying it. But this is what came from my drunk ears last night....

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6443251/AOB/GutHer remix 1.mp3

Better? Worse? I also went through and edited a bunch of the guitars and bass, even though I thought I originally played them pretty tight, I wanted to go for a super-tight thing but I'm not so sure it made a big difference

 

[bryan_kilco]

Brought home an SM57 and wanted to take a few practices at reamping because I've never done it (properly) before.

I basically have a shit amp to work with here at home but I didn't think the results were too bad. I got a weird amount of noise coming through the amp but I'm pretty sure it's because of the RCA to (stereo) 1/4" cable I have. And I do not have a reamp box, but I just wanted to see what would happen since I've heard plenty of stories about guys reamping without a reamp box.

Chain is:

DI (EMG 81) -> Fast Track Pro -> Fender Deluxe 90 -> SM57

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6443251/AOB/GutHer reamp test 1.mp3

One guitar is the real amp and one is the amp sim. I'm sure ya'll can guess which is which right off the bat. I really need to start doing this more often instead of using amp sims.

 

[WalhallaM]

Here is first sample with different master chain https://www.box.com/s/kqxuqe7inhxj97kt0fw2 ,I know that isn't correct way to do it but explain more than words . As Chris said snare should 'slammin' more and toms also,because of that you are leaving drums to loud in mix.Cymbals sound like they are behind drums,dead center,pan them and clear more .I like your guitar sound really good for sims.Also make everything loud as possible in mix,of course don't just put a limiter and slamm it,use compression ,saturation,limiting to get wanted sound and a couple db's.Hope this 'jibbering' of mine help somehow,but I feel same thing often,it's just a process of learning.

 

[bryan_kilco]

The problem I run into with the cymbals is that - the 2 crash cymbals dont have their own mixer channels inside SSD. But they are panned L/R and are on one stereo track.

Everything else (china, splash, hat, ride) are on their own channels and panned as the SSD player defaults them. Maybe I'll try panning these out more and see if that helps.

I think I just really need to drop the $ on a better sampler but I don't really "need" it right now.