Anyone else unhappy with there mixing/recording?
- Thread starter broken81
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smy1
Member
It's very often down to mindset and ear experience. I have rarely ever met anyone who does good or great mixes after doing it for 2-5 years. It's like your ears need the training year-in and year-out. For me, I clearly didn't hear a lot of things in the first 5-10 years of recording, simply because I had no clue what to listen for ...
Three books have helped me immensely when it came to mixing:
a) The Mixing Engineers Handbook (Bobby Owsinski):
Great overview, good advice from top-professionals and nice stories
b) Mixing With Your Mind (Michael Stavrou):
Hands down the best book on organizing your mixing (I never tried any of his recording tips, but if they are as good as his mixing tips, they must be KILLER)
c) The Art Of Mixing (David Gibson):
VERY good at teaching the visualisation of sounds in the soundfield.
Try and get your hand on all of these books (they are all completely worth their price) and read them in that order: a, c, b
This might be exactly what you need right now, as it sounds like you got all the tech you need, but it's a mental/ear thing for you atm.
Three books have helped me immensely when it came to mixing:
a) The Mixing Engineers Handbook (Bobby Owsinski):
Great overview, good advice from top-professionals and nice stories
b) Mixing With Your Mind (Michael Stavrou):
Hands down the best book on organizing your mixing (I never tried any of his recording tips, but if they are as good as his mixing tips, they must be KILLER)
c) The Art Of Mixing (David Gibson):
VERY good at teaching the visualisation of sounds in the soundfield.
Try and get your hand on all of these books (they are all completely worth their price) and read them in that order: a, c, b
This might be exactly what you need right now, as it sounds like you got all the tech you need, but it's a mental/ear thing for you atm.
TheStoryteller
Member
HeadCrusher
Member
HeadCrusher
Member
Can recommend the Mix Engineers Handbook.....I read that at work last week while I was supposed to be reviewing some god-awful piece of finance law! 
Inspiring stuff.
Inspiring stuff.
smy1
Member
yea i feel i need some ear training and i really don't know what to listen for honestly on things. I try to make it sound good and mimic other mixes but i really need something more to help and these books look like a good starting point. I know the ear thing comes with time but till then i will read as much as i can and try and take it all in!!
SocialNumb
Damn Christians!
+1 The Mixing Engineers Handbook is awesome! I read it over & over all the time. Don't be to hard on your self. I used to always feel I'm not doing good enough to point where I actually just gave up for a while. Get out of the studio go enjoy your self & get some fresh ears. Room treatment IMO is a must. For some DIY & how and where to treat go here.
http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/24/page/1
Good Luck!
http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/24/page/1
Good Luck!
HeadCrusher
Member
Radd
Self Portrait
I moved it here.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=274582
It does sound good but yes it could sound even better.
A few quick things:
Quad tracked? If not, try that. And..
Bass guitar direct in? If not, try it and blend it with the original bass track.
I prefer a snare with more pop/bite and kick a little fatter.
I may not know what I'm talking about here but it seems like it could use more limiting to make the mix more in your face and punchy.
You should post a longer clip or full song so we can really analyze it.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=274582
It does sound good but yes it could sound even better.
A few quick things:
Quad tracked? If not, try that. And..
Bass guitar direct in? If not, try it and blend it with the original bass track.
I prefer a snare with more pop/bite and kick a little fatter.
I may not know what I'm talking about here but it seems like it could use more limiting to make the mix more in your face and punchy.
You should post a longer clip or full song so we can really analyze it.
cool thanx yea my friend used a guitar through a sansamp for bass and i pitch-shifted down but it sounded horrible almost like it was pumping. I really tried to hide bass cause its bad when i try and bring up in mix makes your face go.
Yea its 4 tracks on guitar
2 tracks mic on axis
2 tracks mic of axis
I panned 2 on axis 100% left and right
and other 2 of axis panned 79% left and right.
Ive really been struggling with snare and how to get it really to sound like a snare and not ubber crap and so far even with mixing samples and everything I'm not even a little happy with my snare sound and i just can't get nothing that seems usable.
.Yea its 4 tracks on guitar
2 tracks mic on axis
2 tracks mic of axis
I panned 2 on axis 100% left and right
and other 2 of axis panned 79% left and right.
Ive really been struggling with snare and how to get it really to sound like a snare and not ubber crap and so far even with mixing samples and everything I'm not even a little happy with my snare sound and i just can't get nothing that seems usable.
Radd
Self Portrait
Wait a minute. You said you used the clayman 2 mic method. So even though you have 4 tracks, you only recorded 2? Try recording 2 more tracks with or without the clayman method. ('with' totaling 8 tracks, 'without' totaling 6 tracks)
Also before you do that, for the heck of it, pan 2 tracks around 60% or 65% instead of 79% to fill up some space that the bass isn't doing and see how that sounds.
Have you tried replacing the snare all together or just blending samples with it? Tried Andy's snare sample?
As far as the bass, instead of buying new monitors, I would buy a halfway descent bass or bass software or a better harmonizer.
I'd look on ebay for a bass though.
Oh, and new strings would help a whole lot also.
Every little thing adds up.
Also before you do that, for the heck of it, pan 2 tracks around 60% or 65% instead of 79% to fill up some space that the bass isn't doing and see how that sounds.
Have you tried replacing the snare all together or just blending samples with it? Tried Andy's snare sample?
As far as the bass, instead of buying new monitors, I would buy a halfway descent bass or bass software or a better harmonizer.
I'd look on ebay for a bass though.
Oh, and new strings would help a whole lot also.
Every little thing adds up.
Loren Littlejohn
Lover of all boobage.
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