Death/Metalcore - DFH Superio 2.0, Gearbox, TonePort UX2, Mixing/Mastering-advice

[dcb]

Hey everyone!

this is daniel, i'm new here in terms of posting stuff.
i have actually learned a lot from this place only by reading here for years, so now i think its time to give something back and start sharing my output
if you have questions just ask!
and i'd appreciate your comments on the mix and master !!

UPDATED snare mix/master

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=885205&songID=7234726

about the song:

this is a recording i did with a little death/metalcore band from hamburg, germany. they are still young, so please don't judge too hard on there
playing and writing skills, hehe

some notes on the production:

- guitars >> ESP LTD, Line 6 Gearbox Treadplate Model , SM 57 On Axis V30 Voxengo Curve EQ matching the sound of Gojiras latest album, to get some more clarity and presence >> Quad Tracked >> C4 Multiband Compression keeping the mid-lows in place without reducing too much >> Slight Rvox Compression (works actually great on guitars.. i didnt know that) / Gate on Group

- bass >> Warwick 5 String Thumb Bass played with pick, Line 6 Gearbox Rock Classic , BX 8x10, Tube 47 Far, with the Low Mids ALL THE WAY UP

- vocals >> Beyerdynamic Opus 89 into TonePort UX 2 ,
add tracks: copied Main Track to left and right, low cut 500 Hz, pitch shifted Left +30 Cent and Right -15 Cent, added some slight chorus, lots and lots of Compression (Rvox, URS 1970)

- drums >> DFH Superior 2.0, Drumagog : Custom Snare Sample to give the snare a lot more presence, Kick Sample was one i found on this forum called "cradle of filth"

Mastering :

- 7,5 db RMS seemed to be enough although i know some of the bands in that genre go for - 6 db... , Waves C4 for the low end compression, Oxford Inflator (Effect 60%), Voxengo Elephant Brickwall limiting EL adding 2 + 3 db , mastering to -0.3 db headroom to prevent cheap cd players from clipping

further notes:

As i was always a fan of a nice "fat" low end in the bass guitar (around 60 Hz), i discovered bands like all shall perish leave the low end exclusively for the kick, while the bass is heavily occupied in the 120-160hz region. so i tried that very clean low end and it helped a lot for pushing the master as loud as it is.

well i hope you like it, maybe tell me what you think about it esp. the low end! do you think i overmastered this piece?

thanks alot guys!
i totally love this forum!

cheers, danny

 

[Pxz]

Sounds nice dude , i feel the snare need less room sound i guess ? The kick is very direct and sounds nice in the mix, you need a matching snare to fit the "ambience" . Vocals sounds killer , impressive voice for a teenager thats for sure.
Could you post the gojira curve eq ? i`ll love to try that

 

[dcb]

thanks dude !

yeah, that guy is like 1,50 m tall :-D very funny but impressive at the same time when you see him perform live.

do you think snare needs more smack? i see that the mastering was
a little too much , the transients of the snare seem toooo destroyed,
i have to fix that.

i actually have different curve eq blueprints, there you go:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8pw2kg

i tweak them to my likings, but its always a good starting point!
tried to name the files close to what they actually played on the recordings i took the blueprints from. for ex. trempicking = tremolo picking on higher notes.

hope their useful! i think gojira used jackson guitars, peavey 5150, sm 57 on axis...

 

[Morgan C]

This sounds really good. I think the kick is too loud, especially the click part of it. The snare sounds really good but, as Pxz said, it doesn't really fit.

edit: the guitar on the right sounds a lot meatier than the one on the left.

 

[dcb]

@morgoe : is it the room / reverb on the snare you don't like, or is it more of the character that you think is not suitable for that song? i thought such a "fat and not so ringy" type of snares would match the "slowness" of the song ?

@narcossintese : hehe, thx!

 

[Deadstar]

Great job dude!

I'd work on the speech when the singer says "i will make you suffer, i will make you cry" though

 

[dcb]

@ deadstar : thx alot!
do you mean i should "autotune" the german accent , harhar :-D

 

[Morgan C]

@morgoe : is it the room / reverb on the snare you don't like, or is it more of the character that you think is not suitable for that song? i thought such a "fat and not so ringy" type of snares would match the "slowness" of the song ?

I simply meant that it doesnt fit because the kick is really direct, and the cymbals are all from overheads, while the snare had a lot of room sound. Either everything has to have room sound or nothing. It fits much better now. I would still lower the kick, or at least the click of it. Love the sound of it but its much too loud especially during the double bass bit.

Was that a tom at 3:20?! ;p Maybe make it pop out a bit more.

 

[anestic]

Good fucking soong and i love the mix,,what version of voxengo eq you use,,,the pressent you chare dont work 4 mee

 

[lordtech]

FUCK DUDE!! i like th vocals!! real killer!! mind sharing the vocal miixing? \m/

 

[dcb]

FUCK DUDE!! i like th vocals!! real killer!! mind sharing the vocal miixing? m/

its actually only 1 track panned center >> used waves rvox for heavy compression + stereo delay (500ms left, ms 400 right) (5 % << yes i use it as an insert ...) + even more compression, so delay is being ducked a little, when the vocalist "sings"

2 more tracks were just a copy of the Main Track , panned hard left and right, low cut 500 Hz, pitch shifted Left +30 Cent and Right -15 Cent, added some slight chorus, lots and lots of Compression (Rvox, URS 1970)

so you get a very "wide" sounding vocalsound that sits perfectly in the mix, without pushing the levels too high!

i wouldnt recommend it for "clean" singing tho...

hope that helps..

 

[anestic]

Thx dude..can you sen me the DFHsup2 pressent ?