Dirty sludge/stoner mix

Kevin Kitchel

Junior Muppet
Apr 14, 2002
271
1
18
44
Lansing, MI
www.somber.net
Here is a mix of a local band called Sowbelly that is going for an Eyehategod thing. All the reverb is actual room sound (recorded in the guitarists living room) and there is very little EQ or compression on the drums (and no triggers). The guitars are orange and laney through a 1960 mic'd with a 4038. The vocals are a Earthworks omni. Mixed in Logic!
 
I like the bass heavy sound but the whole mix sounds a bit distorted, possibly clipping? The left guitar definitely is fizzy/buzzy/distorting/clipping or something which is pretty annoying. I would eq those drums more too.
 
yeah, sounds really bad
sorry to come right out with it, but thats how i feel about it

Yeah I see how you could say that, however if this is supposed to be like stoner death then the vibe is right. Most albums in that genre would sound like this so the band is probably stoked. But it definitely isn't consistent with the tight, punchy sound we all are used to, then again I doubt that was the sound you were going for.

That being said....

The snare definitely needs some tweaking, it doesn't really stand out too much in the mix, maybe try mixing the original with a sample, if you can. The guitars are consistent with this genre so I wouldn't mess with those. The vocals could use some more presence. Is this mastered?
 
I appreciate the feedback guys! No, the mix isn't mastered. I e-mailed Sanford Parker about mastering it, but we shall see. I'd love to have Dave Shirk do it too. I put the vocals in the back seat (and to some degree, the drums) to make the guitars sound really big. I'm not really thrilled with the idea of mixing a sample in to the snare, and like I said, it was not mixed to be drum driven like Nevermore or something else polished. I am very open to non-triggering suggestions for it.
 
Yeah I see how you could say that, however if this is supposed to be like stoner death then the vibe is right.

The vibe is right, but the guitars are too clippy, and even for the doomiest of doom, that is a bit too bassy. Or maybe it's the bassiness making the rest of it get all clippy? The toms are distorting, as well, aren't they?

I know Logic does that to me sometimes when I got too much low end.
:zombie:
 
wow. the amount of bass is rediculous, maybe try multiband compressing it? Try routing the drums to a an aux track and add a distortion plug in there, I recommend camel audio's camel crusher(maybe not overheads though). They need a bit more brutality!

Try cutting from 150-400 on the bass, It sounds like the problem is somewhere there...

btw. is the guitars a big muff with the sustain on near zero? :)
 
The vibe is right, but the guitars are too clippy, and even for the doomiest of doom, that is a bit too bassy. Or maybe it's the bassiness making the rest of it get all clippy? The toms are distorting, as well, aren't they?

I know Logic does that to me sometimes when I got too much low end.
:zombie:

The toms shouldn't be clipping, and all the guitars are all tube clipping. I used a hotplate to cook the tubes in the Orange and the Laney. The mix is done for vinyl, so there is no compression/limiting on the mix bus, and its pretty quiet. In my opinion, its just dirty, not clipped out in a bad way. And once again, thanks for the feedback. And if you think this is too bassy, check out Buried At Sea, which was one of the references for the mix.

Also, is shaawano.com your site? Interesting stuff in the intellectual section!
 
the main point of that kind of music is not only the music - but the sound itself too

when you hear the sound of band you can say what is it
this sound is eyehategodish so i can say thats sludge)

and i really love that sound - when it's too clear there will not be that thing...

Shifty records - great label heh
wish i was a guy from fistula) haha

and once again - great sound - i'll buy this vinyl 100%)

is this is an 7" EP?
 
"One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure"

I think it sounds pretty good and the vibe is definately right. I'd try to add a bit compression to the drums to make them breathe and punch just a bit more. Compared to Burial at Sea this is lacking depth a bit. Everything is trying to be upfront. I'd also try adding reverb (room) to the room mics. I think Keessi made a good point about the bass. Anyways... it sounds pretty good as it is.

I did a demo for a local stoner/metal band a year ago and I know that some of the guys in the band wanted to go for that ultra raw sound, but me and the vocalist decided that it could sound a bit more polished. I think it came out ok (http://www.myspace.com/swordsofmars). Next time we'll propably go for a bit more raw sound.
 
The toms shouldn't be clipping, and all the guitars are all tube clipping. I used a hotplate to cook the tubes in the Orange and the Laney. The mix is done for vinyl, so there is no compression/limiting on the mix bus, and its pretty quiet. In my opinion, its just dirty, not clipped out in a bad way. And once again, thanks for the feedback. And if you think this is too bassy, check out Buried At Sea, which was one of the references for the mix.

Also, is shaawano.com your site? Interesting stuff in the intellectual section!

Cool link.

It would have to be quiet for vinyl with that much bass, sure. I get it.

And, yeah, I really need to update my site :erk:
 
The lathe is not gonna like all that bass.

Cathedral's "The Ethereal Mirror" is a great sounding stoner record. So is Kyuss' "Welcome To Sky Valley". Don't know about that Buried At Sea stuff...:ill:
 
I think in the hope of making it sound very true to the whole sludge/stoner vibe you may have left it all a bit too unprocessed.

I'd perhaps look into referencing off Isis' 'Celestial' a bit. The room sound needs to be large enough to work for the drums... I'd play around with a few plate verbs, add a bit to the snare, maybe add some to the room, slam the living hell out of the room... hell, slam the living hell out of everything. Make sure the low-end elements have slow release times to give that compressor pumping sound.

Those are just my suggestions anyway!