Does this mix need anything?

[DIOBOLIC5150]

Hey guys,
Tear this apart and tell me what it needs. I personally hate it and want to start over but I figured I'd get some opinions from other people who do this shit better than I do (before I totally can the whole thing). So here it is... It's the first song on the list called "Eligy for a Friend". The other song on there is old and has already been judged.

http://www.hxcmp3.com/bands/13325/

*excuse the sloppy guitar work*

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Is it me or are the clean guitars in the beginning out of tune? Other than that, I think it sounds good. Well, there's some massive clipping 2/3 the way through, of course. The song is effing awesome tho.

Musically, I think the rapid transitions from clean to heavy guitars are a little too abrupt. You could easily fix that with say a guitar feedback fade in to the heavy part, for maybe the 5 seconds leading into it.

Like I said, I think it sounds good. The biggest problem IMHO is with the cymbals. Did you get too much room in the overheads? They don't bite like I'd want them too. Also, I think you might be able to find better mic placement...Let me ask you--the other track you have posted up there, were the guitars recorded with the same set up? They sound better on Triumph. Granted, that's coming from me, who still hasn't got the guitar mic placement thing down haha!

Really, I think the vocals are going to make it or break it anyway. Curse you for not including them. That's what's gonna carry the song.

I would definitely record it over and focus on getting the overheads sounding better as well as the guitar mic...AND THAT'S NOT SLOPPY GUITAR WORK!!

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

Thanks for all that!

The guitars in the intro are slightly out of tune. I did that on purpose to add a dreary feel to it. Maybe I went too far. The cliiping is because of the lead track. Something must have happend when recording it.

The overheads are too far away, you're right about those. As for the guitar sound, I am still trying to work out the mic placement. It's kinda hard because I use a Randall 2x12 1x15 cabinet. It sounds killer "live" but it records horribly. For the record, the guitar tone on "Triumph" was recorded using a PODxt. People make fun of those all the time but they proove themselves in the hands of somebody who knows how to use it.

I would like to add vocals but we don't have a vocalist! I play guitar and I hate to sing.

Thanks for the input. It's back to the drawing board (mixing board) for sure.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Just listened through headphones... I agree with everything GGI said (so, what's the point in posting anyway... ?) Though the transitions between clean and heavy guitars don't bother me too much... I like the music, has some Opeth influences to it ;-)

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

Is this any better?

http://www.hxcmp3.com/bands/13325/

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Yeap I think you've improved it ! As far as global equalization goes, I'd lower the high frequencies a bit (around -3db over 2K) and slightly boost the middle range (1 or 2 db between 500 and 2K). You're getting very close ! Good work ! I'd just say that one of your cymbal is too much on the right side to be totally honest (at 1:10 or 2:19 especially) ;-) I'm not a big fan of the two kicks not being centered, it's too distractive (listening through headphones), and putting some reverb on them is a bit risky. Btw, where did you take the kick and snare samples from ? I like the snare a lot !

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Problem: Elegy*

Fixed.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Yeah that's definitely better...What did you do with the cymbals? Different reverb and boosting some high frequencies?...Cut some lows out of the guitars?....And I agree with Brett, the global highs could be lowered a little.

": I'm starting to hate this song"

If it makes you feel better, it sounds better than anything on St Anger, our scapegoat bitch, yes, you are my bitch m-------! Sorry, I'm still upset about Load.

 

[zenx]

Hey, I think the song's really good. The only part I feel is missing something is the clean parts, I don't know, it doesn't sound full enough, the rest is great.

This was a real drummer? How many guitar tracks? What amps are these?

The mixing is good too, but I agree that the cymbals don't hold it together enough, they sound too much like separate hits, and not like one blasting kit.

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

The biggest problem with this song is definitely the cymbals. They just aren't sitting right in the mix. I think maybe I need to bring the overheads closer in and try to get more attack out of them. They are just to "distant" all together. The drum track is all up in your face, and the cymbals sound like they're in another room. I think it's maybe time to redo the drum track... possibly everything. I don't think I have the cab mic'd quite right.
Brett, I mixed the drummers Yamaha stage kit with the "5 minutes alone" kick, and the snare is just his snare.. it's some all wood, custom thing. It just sounds badass. I added some reverb to it. I compressed it hard though, it wanted to overpower the entire mix (partly the drummer's fault).

The amp used was a Randall Warhead on the left, and a Randall RH200g2 on the right. The cab was a 2x12 1x15 Randall cab with a 12 and a 15 mic'd at the same time. Total pain in the ass but it sounds OK. There are two guitar tracks for the distorted parts, three for the shitty clean parts.

Thanks for all the input guys. I probably would have just killed this song without it. I'm still pretty new to this shit, so all the knowledge really helps. I guess we'll give it another whirl on the drums, maybe the guitar too. If get frustrated enough, I may even yell into a mic. All for the love of music. haha.

 

[Frank'nfurter]

Try to mix the Cymbals a little closer in the mix. And don't spread them so much in the stereo image. It sounds very unnatural when you hear a cymbal hard left or right. A good deal maybe would be a fast compression on 'em with a hard and fast attack, a ratio of 4:1 and a relese time of maybe 80ms.
Btw: Give a little bit compression and chorus like effekt on the leading accoustic guitars. Makes it lesser piezo sounding.

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

"Makes it lesser piezo sounding."

They are piezo acoustic guitars. If I add chorus it would take that piezo sound away (which is the sound that was intended anyway).

I think you nailed it perfect regarding the cymbals. The panning gives it too much space to corrupt the rest of the mix. I'll keep that in mind when I redo the drum track.
I decided to just start over because all the mics were just plain in the wrong place.
Thanks!