Favorite Sneap Mix?

[MR NINE]

Testament - "The Gathering" or Nevermore "DHIDW"?!
Damn I'm feelin' like the dog from "The Mask" (movie) trying to make an option in the middle of the bridge! (He, he, he!)
Hummm...

 

[metalgod77]

Hey all!
My first post and I've gotta go with Dead Heart! It's the album that introduced me to the incredible Andy Sneap.
The Gathering, Violent Revolution, Wages Of Sin and Anthems all sound pretty damn good to my ears too!
Too bad Maiden or Priest haven't given this guy a chance yet.
BTW, is it true he's remixing/remastering Enemies Of Reality? I hope so because it needs it!

 

[metalgod77]

And how could I forget First Strike Still Deadly?
Too many to choose from!

 

[marcust]

fozzy happenstance

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin
Nevemore - DHIADW

 

[SickBoy]

Too bad Maiden or Priest haven't given this guy a chance yet.

I doubt they would want him, based on his former clients...
He did mostly much heavier bands, but I suppose he'd like that option, to do something which demands a different approach, a less heavy and more classic sound.

 

[dbrax]

i would say both killswitch records, both arch enemy records, stamppin' ground, hell just a bout anything he has done has givin' him his own sound, which i have focused on as a basic idea for mine. thanx andy. by the way i am finishing up a record for a friend of mr. james murphy (DEVIANT/ mike rizzo) let me know what you think. d. braxton henry

 

[dbrax]

check out the first 2 tracks if you will. they are streamed lame, but this is typical me. thanx, d. braxton henry

 

[dbrax]

www.altsounds.com opps.

 

[James Murphy]

i would say both killswitch records, both arch enemy records, stamppin' ground, hell just a bout anything he has done has givin' him his own sound, which i have focused on as a basic idea for mine. thanx andy. by the way i am finishing up a record for a friend of mr. james murphy (DEVIANT/ mike rizzo) let me know what you think. d. braxton henry

hi dbrax... mike called me just yesterday for some advice on mixing.. specifically he felt his lead tracks were too dry. i'll repeat my suggestion to him here just in case he didn't understand fully... you can read it directly instead of having it filtered through mike's memory banks...

create a new aux channel and set up a delay plug set at 100% wet mix on one of it's insert points.

choose an unused bus pair as the input source for that aux channel.

go to each of the solo tracks and set up their channel's Sends to ouput through the same bus you set up for the delay/aux's inputs. set the Sends ouput controls on each of the lead channels to send just a little bit of the solo over to the delay at all times... just a subtle amount, to taste.. go easy as it will be present all the time.....

then change the outputs of each lead/solo channel to output through yet another unused bus pair.

create another aux channel and set it's input to the same bus pair you chose in the last step.... you've created a "lead guitar group" .

on your new lead guitar group channel set the sends to output to the delay aux channel created in the first step. turn the send control up until you hear a nice, tasteful, but much less subtle delay than what you set up on the individual solo channels. then mute the send.....

now just put the lead guitar group channel in automation record mode and play the track through the solo... unmuting the send on key notes at the ends of phrases... and any longer sustained notes regardless of where they are in the phrase...

when you are done you will have a nice delay on the ends of phrases and on key longer notes... that doesn't clutter up the rest of the solo... and the subtle delay that is on the whole time will give the solo a nice ambient delay that will make it sound more alive... add a touch of reverb as well if you like, but be, you guessed it....subtle.

be sure to take the channel out of automation record mode and you can then change the actual send level to taste as you listen back.

you could also record dynamic moves with the Send fader/knob if that's your preference and/or you need different delay levels on different notes.

i hope that helps and wasn't insultingly basic for you. good luck on the recording, i'm sure mike will send it my way as soon as it's done.

 

[dbrax]

i will try and remember that. if i can print it out, i will. i think the printer ran out of ink half way through. hehe, just kidding. thanx 4 the input. it just nice talking 2 one of my favorite "MUSICIANS" of all times. d. braxton henry

 

[dbrax]

try this play lo-bitrate (mp3) (dial-up)
download lo-bitrate (2.07 MB)
if it does not work, screw it i suck @ this computer stuff. d. braxton henry

 

[dbrax]

yep, its official, i suck @ computers. d. braxton henry

 

[Ermz]

Well Mr James Murphy just gave perfectly good advice on how to get something so seemingly miniscule in a recording to shine in a professional way, and it took me many minutes to wrap my head around it all because I never go into that much detail on my home recordings! Much to be learned yet...

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

There is a few ways of doing that thing, but James just outlined the best way and everyone should make a note.

 

[metalgod77]

I doubt they would want him, based on his former clients...
He did mostly much heavier bands, but I suppose he'd like that option, to do something which demands a different approach, a less heavy and more classic sound.

I really enjoyed Maidens Dance Of Death but always thought it sounded a bit muddy. Can you imagine if Andy got his hands on something like that.
Thank god Priest got Roy Z. though. Another one of my favs.
Bruce Dickinsons Accident Of Birth and Chemical Wedding sound incredible! As does Tree's Downsizing The American Dream. (Boston band that Roy produced back in the late '90's.)

 

[Lykanthrope]

I like the mix on Stuck Mojo's 'Declaration of a Headhunter'....

RD

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

D E A D H E A R T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no questions asked, hands down, amen, brothers, best production ever!! pass the cheesey-poofs, and I'll mess with Texas all I want.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

hi dbrax... mike called me just yesterday for some advice on mixing.. specifically he felt his lead tracks were too dry. i'll repeat my suggestion to him here just in case he didn't understand fully... you can read it directly instead of having it filtered through mike's memory banks...

create a new aux channel and set up a delay plug set at 100% wet mix on one of it's insert points.

choose an unused bus pair as the input source for that aux channel.

go to each of the solo tracks and set up their channel's Sends to ouput through the same bus you set up for the delay/aux's inputs. set the Sends ouput controls on each of the lead channels to send just a little bit of the solo over to the delay at all times... just a subtle amount, to taste.. go easy as it will be present all the time.....

then change the outputs of each lead/solo channel to output through yet another unused bus pair.

create another aux channel and set it's input to the same bus pair you chose in the last step.... you've created a "lead guitar group" .

on your new lead guitar group channel set the sends to output to the delay aux channel created in the first step. turn the send control up until you hear a nice, tasteful, but much less subtle delay than what you set up on the individual solo channels. then mute the send.....

now just put the lead guitar group channel in automation record mode and play the track through the solo... unmuting the send on key notes at the ends of phrases... and any longer sustained notes regardless of where they are in the phrase...

when you are done you will have a nice delay on the ends of phrases and on key longer notes... that doesn't clutter up the rest of the solo... and the subtle delay that is on the whole time will give the solo a nice ambient delay that will make it sound more alive... add a touch of reverb as well if you like, but be, you guessed it....subtle.

be sure to take the channel out of automation record mode and you can then change the actual send level to taste as you listen back.

you could also record dynamic moves with the Send fader/knob if that's your preference and/or you need different delay levels on different notes.

i hope that helps and wasn't insultingly basic for you. good luck on the recording, i'm sure mike will send it my way as soon as it's done.

What did you just say?

 

[vile_ator]

I like the same Nevermore and Testment albums that you guys all like too. Great to consider how they are both so good yet one was recorded in a room the size of a bathroom on 16 bit adat's and the other was done at The Village. Just goes to show again, how technique over rides all else.

Also thanks the James for the complex but cool tricks on bussing efx. Will use if I can remember all that!

About triggering again. Here are some things Im going to try next time.

Get my bass drum samples from the real kick. Use it alone or mixed with another sample. But when I get my kick samples, Ill record a ton of hits and just use 2 that are almost exactly the same. The low end has to be exactly the same but the attack sound could be just a hair different. Use those 2 in random. This will just add a bit of realism to the kicks but not change the way it works in the mix.

The same thing goes for toms. I agree with Andy that clarity is a little more important than realism. But why not just mix 2 samples that are just a hair different. Last night I recorded some tom hits and just kept 2. One had a slightly clickier sound, and in Drumagog I got it to be the loud hit and the other to be the softer hits. The amplitude of both samples was the same though. Seems like its going to work.

I have heard of doing the Andy trick of re-eq'ing and changing volume for the fast parts but the death metal I record is almost all fast parts so I will do that for the slow parts.

Also I busted out the old DM5 and did some comparisons between those toms and the Ddrum toms that I have in my Ddrum 4 brain. I have already gone to their website and picked up the best samples I could find. And really, compared to the Alesis ones, they suck. They sound real. And they have different velocities but they are all jazzy. The Alesis ones are super compressed and eq'd which is what we want. I'm going to check out the D4.

Colin