First Mix Ever (Metal/Progressive)

Teacher

Teacher

New Metal Member
Jun 10, 2016
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What's up dudes! This is my first post on the forum. I just bought my first bundle of recording software a few weeks ago & I wanted to see if you guys would listen to my mix & give me some pointers on getting a better sound.

I found this cool band Karhu that posted some DI tracks here on Ultimate Metal: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/mix-my-bands-album-for-fun.880355/#post10635613

Check out that thread if you haven't seen it. There's a whole album worth of stems they're giving away for us to practice with! Sweet! Thanks Karhu! :)

Anyway, check it out & give me some pointers. Thanks!

 
For a first mix, I think its awesome man congrats :) The cymbals are giving away the fact that they are midi (and the snare a bit) but cymbals from drum machines are a pain in the ass as I see it. Maybe better samples can solve this but im too inexperienced right now to say for sure. Anyways really cool mix for start :)
As far as the hi-hat is concerned though, toying around with velocities and automated volume can make it a little more realistic
 
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Thanks for the reply! Yeah, cymbals are the worst! hahaha! I think I'll have to look into quantizing them.
 
Phil_ocean said:
For a first mix, I think its awesome man congrats :) The cymbals are giving away the fact that they are midi (and the snare a bit) but cymbals from drum machines are a pain in the ass as I see it. Maybe better samples can solve this but im too inexperienced right now to say for sure. Anyways really cool mix for start :)
As far as the hi-hat is concerned though, toying around with velocities and automated volume can make it a little more realistic
Click to expand...

Good call on the cymbals. I increased the Voice & Layer Limit in Superior Drummer & it helped dramatically. I'm reading up on Quantizing the cymbals now. I talked to Jamie King a while back & he recommended doing it on MIDI Drum recordings. Thanks again!

All critiques & recording tips welcome! Thanks guys!
 
Here's a new mix I just finished. Evanescence - Bring Me To Life. I think this one came out pretty good. I'm gonna take a listen when I wake up but I'm pretty sure it's the best I've done so far. It's also the first mix I've done with vocals.

 
Hey dude, the female vocals need Dsing somewhere between 10-15k I think. And I dont like the drums so much on this one :/ They need to be somewhat bigger. More thick and more powerful I think and more balanced (overheads and hi hat are a bit too loud compared to the rest of the kit). And I think its lacking low end, probably because the bass is low volumewise. Finally I think the male vocals are a bit dry and they seem to me as if they are a bit isolated from the rest of the mix and the guitars are a little low volumewise. Thats only my opinion of course.
 
Phil_ocean said:
Hey dude, the female vocals need Dsing somewhere between 10-15k I think. And I dont like the drums so much on this one :/ They need to be somewhat bigger. More thick and more powerful I think and more balanced (overheads and hi hat are a bit too loud compared to the rest of the kit). And I think its lacking low end, probably because the bass is low volumewise. Finally I think the male vocals are a bit dry and they seem to me as if they are a bit isolated from the rest of the mix and the guitars are a little low volumewise. Thats only my opinion of course.
Click to expand...

I agree that the low end sounds too weak. I guess that's what happens when you mix all day & night for several days in a row. lol! I've decided to take a break & let my ears get back to normal.

The male & female vocals are on the same track so I can't do anything individually. They were already mixed & mastered.

As for the drums... I bought The Rock Warehouse SDX a few days ago & tried it out. It's not really supposed to be a balls to the walls Metal sounding kit. I figured it would be good for a band like Evanescence. I added triggers over the Kick & Snare (Andy Sneap Gog's). I also ran 2 drum busses, compressed one & sent the snare & toms to a Reverb bus. I think I may have over-compressed the second bus though. I also agree about the hats & overhead being too loud. I brought the levels down in my latest mix.

I listened to the original album recording & the drums aren't really that up front in the mix. They definitely have the vocals in your face though. I have a better mix now but I'm gonna wait a few days to finish it up.
 
I dont remember the drums on the original song, but I think they need to be a little bigger not so much in front. Mostly the snare (like more snap but keep its body too), im waiting for the next one :)
 
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Phil_ocean said:
I dont remember the drums on the original song, but I think they need to be a little bigger not so much in front. Mostly the snare (like more snap but keep its body too), im waiting for the next one :)
Click to expand...

What do you think about this one? Remember, the male & female vocs & the background synth strings are on the same track so I can't do anything individually to those tracks.


EDIT: Well crap... SoundCloud deleted my track. Ugh...
 
Teacher said:
What do you think about this one? Remember, the male & female vocs & the background synth strings are on the same track so I can't do anything individually to those tracks.


EDIT: Well crap... SoundCloud deleted my track. Ugh...
Click to expand...

Yea :/ Well as far as vocals are concerned, you could automate the effects when the male kicks in but it will a pain in the ass when they sing together :p

EDIT: I just saw the synths are also in the same track with the vocals.. RIP :p
 
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