'First' mix on budget gear, need advice/critique

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FredSpooner

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Jun 4, 2008
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Hey dudes, I think this is only my 3rd post but believe me I've been reading and reading and attempting to absorb so much advice on this forum over the last year or so...So firstly thanks to everybody who contributes such useful advice. Hopefully in the future I can return the favour!

Anyways, over the summer my band and I have been writing, demoing and pre-producing an album, well, i guess it's more of a 11-track demo due to the fairly low-end gear we've been forced to use due to lack of money/jobs/label interest etc etc..

This is the first track we want to put out on teh interwebz so that we can revive some interest in the band (we've been on a LONG live hiatus, a couple of gigs but far and few between tbh). I guess you could call it my first 'real' mix attempt, as I think it's the first mix that I've attempted where I really sat down, LISTENED, and THOUGHT about every process, change, and tweak I was making and how it affected the mix. I mixed down to stereo and added some subtle EQ/multiband comp/limiter to bring up the levels (i didn't make the n00b error of trying to limit digital clipping, I had loads of headroom before doing this!)

I could blab on about how I did the mix, but I'll let you guys listen, please please tell me what you think! any suggestions, ideas, etc.

If anybody's got any specific Q's, fire away.

Cheers dudes!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1002609&songID=8243030
 
I think the biggest improvement needed is on the drums. They are not quite as punchy as they need to be. I am really not liking that kick either. It has a little too much "splat". Maybe try using a different kick sample with more punch. This kick sounds like the stock kick on Superior 2.0. Snare sounds okay but isn't huge sounding! Maybe try compressing the snare a little bit to get some more attack out of it and getting it popping a little more. I think that the tone itself of the snare fits the song and style well though. Overheads could be a lot louder.

I also think the clean guitars could sound a little more wet with reverb or something to make them sound a little less dry. You could also automate this reverb to make more for the bigger parts or something.

Also the vocals could go up a bit.

Great song though this is just me being a little picky.
 
PostMortem1666 said:
I think the biggest improvement needed is on the drums. They are not quite as punchy as they need to be. I am really not liking that kick either. It has a little too much "splat". Maybe try using a different kick sample with more punch. This kick sounds like the stock kick on Superior 2.0. Snare sounds okay but isn't huge sounding! Maybe try compressing the snare a little bit to get some more attack out of it and getting it popping a little more. I think that the tone itself of the snare fits the song and style well though. Overheads could be a lot louder.

I also think the clean guitars could sound a little more wet with reverb or something to make them sound a little less dry. You could also automate this reverb to make more for the bigger parts or something.

Also the vocals could go up a bit.

Great song though this is just me being a little picky.
Click to expand...

By all means be picky! That's what I'm after really heh!

Unfortunately I don't have the full sample library of DFH but I'm seriously considering just ordering the full version...I'm not massively keen on the kick sound either haha!

I'll try some parallel comp. with the kick to see if i can bring it out more, or maybe il just pull all the faders down and bring everything up around the kick again.. it sounded pretty good when I started just got lost when I was trying to tighten up the low end.

I'm re-tracking some stuff tonight but I'll have another crack at the mix in the next couple of days..
 
BUMP.

A friend hooked me up with the Metal Foundry expansion, so I'm going to do a new mix. I did do a quick rough one but everything got smashed... back to square one...Thanks for the help guys, more notes/tips are DEFINITELY welcome :)
 
Dude, I know your band. I used to be in Vanity Kills from Reading... This sounds fucking cool man! Snare is a touch weedy at the moment, I don't think eq will fix it but a room sample might fill it out nicely. Really like this tune man, great job on the songwriting.
 
AEL89 said:
Dude, I know your band. I used to be in Vanity Kills from Reading... This sounds fucking cool man! Snare is a touch weedy at the moment, I don't think eq will fix it but a room sample might fill it out nicely. Really like this tune man, great job on the songwriting.
Click to expand...

Oh that's awesome! Glad to hear it man, thanks a bunch :)

I think my snare level just literally isn't loud enough right now, we've got an A&R thing tomorrow so I've gotta have a sampler CD ready, which means will probably have a 'final' mix done by tonight.
 
Hmmm... Uni seems to have taken all my time up lately... Just an update if anyone's interested, I'm working on a couple new tracks/mixes, will probably start a new thread when I'm done with them!
 
It sounds really pretty good dude! What did you use for the guitar sound? also, check out my thread about my mix dudes, I really want to improve the sound and need the advice, its called something like "i need you advice dudes" I rushed when I made it and made the spelling mistake :(
 
muckypup1 said:
It sounds really pretty good dude! What did you use for the guitar sound? also, check out my thread about my mix dudes, I really want to improve the sound and need the advice, its called something like "i need you advice dudes" I rushed when I made it and made the spelling mistake :(
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I've just posted a better mix of a new song over here - http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/rate-my-mix-tone-threads/544719-new-album-mix-better-than-last-one.html

I used Guitar Rig 3 (yuckyuckYUCK) for the guitar tones, I think they let all my mixes down, but I can't afford a new amp and/or mics at the moment so I do my best...All my gear is pretty meagre really.
 
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