First mix with real drums!! I need input!

[Damian B]

This is my old band's latest song. I used to play drums, but then went off to school. My brother drums for them now though, and I do all the recording. Here's their myspace: www.myspace.com/apophisnc

Drums are *almost* all natural. The kick has been replaced, and the snare is blended 75% natural, 25% sample to add some pop. Nothing has been quantized because I'm too lazy! This is the mic list if anyone's interested...

Snare - SM57 on top and bottom
Kick - D112
OH - 2 x Shure KSM27
High Hat - SM81
Rack Toms - Audix D2
Floor Tom - Audix F12
Vocals - SM58

Guitars are through a JSX, 2 tracks of crunch channel and 2 tracks of the ultra channel. Bass is DI with an ampeg SVT impulse thrown on it.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!!

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/260611/1-11-09 render for forum.mp3

EDIT: NEW REVISION:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/260611/1-14-09 render for forum 2.mp3

 

[Unavailable]

I would say the snare needs a LOT more crack, right now it sounds snappy, but without the cut. When I blend samples with the snare I usually use a sample that has a lot of attack, and just use the the mic for body.

The kick is also a little too high in the mix and really clicky. Guitars sound pretty good, but could probably be raised some.

 

[Damian B]

Thanks for your response! Yeah I agree that the kick is overpowering, now that I go back and listen. I'm working on the snare at the moment; I would like to try and keep some of the natural snare, since I'm really happy with the sound I got. Would more compression do the trick??

Any other input?
Thanks!

 

[Unavailable]

Thanks for your response! Yeah I agree that the kick is overpowering, now that I go back and listen. I'm working on the snare at the moment; I would like to try and keep some of the natural snare, since I'm really happy with the sound I got. Would more compression do the trick??

Any other input?
Thanks!

Yeah, try out some parallel compression on it. Always works for me.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

OH'S need a little more brightness I think. There a Tad cloudy. I think the drums overall need just a bit more attack too.

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

the snare sounds really boxy, while the kick sounds pretty clicky. I think it's important to find an overall balance in attack so that all the drums sound equally powerful.
also the toms sound like they're come from the overheads more than from the close mics (listen to the break at 1:42)
I'd say: try to get the weight and attack of the drums more equal, and perhaps try a transient designer on snare and toms to make the attack more present.
and yeah, the OH's sound a bit dark, I'd brighten them up with some tube emulation and perhaps EQ.

 

[Damian B]

Thanks everyone! The OH are definitely really dark. This is probably due to the cymbals used (Zildjian K) and the large diaphragm mics. I'll work on some EQ and it should do the trick!

Any other input?

 

[Damian B]

Alrighty! I've done a ton of work on it, so whadya think??

I raised the volume on the OH tracks, and EQ'd them so they cut better. I tried some parallel compression on the drums with blockfish. I EQ'd the bass some more to try and give it some high end, and I raised the volume on the guitars quite a bit as well! I did a little work on the vocals, but not much...

Any thoughs? thanks

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/260611/1-14-09 render for forum 2.mp3

 

[mysticjim]

Hi dude,

Had a quick listen to mix1 and 2. You've definately improved things a bit, well done. I really like the kick and certainly the guitar tone, I'm a bit of a sucker for this kind of stuff - it reminds of the old Gothenburg sound a bit, very At the Gates! You've improved the snare a little, its tone is still a tiny bit cloudy for me though, I think thats the only missing element from making this a brilliant mix. I've just posted my first mix on this forum, and I ran into a slightly similier problem - to brighten the snare up a bit I let a tiny bit more of the top snare through the noise gate(you said you used Blockfish in your post, so I'm guessing you probably use Floorfish to gate drums?), then turned the volume of the whole kit up a tiny bit, then I used the free Exciter plugin on the drum channel. I only used a small amount, just enough bring out a bit more clarity on the snare. This did make my overheads a bit more shrill so I turned them down a little bit to compensate, and had to slightly take a bit of click out of the kick, but it did the job. Finally, I slightly increased the reverb on the drum channel, literaly just a smidge, and that seemed to give the snare an extra bit of zing. Don't know if this will help you, the style I was mixing wasn't quite as extreme as on your track, I didn't have to contend with blast beats!!!!!!

Anyway, really good work, you're very close to the mark.

Jim