GOD please help me!! been working on this mix for months...need serious help

jsaudio

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Dec 30, 2010
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Hey guys, this is a track for my bands upcoming release I have been working on this forever and i STILL cant get this to sound right please someone help me what am i not doing???

I can not get this fucking mix to sound big and in your face with depth. I have tried every possible EQ thing i can think of but hopefully someone has an idea of what i can do with this mix

Thank you!!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9463730/TRCC INSTRUMENTAL FINAL MIX MASTER F.mp3


EDIT: btw the first 1:30 is clean tapping stuff skip ahead of you wanna hear the FULL mix of all instruments
 
The intro seems OK to me. Id say the cymbals are kinda harsh and the kick is kinda low. I'd also say the guitars are too compressed. Turn down the compression and that will also lower the volume a tad which Im ok with. Where is the bass guitar? turn it up. :)
 
rythm guitarsound is too skinny. and the bassguitar is totally missing? drumsound is ok. i think this is very hard to mix, because you want punch etc. but the guitars are always playing leadstuff. its more a problem of the arrangement itself. i would prefer two rythm guitars left and right and then get the lead guitars on the top of the mix by panning them to center and add a lowpass at maybe 10k to 7k
 
Hey thanks for responding. I think my low shelf is a little too high on the master making the cymbals a little harsh, but do you mean the kick drum is too quiet or that it's not cutting through the mix at the right freq? Also the bass is def there but if I turn it up it doesn't seem to really glue everything together it seems like the bass sounds separate from everything.

There is no compression on the guitars at all except the master buss compressor that's on everything. If anyone would like specific info on this please ask. I really need help on this.

Guitars are pod
-4db cut at 4k and a 1.5db boost at 500 hz and a small cut at 250 hz

Bass is chimp spanner pod patch with compression and a cut at 500hz and small cut at 80hz
 
Well... I think the guitars are quite sloppy. I'd probably record them again with less gain maybe. This sounds like a modeler which is OK I guess. Guitars are too loud IMO. To get that full sound I'd hard pan rhythm guitars and have all those lead things going in the center field like vocals. I'd compress everything separately to make them sit better together. Your problem isn't EQ... it's instrument volume balance. Listen to other tracks that sound good and compare your mix to them.

Bass is the key for a massive sound. Is that real bass or a synth? Can't really hear it that well.
 
thanks Clark for responding, when i get back to my mixing desk i am gonna try that with the leads. I dont have very much gain on the guitars. Using pod drive and treble are at about 60%
yes i am using a real bass its in there i will bring it up in volume as well and repost a mix.

Guitars are panned hard right and left, everything is compressed seperately, (except distorted guitars dont have compression) but also has the master buss compressor.

My master chain is
SSL comp
Ozone (just master reverb and stereo widener)
Waves Eq (lo shelf at 8K +6db) boost at 580hz +2db and
C4 pushing the lows between 70-300hz
PsP vintage warmer (light driven tape setting)
And Limiter at the end
 
I think the Bass is my biggest problem here but i cant seem to get it to glue the mix together as i said before it seems to sound like a seperate instrument on its own

Using and Ibanez Rg 5 string bass
bass chain
EQ (hi pass 30hz,cut at 80hz and 500hz)
C1 comp compressing the hell out of it like getting -20db Gr 3:1 ratio .30ms attack 80ms release
Pod farm (Chimp spanner bass patch)
Limiter waves L2 getting like 4-5 db GR on that

Then i have a 2nd track for bass with pretty much the exact same settings but cutting out everything below 500hz and i blend the 2 together so that the bass has some clank
 
you have a low shelf on your master buss cutting bass or adding it? both of those things should be fixed in the mix

cymbals seem too centered. bring the guitars down a bit and pan them 80/80. the cymbals/OHs should be the widest thing, IMO
 
The lo shelf is adding highs but I have a hi pass cutting 30hz

But the cymbals are sturgis cymbals and the come
Prepanned I can just apply them to the track I shouldn't need to pan them should I? If I do you can blatantly hear how one cymbal comes out left and another comes out right and it sounds weird
 
Sounds like... Why no real dynamics once the distorted bits get into the fray? everything clean, building up to it - sound as if they could contend against your more meaty grooves. dampen down on how much the intro is kicking and really improve the impact of your other riffage once the heavier bits come into play. Reconsider your guitars and omfg my neighbors are vacuuming at 9 pm...
 
My first impression is that you need the drums to sound bigger and the bass to come out under it all more. That lead is very loud to me as well.
 
The lo shelf is adding highs but I have a hi pass cutting 30hz

But the cymbals are sturgis cymbals and the come
Prepanned I can just apply them to the track I shouldn't need to pan them should I? If I do you can blatantly hear how one cymbal comes out left and another comes out right and it sounds weird

a lo shelf adds or removes LO frequencies. A hi shelf would add highs, that's where you're confused I think.

maybe just add a stereo imager to the overheads, just dont make them TOO wide. I don't use anything by sturgis. but sd2 cymbals are wayyy wider. maybe you need more room or chamber verb?
 
yea idk why the fuck i said that lol
i meant i have a hi shelf at 8k to brighten the overall mix on the master bus, but i dont have anything on the bass freq on the master Eq i just have C4 comp pushing down lows between 70-300hz i'll post a new mix here shortly but i'll post JUST the drums, Drums and Bass Together, then the enitre mix for anyone that would like to hear everything seperated
 
hey bud just had a listen to your mix and i agree with Clark, the guitars are over-gained and the balance between the rhythms and leads just doesn't work. bring the leads down a bit and turn the gain down on the amp sim for the rhythms. that delay on the lead sound is a bit, for lack of a better word, boring. maybe try a few more repeats on the delay or mix it with a verb as well to give it a bit more depth. and the bass needs more volume, it just gets buried. there seems to be a bit of meat missing from the kick drum also. but overall it sounds pretty good man, a few little touch ups and it'll be great. :)