Haven't Mixed this kind of music in a LONG time, lend me your ear?

[Daronspence]

So I've just gotten back into the spirit of metal and I'm needing some help. Admittedly I was never very good to begin with but we all start somewhere right? This a tune a friend and I wrote on a whim in a few hours one day and I just want it to sound...excellent. By the way, this is a Metalcore-ish, pop punky tune, with some heavy chuggage. No vocals yet.

My main problem is the guitars and drums...basically the whole song
It's the EQ that's killing me. My monitors don't have the best bass response so I normally have to take it out to the car or put on some headphones to make sure the Kick is pumping some bass. I ran another mix of this track through a PA with two 18" subs and cranking the sub mix I barely got anything. So I raised that up and hopefully the sub kick frequencies are there and present. Then after some reference track mixing, I realized that I had grown acustomed to mixing rock kick and there was hardly any beater head. So I added some of that back in.

Now to guitars. In the different sections of the song, I think they sound fine. But at the transition at 1:20ish you immediately hear all the "beef" cut out. I'm using GTR for the guitars. Just a Supernatural amp sim with different mics on the left and right cabs with a 4x12 cab emulation. I could see how this could be remedied by lowering the octave of whats being played but its not practical to detune my guitars another 2 whole steps

Would you recommend an EQ to remedy it or possibly just bring the volume down on the chugs to compensate. I've tried some different things but i always like to be thorough and get the expert opinion!

And lastly, I'm fairly confident in the drum programming but just in case I did something unrealistic, lemme know...

So tear it apart! I'm ready to learn from experience

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24236738/Music/Mix 4.mp3

 

[sjokarn]

I would start by dualtracking the rhythm guitars and hard-pan them L/R cause now all guitars feels pretty much in the middle making the mix sound a bit mono.

 

[Ericlingus]

I would add some more reverb to the snare and lower it in the mix a bit. It seems to stick out too much. Also, double tracking the guitars and panning them hard left and right will make it sound much fuller and professional. I would also use different amp sims. You can get free ones from lepou and TSE. Even though they are free, they are some of the best around. You can even get an IR loader from lepou as well. There are plenty of good cab impulses around here. Guitar hacks and catharsis are good ones to start with.

 

[Daronspence]

DUR! Double tracking. Man it has been a while. To be honest it didn't even cross my mind. Gotta love indie rock. If they play it once that's all you're getting because they won't remember what pedals they turned on or how to move their ankle on the expression pedal.

I put some of those LePou plugs on the guitars and I really dig em! Only problem I found was they are really quiet. One thing I like about GTR was the amount of volume on tap. I liked the heavy bottom end in the LePou LE456 so I used those on one side and carved out some extra room on top for some chime in GTR for the other. The blend works. I also have one track running down the middle at a (relatively) low gain to act as a bit of glue.

Now for the kick I was playing around some more and popped the trans X wide plug on the track and pulled up the "Mega Kick" preset. Then adjusted the hold and release times so there wasn't a constant ringing bass in the ears. EQ was a boost around 60, 3k, and 6k placed before the trans x. I used a ABR track as reference for the hold/release times. Any input on how this sounds on your monitors would be nice. 4" doesn't produce it in the 3' I have between my monitors and ears. I'm hoping to get some nice stands pretty soon so I can move them back more, then when I get some real cash, buy some new monitors...

Anyway, here's a link to the new mix. I think the output is lower on this one since i had to readjust the overall volume to account for the extra presence in the track. And I know how for Mastering most people keep the mix peaking at -6dB so that's where I got it.

Thoughts?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24236738/Music/Mix 5.mp3

 

[Ericlingus]

hey I'd appreciate any tips you could give me on indie stuff. How are guitars done usually? Is it just a single take? Is it normal to pan in the middle? That kinda of stuff is so foreign to me but I'm curious. I think your new mix is much better than the first one you posted.

 

[Daronspence]

Indie/Alt rock is easy. Some rock bands like more click in the kick, usually punk ala new Green Day or Blink 182. Guitars are easy too. One, maybe two tracks for rhythm, one for lead stuff and the rest is usually plugins or other odd instruments. The guitars are usually just there to provide stability for the track, not the main in your face focus. Sometimes they are and with those songs you mix accordingly, but six guitar tracks when you also have vocals, 3 part harmonies, synths, piano, and a leslie, it just isn't practical. Will it give you a better product? Probably. Is it worth it to spend 50% more time on the track for a 5% quality increase overall? Not to me. They don't pay enough

Indie guitars are rhythm(s) (panned if 2) and either lead up the middle or off to the side. IF its off to the side, I like to add a little somethin to fill in the open space. Maybe a simple piano noodling while the vocalist isn't singing.

Also much like metal, I think all music should have dynamics. Don't be afraid to ask the bands to strip down the first verse to just a piano and vocals and bring in simple guitars for the first chorus and slowly build your way up. Also guitars don't always have to play until the end of the measure. Try stopping the strums on the downbeat of 3 and let the break and vocals build excitement and tension. The main reason why I love general rock is that there aren't as many "rules" so to speak. If you think it sounds and is arranged tastefully, go for it!


NOW moving back towards MY music (yeah I'm selfish )

Does anyone have anymore opinions. 2 posters isn't a lot of feedback so consider this my obligatory bump