Holy Diver cover (mix advice please)

[thedonutman]

I did two different mixes with 2 different bass tracks, one was done with a cheap £200 homemade bass, J/MM config pickups. The other was done with a very expensive Spector Euro 5 string.

What do you guys think of the mix in general?

It seems the whole thing, like a lot of my mixes, sounds rather "cloudy" if that makes sense and I don't know how to get rid of that.

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/867382/unmastered1.wav
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/867382/unmastered2.wav

Tracks without the mastering on it (and without the clipping, doh!)

 

[ahjteam]

both are clipping too much and its really distracting, lower the masterbus volume

 

[Jaekae]

upload the unmastered wav somewhere and ill try to master it, to try to reduce those clouds

 

[thedonutman]

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/867382/unmastered1.wav
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/867382/unmastered2.wav

Those should work, once they finish uploading

 

[Jaekae]

heres one quick try
https://files.getdropbox.com/u/1610178/holydiv0r.mp3

sounds better right? its your 1 track

 

[thedonutman]

Yes, that sounds a hell of a lot better. What did you do it it?

 

[ahjteam]

Well Sometimes louder just isn't better. The first one you posted had -6dB RMS (which is as loud as Death Magnetic), and that one was -10dB RMS. Here's my try at -11dB RMS: http://www.ahjteam.com/upload/houlidaiver.mp3

- compressor, 1.2:1 -4dB attenuation
- eq (10 band), 6 cuts 2 boots and 2 filters (35 and 16000)
- compressor 1.15:1 -3dB attenuation
- multiband compressor
- eq (4 band), 4 cuts
- sidechain compressor, to tame the 7500hz kick snap
- multiband compressor,
- limiter, -3dB attenuation at max

 

[thedonutman]

Well Sometimes louder just isn't better. The first one you posted had -6dB RMS (which is as loud as Death Magnetic), and that one was -10dB RMS. Here's my try at -11dB RMS: http://www.ahjteam.com/upload/houlidaiver.mp3

- compressor, 1.2:1 -4dB attenuation
- eq (10 band), 6 cuts 2 boots and 2 filters (35 and 16000)
- compressor 1.15:1 -3dB attenuation
- multiband compressor
- eq (4 band), 4 cuts
- sidechain compressor, to tame the 7500hz kick snap
- multiband compressor,
- limiter, -3dB attenuation at max

Thanks,

That sounds really good. Stupid as it may sound I didn't actually notice all the clipping until I put it on Dropbox, should probably pay more attention to the meters in Cubase

Is that the basic structure you use for all the mastering you do with some tweaks for individual mixes, or do you do every master from the ground up?

 

[ahjteam]

Nope, I used that setup just for this one only. But I usually do have the comp+eq+comp and the limiter at the end. As you can see the compressors have a really low ration and are there just even things out a bit. I have noticed that in most cases everything above 3dB attenuation makes too much unwanted pumping, except that sidechain compressor is an exception (it pumps about 4-6dB each hit) because it only affects the 7.5khz area

 

[lolzgreg]

I really like the tom sound on this. The guitars are seriously lacking in the high end department, though.

 

[thedonutman]

I really like the tom sound on this. The guitars are seriously lacking in the high end department, though.

I cranked up the highs on the amp, guess I need to EQ in some more....

Incidentally, I thought toms sounded like cardboard

 

[ahjteam]

yeah, I think the guitars could have some air to them