How do you BEEF up your mix?

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xBOBxSAGETx

Member
Jan 18, 2010
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Okay after redoing and redoing mixes over and over again. I really like where I'm at for the moment being but when I reference on my home stereo, my guitar sounds incredibly weak and thin when I compare them to let's say a Bulb recording. Now I know this shouldn't be corrected in the master, is there anything I can do to fix this issue!?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9875484/Song 2 Demos/Attempt 5.9.2.mp3

And this is what sounds so incredibly thick and huge (sounded really gay but you know what I mean lol)

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=147108&content=songinfo&songID=9723916
 
Salt, Pepper, a little garlic.
Sizzling hot griddle pan, a minute TOPS each side, and then add in a small nob of butter.
 
greyskull said:
Salt, Pepper, a little garlic.
Sizzling hot griddle pan, a minute TOPS each side, and then add in a small nob of butter.
Click to expand...

Pop it in the microwave after for some added warmth!



I listened to your clip and the guitars sounded really weird. Mono, but not mono. Sounded kinda like one track of guitar run through 2 separate ampsims, hardpanned L and R. You need to track your guitars twice. The actual guitar tone didn't sound that bad, the bass tone was pretty awful though. It's hard to distinguish when everythings down the middle, so I could be wrong.
 
ahjteam said:
I tried quickly and if you lower the low end (something like this; just a low shelf drop at ~1khz and a limiter), you can get the mix sound more balanced. now the guitars are a bit buried in the mix.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but this doesn't sound good at all. Putting a low shelf at 1kHz doesn't make much sense and certainly doesn't help him understand what is wrong with his initial mix. At that point you will be better off starting from scratch, which I would recommend.

It all sounds a bit muddy and does indeed sound like you just doubled the exact same guitar part and hard panned them, essentially making them mono again. Record two different takes of the same part and pan them L and R for starters. And everyone is right about adding a bass track. It will do wonders for a thin sounding guitar tone as well as the overall mix.
 
if i'm not mistaken; this should be in the "rate my mix" category?

either way... my 2¢

positive:
the song is cool, with a few arrangement changes, you could have great song! (imo)

subjective/constructive:
the snare is over-compressed. it has barely any decay and the initial transient is far to exaggerated. the cymbals are really brittle. the overall mix is lack-luster (muddy) and the stereo image is almost non-existent.

the muddiness probably comes from spending too long on the mix at high spl. everyone is different but if you monitor for extended periods at high spl ...it will cause ear fatigue, which can result in a mispronounced high frequency translation. (so, turn your monitors/headphones DOWN!)

i don't really know much about your situation... ie. what daw/converters/mics/plugins/outboard etc. (???)

my advice would be to let another mixing engineer have a go at the session in an effort to obtain a fresh perspective. most of the time you will see/hear your mistakes because someone else will show them to you. ;)
 
It is in the rate my tone but I was just seeing what people actually do to beef their mix up. And is it because I use a 57 for two guitars then a 421+121 for the other two. Maybe I should just play around the cabs and mics (recabinet)
 
Your snare is too loud. Tame the transients in it and you will have more headroom for the mix.
Doubling always works well on guitars, perhaps some stereo pitch shifting to thicken up the tone.
You need to bring up the sheen on it overall, try some EQ above 4kHz on parts that sound dull.

Which ampsim are you using?
 
snare needs more 3-8k range, then maybe turn it down some. Some of those toms at the beginning are super loud. agreed on the guitars...too mono
 
Brian @ IK Multimedia said:
Your snare is too loud. Tame the transients in it and you will have more headroom for the mix.
Doubling always works well on guitars, perhaps some stereo pitch shifting to thicken up the tone.
You need to bring up the sheen on it overall, try some EQ above 4kHz on parts that sound dull.

Which ampsim are you using?
Click to expand...

For sure I'll give that a go! I'm using POD Farm 2 with Cabinet Impulses
 
soundsunderground said:
snare needs more 3-8k range, then maybe turn it down some. Some of those toms at the beginning are super loud. agreed on the guitars...too mono
Click to expand...

If I turn the toms down I lose my articulation and you can't hear them too well it's all just mushhh!

How would I go about using the Stereo Pitch Shift!? I don't think I even have one. Could someone recommended me a plug in!? :D
 
xBOBxSAGETx said:
If I turn the toms down I lose my articulation and you can't hear them too well it's all just mushhh!

How would I go about using the Stereo Pitch Shift!? I don't think I even have one. Could someone recommended me a plug in!? :D
Click to expand...

There is a stereo Pitch Shifter in AmpliTube 3.
Swapping your guitars over to AmpliTube would make them sound a lot better in general. ;)
You could dial in some room depth in AmpliTube 3, as well.

For toms, you can do some low shelving and clean up a lot of the mush. Modern metal drums tend to be very fast and EQ'd tight with mostly just the snap of the head so they don't get too washy.
 
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