I need advice on my latest mix.

decadawn

decadawn

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Aug 31, 2001
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www.decadawn.com
Hey guys, I'm new in here..

I've been working on my album since a couple of months.. we recorded the drums in a studio in Montreal. The sound tech is a rookie so the micing may not be as good as I wanted it to be. Anyway... The bass/vocals/leads are missing

Since we couldn't get a good result micing an amp for the guitar sound, I decided to record everything at home.

I used a PodPro for the guitars.

http://pages.infinit.net/theogony/sample.mp3

Oh and the band name is Decadawn. This should come out this summer.

I'd love to read your opinions concerning the mix and the sound. What should I change? I'm a rookie in recording too.

Thanks a lot! o_O
 
First off - If you're in Montreal doing this kind of metal why aren't you recording with Pierre Remillard? His new studio is amazing. I got a tour when I was visiting Martin for the final Obliveon show. I'm sure he's even got more cool shit in there now...

As for your mix, the guitars definately say, "MODELLED" to me. Just a flatness to them that you can't avoid unless you mic up a tube amp.

That said, they sound good. The different parts are all distinct and they're well balanced with the drums.

The snare sounds great, the kick has a good tone but lacks some of the low punch. The toms are really flat -- kick them up with a Waves MaxxBass plugin set to "Aggressive" and put some scoopy eq on them -- pull 1K with a wide Q down until it sounds good. Push 5k with a wide (but not a wide as 1K) Q up until that sounds like thunder... if it's not thunderous enough put some reverb on it a set the pre-delay long so you get the attack separate from the decay. These settings should push you more toward the Nevermore "DHiaDW" and/or Exodus "TotD" tom sounds.

Your guitars are taking up a lot of sonic space -- you might need to carve out some room for the bass and vocals. I'd recommend low-cutting the guitars at 150 and scooting it up until it still has beef but doesn't have the rumble. Let the bass provide the rumble, but still you'll need to low-cut the bass at around 75 or 80hz. There's plenty there, so don't worry about losing it all. You're just getting rid of the overpowering stuff that robs the power amp of, well, power.

Your vocals are going to need a good compressor to bring them out around your guitars. A good mic pre will probably help, too, tho I'm not sure how much since you did the guitars with the Pod. I usually do my guitars with one pre for the guitars and then do vocals with something else -- like taking an API for it's beef and Neve-esque pre for the sheen on the top.

That's what my ears tell me. Hope you find some of it helpful.

ryan
 
Great advice, thanks!:hotjump:

yeah I met Pierre a couple of times.. I know he's good.. !

I'll try adding the MaxxBass filter to the toms... I noticed their lack of punch too!

I'll post a sample of the new mix soon!

LC
 
Okay good!..

Do you have any hints for recording bass without an amp? Is there a way to get a good bass sound using a direct box?

I also have a Vox Tonelab. I once recorded bass using my Pod but it didn't sound right in the mix...
 
Hey Egan! I got your album No Reply.. I like it a lot..

It remind me of Katatonia.. I love it!

Did u use the sansamp DI box for the album?

LC
 
decadawn said:
Hey Egan! I got your album No Reply.. I like it a lot..

It remind me of Katatonia.. I love it!

Did u use the sansamp DI box for the album?

LC
Click to expand...
thanks, i'm really glad that you like the record. To answer, your question, no I didn't actually use the sansamp on that record.....I used a countryman DI, which are good boxes but the bass just sounds flat. If I had it to do over again I would definitely use the sansamp. They sound very close to the ampeg rigs w/o the hassle (and volume) of micing an 8x10. I'v also heard good things about the bass pod, but I don't need fx or a million different bass tones. The sansamp kicks ass for heavy stuff and costs half as much.
 
seems like quite good metal to me considering what I downloaded from your last post. Now, it just depends on what kind of vocals you are gonna use. Cookie Monster? NU Metal? I'd go with something like Opeth, Cookie-clean mix. that's my 2. Love to hear more.
 
How was the bass recorded?

It's there... you can feel it, but there's no definition. You can't tell what it's playing.

To get rid of the boominess, do a low-cut on the bass track(s) at 75hz.

Depending on what kind of bass & pickups, you need to find the "voice" of the instrument. A standard Fender bass lives around 1K -- a good frequency since I usually pull this down for the toms and thereby leaves a decent space for the bass to sit without getting in the way of the drums.

Push 1K up in the bass and then you might want to try pulling 1K out of the guitars, too but that takes a little more finesse - like pull a little at 500 a little less at 750 and a little less at 1K to kind of build up the cut without it all coming from one spot.

If you didn't record a bass playing thru an Ampeg 8x10 (or the sansamp that someone else suggested) you're kinda treading water... the ampeg sound cuts right thru the shit -- listen to In Flames and notice that you can always hear what the bass is doing. Same with anything featuring Steve DiGiorgio.

It's got a sound to it that cuts thru. Anything else is a fight to get it thru the rest of the mix.

ryan
 
egan. said:
thanks, i'm really glad that you like the record. To answer, your question, no I didn't actually use the sansamp on that record.....I used a countryman DI, which are good boxes but the bass just sounds flat. If I had it to do over again I would definitely use the sansamp. They sound very close to the ampeg rigs w/o the hassle (and volume) of micing an 8x10. I'v also heard good things about the bass pod, but I don't need fx or a million different bass tones. The sansamp kicks ass for heavy stuff and costs half as much.
Click to expand...
Hey man, did you tour with DD thru Europe?
 
Sounding really good dude, I have sat back here and sort of watched it come together, though , I have to say, the "bomb" sample lets the overall quality of it down, not by placement or because it is there, but by the way it sounds; maybe you could try some panning, placing more reverb on it in places,
maybe adding a bit more "fire" to the end of it, because to me the dull "clearing" part of it confuses itself with the bass end of things. The scream is reaaly good, though.

The bass is sounding very good. compared to the last sample, which indeed sounded better than the first, It does seem to have more of its own presence rather than just following and fattening the guitars.

The leads - I couldn't tell you much about the "tech" side of things, but they sound too central, a bit out of place. Maybe they are mixed in too high (you can actually hear most of the reverb on it). But the second part of the "lead" section sounds more right. Maybe my opinion would be good, coming from someone a little more naive around here..haha. Actually, maybe if you faded the lead in more, it actually starts sounding reasonable when they start opposing each other. (00:31 or 00:32).. and the ring out is good.

Don't over complicate it though. Indeed it sounds very Swedish. Jester race anyone?
 
Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral said:
Ahhh... are you the guy with the sideburns and blonde hair then? Playing a gibson V?
Click to expand...
nope, that was our friend bob who played guitar live for us for several years. I'm the bass player. I hid in the back most of the time. haha.
 
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