I think I'm credible. But I'm 16 so I really just suck.[dropboxlink]

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Hey I'm Adrien.
I run a mediocre wanna-be studio in NM
One of my mixes from a band that came through here last.
Any suggestions?
The end is chopped off because there is some group singing stuff that I need them to redo, but I just focused on the main mix for now..
http://snd.sc/xPmgaH
Hope that's the right link.
Oh yeah there's no bass for some of the beginning with drums. Lol. Gotta record that again..

 

[caneris]

error 403 bro.

ill check it out when its up

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Yeah sorry theres a new link on soundcloud. Damn dropbox shit never works P Thanks bro.

 

[caneris]

sounds pretty good overall dude!

bass is very low in the mix and so are some of the cymbals, you just get a washy sound. any info on the drums?

a few of the backing vocals (screams) could be bought up a tad too.

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Sick dude thanks. I'll bring up that bass, I thought it was somewhat low as well. And I see what you're saying about the cymbals. What kind of info on the drums do you need?

 

[caneris]

just what you used man, im assuming its SD2.0 or SSD?

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

I used Chango samples excluding toms (I recorded and sampled them myself) and layered them all over a sample set of a Truth Custom kit (excluding toms) and that's about it. I used the Kontakt player for the Truth Kit, and a Battery 3 sampler for the Chango set up. I like to call it my Stango drums.

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Oh and cymbals are all the ones that are in the Truth Custom kit except for the China, which is Chango.

 

[ToreFagerheim]

Wow, wish I was where you are when I was 16. Sounds really good! The hihat is too loud compared to the other cymbals though. Great song, great playing and great performance! I really like this stuff. That's some talent right there.

Would love to get your opinion on this:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...ree-debut-album-need-critics-overall-mix.html

 

[Scott Horner]

You're definitely on the right track. The mix sounds pretty good minus what everyone else has already mentioned. One thing I would suggest is to be a bit tighter on your tracking. Some of the parts could be played tighter or at least edited tighter and it sounded like the tuning was a bit off on certain parts. That will all come as you get more comfortable with the whole production process. Nice work, man.

 

[oroinvictus]

You're definitely on the right track. The mix sounds pretty good minus what everyone else has already mentioned. One thing I would suggest is to be a bit tighter on your tracking. Some of the parts could be played tighter or at least edited tighter and it sounded like the tuning was a bit off on certain parts. That will all come as you get more comfortable with the whole production process. Nice work, man.

+1

 

[Clark Kent]

The overall sound is very good! Some overheads are too loud and too much low end in the guitars. That's why we hear no bass. Too much delay on the vox maybe?

Guitars are far from tight playing. That's a big part of the overall tone.

 

[qwe1234]

Little too much low-end in the overall mix in those heavy chuggingparts for my taste. Also the delay on the clean-vox is really annoying.. Maybe try to high-cut the delay, or/and use a little less mix on it. Cheers.

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Thanks a lot everyone! I'll definitely work on all that stuff. And yeah the bass presents itself as a real issue in this. I never thought of dragging that low end out of the guitars to bring it out more. And I'll definitely use less delay on the vox. and yeah.. Tight playing is something people here dont necessarily understand for the most part.. Thanks again guys!

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Updated mix:
I didn't work on the vox delay, and I forgot to turn the hi hat down, but here is my 4th master of this. I mainly tried to fix the bass issue, because I know it wasn't coming out enough. Again no bass until about :44.. And it randomly cuts off at the end because of the piano interlude thing mentioned above. Tell me if I fixed that bass issue though!
http://snd.sc/zry1PV

 

[solphilcox]

sounds nice man! good overall cohesion in the general mix, it glues together nicely. band sounds great, singer sounds like the guy from deaf havana; which is a good thing.

i'll chip in some words as i started around your age (22 now) and work probably the same way you do with limited setup etc:

dunno if this is your stuff or a band that you recorded as a job, but i'd recommend working a little more meticulously on getting the perfect performance from your musicians, even if it means working longer and harder than what you're being paid for it is only going to reflect on you as a producer at the end of the day; you clearly got the ear for the tones/mixing which is the hardest part, once you got that down you can spend your valuable time and energy working and getting paid as opposed to stressing over gear and shit... sturgis sort of set the benchmark for this kind of work ethic and attitude.

so what im saying is everything you do in the future give 120%, even if your tracking for a $500 ep or something put the extra hours in to track doubles, harmonies, parts with as many different available mics and room environments as if you would doing a $5000 project; even if it's stuff you don't think you need or will use... it's always ends up being candy in the mixing stage if you don't get stressed by it. if you aint got the tracks in your DAW to handle it, bounce those shits down and simulate it! it's so easy to make a pro sounding record these days, your well on track.

see what im saying? basically, great work and keep it up; stay in the mindset of wanting to learn and improve and just keep at it. try and build a guitar collection (way more important than having a vast array of pres/outboard gear/fancy monitors etc), try to aim for aquiring a good telecaster, a good low action/high output metal axe, a good classic humbucker (les paul/sg) type, something with heavy strings, and a jazz bass with good pickups. owning your own guitar collection helps out tenfold when it comes to the tedious tracking sessions, having well set up guitars that you know inside out is in my opinion crucial when working with random bands on a freelance basis.

keep at it brotha!

 

[ZanetheVocalist]

try and build a guitar collection. owning your own guitar collection helps out tenfold when it comes to the tedious tracking sessions, having well set up guitars that you know inside out is in my opinion crucial when working with random bands on a freelance basis.

This. Alot of people underestimate the importance of matching the instrument to a song. A $2000 Les Paul is shit compared to a $200 Squire when a Strat sound is needed. Don't knock the importance of mics tho. They all have their own character as well.

 

[pariah223]

i really like the sound of the screaming vocals.. there very clear in the mix. What did you use for the vocals as far as mic choice, and eq and compression and stuff? getting the vocals to sound clear and sit well is where i tend to struggle the most.

 

[Backe]

hi-pass the delay, the beginnings is really annoying. but the mix overall is great. way better than the stuff i did at 16. and i didn't even have clients back then lol.

 

[ShipwreckSoundWorks]

Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate all the feed back.
solphilcox: Thanks a lot man, I agree completely with the instrument set up. I actually am trying to find someone who will let me borrow a Squire P Bass for this mix, because I have had bands in before that have brought those and they sound great, and I want to use one for this mix. I agree completely. I mean I don't put a lot of emphasis to begin with on outboard gear and such. I have enough on my computer, and in terms of mics to get a great sound, and all that stuff I look at as extra stuff if you have some cash lying around (Which I don't most of the time.) I have a friend who is always like "Look at this piece of equipment and that" referring to Compressors and tube preamps and this shit and that.. I don't really put effort into thinking about that, rather than what I can do to improve MY mix with what I have.
pariah223: I'll take a look at my processing chain and get the actually logistics to you in a bit, but for now:
I used an Audio Technica AT2020 Condenser mic for the screams, with a basic compressor, The EQ with a Low Pass filter pulled down pass 10K, but I think I even brought up the Highs a bit in the EQ. I have a De-esser pulling out the high frequencies ( I work with pro tools BTW) And a harmonic exciter somewhere on the vocals. They are being sent to a parallel compression bus with an EQ that has the Highs cranked pretty nicely around maybe 5.0 decibels, and a compressor that is absolutely slammed. Like I said, rough layout but I'll get the logistics of it in a bit.
Thanks a lot again you guys this means a lot, seriously. I can rarely find people who will actually give me a good layout, and thanks a lot for the advice from a productions standpoint.
I have a general question though, in terms of speaking with musicians as sophilcox said:
I'm kind of an awkward person, I can easily speak to bands that need recordings and scheduling recording times and such, but I feel awkward telling a musician to tighten their playing, or to change something, despite how badly I want to. I feel as though I'll offend people, because I over think responses and body language. Is there a certain way I SHOULD go about this, to make it so that doesn't happen?