It's very hard to get clear/powerful low mids in metal !

[Max Morton]

My opinion is that two things are most crucial in this case:
1) extra-tight riffing(especially muting) forms that exact low-mids tension. add a bit of C4 in that area and it's rock-solid. It means it's there and you don't have to boost that area at all to make it sound massive
2) monitoring environment that does not have null-frequencies in that area. and here we're talking about the room treatment.

 

[Sly]

I think mixing in mono can help to achieve the clear low end too, I should try this : kick, bass and guitars in mono, then use HPFs to get everything in the right area, then back off a little when listening in stereo.

 

[AEL89]

I think mixing in mono can help to achieve the clear low end too, I should try this : kick, bass and guitars in mono, then use HPFs to get everything in the right area, then back off a little when listening in stereo.

I mix A LOT in mono. Really useful for getting everything sitting where you want it.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Chances are that your low end is mono anyway (bass and kick are).
I haven't read all the posts but to me the keys are definitely high pass filters and multiband compression.

 

[Tachy]

I think ther is a lot of things that can improve the low mids in a recording:
1) Tightness in playing and tempo of the song..( good musicians and a good edit work )
2) Gear quality
3) Treated control room
4) Using eq in a diligent way creating the proper space of evry single instrument

 

[UtopianCrux]

I notch 'em out. Boost a touch right over the cutoff point, then take a tight Q and cut them out, TBH. Snare, especially, needs to punch through there, as well as a bit of second order bass harmonics.

 

[nwright]

I completely agree with the OP's sentiments, but I'd probably move the frequency range up. I have better control of the low end, but it's the low mids that kill me and make my mixes sound congest by comparison. I'd say for me it's the 120-330 Hz range. I really feel that whenever I get that "right", my mixes will fall into place a lot easier. Of all the things I've learned, the low mid stuff is the make or break point for me.

 

[Ermz]

mixing for 14 hours? how can you still judge your own work?

It ended up being 16 hours, but to answer your question: I can't. I lose that ability sometime after the first couple of hours. A testament to that is the over 50 different mix revisions I have exported on my HDD now. The irony is that over the course of them, things shift in and out, but on the whole they remain very similar, despite my efforts. The final revision is not all too different to the very first one I did.

Anyway the hours thing isn't by choice - sometimes deadlines force you into doing what you must.

 

[Fragle]

It ended up being 16 hours, but to answer your question: I can't. I lose that ability sometime after the first couple of hours. A testament to that is the over 50 different mix revisions I have exported on my HDD now. The irony is that over the course of them, things shift in and out, but on the whole they remain very similar, despite my efforts. The final revision is not all too different to the very first one I did.

Anyway the hours thing isn't by choice - sometimes deadlines force you into doing what you must.

do you never fear that you overmix stuff? i mean, the quality of your mixes speaks for itself, but 50 revisions and the final one isn't too different from the first one kinda makes me think that things were fine 50 revisions ago.

i know exactly where you come from, and i constantly have to force me to remember that it's about the big picture....it's sooo easy to get lost in details when mixing stuff.

just wondering.

 

[Charles J]

I think ther is a lot of things that can improve the low mids in a recording:
1) Tightness in playing and tempo of the song..( good musicians and a good edit work )
2) Gear quality
3) Treated control room
4) Using eq in a diligent way creating the proper space of evry single instrument

I think you sir, have it exactly right!

I haven't used a multi-band comp on ANYTHING except guitars (sometimes bass...) in YEARS! Never got along with them..

To me, it's all about FILTERING and carving things out!

 

[Ermz]

do you never fear that you overmix stuff? i mean, the quality of your mixes speaks for itself, but 50 revisions and the final one isn't too different from the first one kinda makes me think that things were fine 50 revisions ago.

i know exactly where you come from, and i constantly have to force me to remember that it's about the big picture....it's sooo easy to get lost in details when mixing stuff.

just wondering.

Overmix? Yeah, for sure. But I have trouble dealing with subpar results. If I know something has the potential, or at least deserves to sound a certain way, I'll spend as much time as I need in order to get it there.

Anyway, on revision 70 or 80 or so there were significant improvements and it's gone to mastering now, so all is well. May have cut a few years off my life from the stress and ridiculous hours, but the end product is what matters.

 

[Tachy]

I think you sir, have it exactly right!

I haven't used a multi-band comp on ANYTHING except guitars (sometimes bass...) in YEARS! Never got along with them..

To me, it's all about FILTERING and carving things out!

Some times ago, I always use a multiband comp on guitars, now I don't use it anymore, using eq automation on guitars works better for me atm.
Try it......