Looking for advice on taking my mixes to the next level.

[kilo73]

What can I do to take my mixes to the next level? I like the over all tone, but something seems off. I don't expect to become a pro overnight, but does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do better?

I experimented with all of them but in general I did the following.

Guitars: 2 tracks panned L/R > tse x50 amp sim w/impulse > Eq (HP at ~80Hz, LP at ~10 kHz, 2dB cut at ~ 500 Hz w/ wide Q. 1dB narrow boost at ~2.4 kHz)

Bass: 1 track panned center > Compression > tse BOD plugin.
Copied bass track for grit is the same with some distortion and a LP at ~500 Hz and both sent to a bass bus. Bass buss Eq: HP at ~70 Hz, LP at ~8 kHz, 2-3 dB cit at 300 Hz, 1-2 dB cut at 800 Hz.

Drums are Superior Drummer. Kick, Snare, Toms, OH, etc have their own channel. I Eq them and do some light compression on the bus.

Master: Compression and limiting.


I like the over all sound, but when I compare it to commercial stuff it sucks. I'm not good enough to pin point why though. I also can't get any higher that -12db RMS.

Any tips/advice/resources that can help me out with the tone/volume? I know it's gonna take time, just looking for a starting point.

 

[MrBongo]

1. because the drums are shit
2. guitars could profit from a tad more midrange, especially when there´s so few instruments. Otherwise they sound good
3. you need a mixture of louder guitars and harder compression to reach loudness levels. Destroying the mix is a whole different form of "art", and making it still sound acceptable at insane loudness levels is probably more difficult than mixing itself

 

[kilo73]

1. because the drums are shit
2. guitars could profit from a tad more midrange, especially when there´s so few instruments. Otherwise they sound good
3. you need a mixture of louder guitars and harder compression to reach loudness levels. Destroying the mix is a whole different form of "art", and making it still sound acceptable at insane loudness levels is probably more difficult than mixing itself

Any suggestions on making the drums not shit? As for the guitars, are you saying you think they are too quiet in the mix?

 

[DjaseBal]

Any suggestions on making the drums not shit? As for the guitars, are you saying you think they are too quiet in the mix?

better choice of samples. drum forge seem to be the best cymbals on the market. ssd4, sd2, df, ggd all have usable shells.
the kick seemed to have too much low end. the mix was pumping too much if that makes sense

 

[MrBongo]

... and more fluid programming

 

[chesterfieldblues]

Snare is ok for me, cymbals too...guitars are tiresome, try another impulse and bypass 500 hz cut, then EQ while listening to the full band