looking for criticism on this mix!

[3tuxedo]

hey guys i haven't recorded anything lately, and i missed it so i decided to do this little thing. please give me any advice or tips to make me, or it better! thanks so much.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23016439/yep.mp3

 

[Goodfellas453]

i would swap those cymbals out. sounds super programmed and thin

 

[timislegend]

the guitars have way too much gain... if you intend to demonstrate detail with the guitars you would benefit from less gain and better eq decisions.

the guitars are not eq'd very well. it sounds like the guitars are being processed through a vocoder... which in theory could sound like a neat idea but these do not sound neat.

the longest running complaint in amateur, modern recordings and on this forum is that "the drums sound very artificial" ...with this i will impose my usual commonsensical advice and recommend you track real drums (that is if this is a legitimate client). even if you are just using the overheads your mix will improve with regards to the drum sound.

there is nothing great about the song. it is a mediocre and watered down version of everything else (within the metal genre). i can't say if the song is even "good" because i don't know if it even constitutes as a song. it's more like a cadence. it might be useful in a post production situation for television or film or maybe even a film or game trailer? but that is really just from a commercial perspective.

the overall mix sounds very quiet, low impact and lack luster.

 

[3tuxedo]

i didn't expect you to say it was good. so, tackling the gain situation first, turning down the gain makes them sound really sloppy, (i know turning up the gain would do the same) like, there isn't enough substance. thoughts?

 

[timislegend]

uh... make a better song? or don't play the guitar parts sloppily.


i'm assuming that the difference between "good" vs. "bad" (in this case) is represented by simplicity, virtue and skill? ...therefore the performance will dictate virtue.

 

[3tuxedo]

cool. thanks.

 

[ahjteam]

Yup, I'm on the same boat with Tim here. I recently started to play my rhythm guitars with WAY less gain so I can actually hear how sloppy I am, which has tremendously increased my tightness. Going from this to this (and same reamped with Mesa); Still sloppy, but way less sloppy than ~9 months earlier (also I don't go for the super-edited sound on my music so a bit of life doesn't hurt). When it comes to mix time, if I wish, I can reamp myself with a tone that has a bit more gain.