March Hare - How's this mix coming together?

[Splat88]

That's not finished... there's about 3 minutes missing! Upload the rest so we can make a proper judgment.

Haha, indeed! With time, the whole album will be a free download, but I want all the finished versions released in full at the same time.

Sounds pretty damn good. Couple things

The guitars/bass could use some tightening at 1:16, the bass is clicking and popping just before the kick/guitar.
The guitars have an amazingly tight lowend.. but the guitars as a whole are too dry/tight. The drums are roomy, the vocals have a lot of delay, the bass blends really nicely but the rhythm guitars seem quite separated. Perhaps a touch of delay? Not usual for rhythm guitars but this isn't exactly straight metal.

I'm glad you said this. I was thinking the same thing about the dryness of the guitars and I did have some delay on them in a mix I did a few days ago in order to vibe into the mix a little better. I ended up getting rid of it in the end obviously but I will add it back in and see how it goes. I'm going to leave the stop/start riff at 1:16 without delay, however.

I used an EMG81 on this track and it is indeed a tight M.F., but the trade off is certainly the lack of that juicy fatness I got with the Duncan Distortion.

 

[Harry Hughes]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not free you stupid bastard
Seriously, I'd literally feel guilty getting the whole album for free because it's just so evident how much time was put into all of this.
I have no doubt in my mind everyone that wants the album would be completely willing to pay for it

 

[Ermz]

If charging for the record validates being able to get it professionally mastered or something at least, then do it! This stuff needs way more analogue to come alive! Don't short-change yourself, or the quality of your music by just throwing it out there man.

 

[Splat88]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not free you stupid bastard
Seriously, I'd literally feel guilty getting the whole album for free because it's just so evident how much time was put into all of this.
I have no doubt in my mind everyone that wants the album would be completely willing to pay for it

It makes my day you feel that way! I don't know, the way I look at is I barely have enough time to simply finish the album, so how in the hell am I going to market it for selling purposes? I have no doubt that we have a very SMALL following, and I want to get our music out to as many people as possible. If the album is free, I think we can capitalize on that increase in audience. Remember that my whole goal here is to get as many people to listen to this stuff as possible, not to make any money off it. We all have our day jobs and we live in different states, so there's no chance of ever performing live again, sadly. I truly just enjoy making music...its all I day dream about as a matter of fact. Even from just posting on this forum, I get a kick out the fact that there's someone halfway across the world rocking a March Hare track in their house. That's enough satisfaction as far as I'm concerned. If I host the album for free, I will no doubt have a paypal link for donations if people feel the need to pay something back if they enjoy it.

If charging for the record validates being able to get it professionally mastered or something at least, then do it! This stuff needs way more analogue to come alive! Don't short-change yourself, or the quality of your music by just throwing it out there man.

I may consider having this mastered, but I'm going to need some suggestions. I kind of have a trust issue, however, if I'm being honest. That being said, I do trust you Ermz! I know you're not technically a mastering guy, but I respect your judgment immensely. PM me your mastering rates.

 

[Ermz]

Your dedication to getting the music out there, simply for the sake of it, is admirable. We could definitely use a bit more of that in the industry. It just seems like such a shame, because as Harry keeps saying it wipes the floor with many artists who are releasing stuff 'properly' and making a living from it. It's almost an injustice, darn it! Hah.

I wasn't actually thinking to use me for mastering. The last post wasn't intended as an advertisement or anything of the sort. I just recall what running 'Both Sides' through a simple 2-bus analogue comp did for it, and think if you were to get the right person, with the right gear, and the right ear for your music, you could etch an extra 10% from the presentation of the tracks. The thing about mastering is that it's a somewhat minimal risk in this case, because unless they're really bad, they can't screw with your track too much. Just rounding off some of that straight digital thing and making it feel more glued would work wonders for the music IMO. This stuff that you write seems a lot more rooted in the rock thing, and despite your considerable mixing skill, the music just demands that thing only some solid outboard can bring (or perhaps Nebula, haha). I'm floored that you respect my judgment that much though, and will fire off that PM all the same.

PS. Did you use a real amp for Both Sides? I recall some talk about reamping through a Rocktron or something back then.

 

[Disconnekt]

It makes my day you feel that way! I don't know, the way I look at is I barely have enough time to simply finish the album, so how in the hell am I going to market it for selling purposes? I have no doubt that we have a very SMALL following, and I want to get our music out to as many people as possible. If the album is free, I think we can capitalize on that increase in audience. Remember that my whole goal here is to get as many people to listen to this stuff as possible, not to make any money off it. We all have our day jobs and we live in different states, so there's no chance of ever performing live again, sadly. I truly just enjoy making music...its all I day dream about as a matter of fact. Even from just posting on this forum, I get a kick out the fact that there's someone halfway across the world rocking a March Hare track in their house. That's enough satisfaction as far as I'm concerned. If I host the album for free, I will no doubt have a paypal link for donations if people feel the need to pay something back if they enjoy it.

Have you heard of or looked into Bandcamp at all to host the album? (I don't work for them, I just think it's cool.)

 

[J3FFR3Y2692]

=[ I would love to practice with mixing this. Would you ever consider uploading stems by any chance for us to have a go at it?

 

[Harry Hughes]

Some guy on the bodybuilding.com forums asked for bands similar to Deftones less than 20 minutes ago, and I know you're really into them and I know they've influenced your sound and guitar playing (as they have mine too haha) so decided to pimp your band for you there
I just looked back at the thread and he said said he liked what he heard

 

[Splat88]

This stuff that you write seems a lot more rooted in the rock thing, and despite your considerable mixing skill, the music just demands that thing only some solid outboard can bring (or perhaps Nebula, haha). I'm floored that you respect my judgment that much though, and will fire off that PM all the same.

PS. Did you use a real amp for Both Sides? I recall some talk about reamping through a Rocktron or something back then.

Its ironic you brought up Nebula. I just contacted AlexB to purchase his Classic Logic Console. Any suggestions you have regarding any decent Nebula programs?

I did use my Peavey Rockmaster on a version of Both Sides and I have no clue if that unmastered version you had was that, Gearbox, or the Revalver 6505 demo. The most current version has the TSE/Gearbox combo that I like best. Gearbox/PodFarm seems to add this hard cut that I really like and can't seem to get away from, even despite all its shortcomings....and I do mean ALL of them!

Have you heard of or looked into Bandcamp at all to host the album? (I don't work for them, I just think it's cool.)

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Some guy on the bodybuilding.com forums asked for bands similar to Deftones less than 20 minutes ago, and I know you're really into them and I know they've influenced your sound and guitar playing (as they have mine too haha) so decided to pimp your band for you there
I just looked back at the thread and he said said he liked what he heard

Excellent! Even better if he's super hot.

 

[Djabthrash]

Definitely put a Paypal link and/or put it on Bandcamp/iTunes !

I'd buy that anytime, and i'm gonna start to tell all my friends about your band already. Many of them dig the whole Deftones/Tool/36 crazyfists thing (me included), and i'm pretty sure they're gonna love it (just as i do).

Seriously i feel that March Hare is at least as good if not better than 95% of the stuff that is professionaly released out there. Music is ace, and production is great. You just need some proper mastering to reach the extra mile and you're good to go.
I'm very picky with music but i'm definitely drooling over a March Hare album.

 

[kijix84]

your mixes are always good but the vocals need to come out more. they are lost in the mix .. (add more compression, boost 3.5khz maybe?)

 

[nishthefish]

All the snippets that you've released sound so killer!
Can't wait for the album to be released!

I get a kick out the fact that there's someone halfway across the world rocking a March Hare track in their house.

Oh, I play your instrumental demos (that you've posted on soundclick) in my car all the time!. Here, in the United Arab Emirates! I've been trying to spread the word here as well, and people are really digging it!!

 

[stoocake]

Definitely put a Paypal link and/or put it on Bandcamp/iTunes !

I'd buy that anytime, and i'm gonna start to tell all my friends about your band already. Many of them dig the whole Deftones/Tool/36 crazyfists thing (me included), and i'm pretty sure they're gonna love it (just as i do).

Seriously i feel that March Hare is at least as good if not better than 95% of the stuff that is professionaly released out there. Music is ace, and production is great. You just need some proper mastering to reach the extra mile and you're good to go.
I'm very picky with music but i'm definitely drooling over a March Hare album.

+1, 2 3 and 4!

 

[Virgil.]

Hey Matt, just sent you a PM.

 

[Virgil.]

@Splat - what tuning did you use on this song? Did you do any Open C or B tuning? You have a ton of Townsend influence in this song (not in a ripoff kind of way), so I'm just curious. How many layers of guitars are going on? It just sounds massively wide and wet. I love it.

 

[Virgil.]

Matt, any chance we can get multitracks/stems for mixing practice of this song? After 2 years I still keep coming back to your mix wondering how you got such a huge wall of sound, but yet still sounds so airy and clean. I think you would make MANY OF US very happy if we had an opportunity to throw up some test mixes of this!