Merging all the instruments..

[Xenu]

Hey guys!

I'm a beginner in mixing/recording etc. and I'm a little bit confused about some things! (Sorry my english)

I'm working mainly with Cubase / Addictive Drums / Synths-Pianos / Distorted Guitars etc.!

My signal chain for the guitar is: Guitar --> Audio Interface --> Rea-Gate --> Ampsim --> Cabinet..

I thought that my main problem is my distorted guitar sound because it was not a big problem for me to get a nice clean sound which affiliated easier with the other instruments like the drums etc... I tried many amp sims / Cabinets etc. and found this forum! I tried a signal chain from Dandelium (THANKS man!) and it sounded almost like in his example with the TSE-X30!

!At this point! i think i identified my "real" problem!
I compared Dandeliums signal chain with my older signal chains and recognized that my older guitar sounds does'nt sound soo bad like i thought - It was more this "accretion" with the other instruments, which makes this sounds "mighty" and mainly "compatible"!

I wrote down around 45 songs with guitar pro.. The songs are going into a music-style like "Dope", "Rammstein", "Deathstars, "Poisonblack".. I exported all that guitar pro midi tracks to cubase for further editing etc..

At this point I tune my Vst's until I like the sound for the recording session.
And there's the problem -->

"--- I got Sound A (Drums), Sound B (Guitars), Sound C (Choirs etc.) ----
Every sound "by itself" is sounding "ok" but the sounds are not going to affiliate and every instrument is a debris in a song."

Many of you think maybe that my problem is that I'm a noob in mixing the sounds """together""" and I think you're right.. Am I right?? :/ I think so.. :/

I red that every Instrument got it's own dominant Frequencies, so if I'm equalizing for an example a bass drum, should I radically delete/reduce all that high frequencies which are not really necessary for this instrument (Only Lows/Mids etc.) to give the other instruments space in their frequencies? I worked this way but it does'nt affiliate the instruments much in this way..

I hope I described my problem in detail, so I can hope for help..
I would be very happy to get some Tips/Tricks/Books/sites/Posts so that I can "specific" learn to mix (affiliate) my Finnish/Gothic-Metal Tracks correctly!

Cheers!
Xenu

 

[Morgan C]

First off
Why would you dump hydrogen bombs on us?

And secondly
There's really no trick to it. You can look up specific EQs but nothings going to apply to everything. Just keep at it. Downloading some multitracks might help point you in the right direction. Just play around with your amp controls, with all your plugins and eventually you'll start to like what you hear.

 

[Xenu]

1. I don't think it's to much what I asked.. I think I would be pleased with some nice links or something, which bring me to a right way..

2. Where can i find those Metal-Multitrack-Projects?
I've only found damn Pop/Elektro examples etc. but not for Metal.. Especially not for guys who don't want to record their Tracks threw Microphones!
I wish I could learn from a pro... I also would pay for his knowledge, but Austria is a really shitty place to find someone that knows how to create a really awesome metal-production..

Cheers!

 

[Ben Johnson]

Getting each element in the mix to "affiliate" is the what mixing is all about.

I'd have to agree that a frequency analyzer is VERY helpful to beginners. (Sometimes I pull one up myself to quickly see what's going on in an instrument)

 

[Dollarosa]

I think there is like a frequency graph on the net that shows the frequency range of each instrument, use this to give you an idea of what to cut or boost for each instrument, then experiment.

 

[smy1]

How do mix song? ¯\(°_o)/¯

 

[Xenu]

Ok! I'll try that out!

Usually I equalized it by ear and never used a frequency graph - but I can't trust my Speakers because I spent so much money for my instruments! Monitors are such a expensive thing but are really necessary.. What do you guys think about Studio-Headphones? Are they a good "replacement" to get a "true" sound for mixing?

Thx for your fast reply!
I love this forum!

Cheers

 

[Morgan C]

I use $50 headphones for all my mixes. The only thing to watch out for is that the mid-side relationship can be quite different to monitors. I often struggle to get my snare and vocals fitting nicely, so you have to reference some speakers or something for that. They don't necessarily have to be good speakers though.

 

[Jind]

It looks like you are just starting out with this stuff - I think you would benefit greatly from doing some searching around for more general information on EQing, mixing, and getting some basic concepts down.

While not free (well free if you have an eSub subscription to Sound on Sound magazine) these recent articles on Recording and Mixing Extreme Metal would be great places to start. I think you can download them in PDF format for $1.49 US each.

The SOS Guide To Recording & Producing Modern Metal: Part 1

Contents:

1. The Project’s Budget
2. Right Clicks
3. Equipment
4. Skinning A Kit
5. Drum Tuning
6. Bass & Guitar
7. Vocal Pre-production
8. Engineering & Recording
9. Snare, Hats, Toms & Cymbals
10. Triggers, Samples & Edits
11. Bass Guitar
12. Bass Distortion
13. Recording Metal Guitar
14. Vocals
15. Parting Shots
16. About The Author
17. Politics & Production
18. Comfortable Clicks For Nervous Drummers
19. Creating Your Own Drum Samples
20. One Vocalist, Two Mics

The SOS Guide To Extreme Metal Production: Part 2

Contents:

1. Time Alignment & Phase
2. Grouping The Groups
3. Finely Balanced
4. Panning & Stereo Width
5. Equalisation
6. Filter Away
7. Intelligent EQ
8. Where The Meat Is
9. Compression
10. Effects
11. Conclusion
12. Drum Samples In Metal Mixing
13. Drum Samples & Side-Chain Gating
14. Listening Levels & Environment
15. Master Bus Processing
16. Listen For Yourself!

They really were a great series and very informative especially for someone new to this.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Ah nice, had no idea you could get those SOS Articles on the net.

 

[Xenu]

@Morgan C: Wow - You got pretty cool mixes with that 50$ headphones! I red very often that a linear sound is a fundament for a good mixing!

@Jind: I started recording for 1 and a half year but I jumped into the cold water and gave some general Information to less priority!
There are some songs from the past year -->
http://www.myspace.com/thedemonsdiary (Awful ^^)
Thanks for the links! That's the stuff that I'm searching for!


Cheers

 

[AntonioPetrole]

It looks like you are just starting out with this stuff - I think you would benefit greatly from doing some searching around for more general information on EQing, mixing, and getting some basic concepts down.

While not free (well free if you have an eSub subscription to Sound on Sound magazine) these recent articles on Recording and Mixing Extreme Metal would be great places to start. I think you can download them in PDF format for $1.49 US each.

The SOS Guide To Recording & Producing Modern Metal: Part 1

Contents:

1. The Project’s Budget
2. Right Clicks
3. Equipment
4. Skinning A Kit
5. Drum Tuning
6. Bass & Guitar
7. Vocal Pre-production
8. Engineering & Recording
9. Snare, Hats, Toms & Cymbals
10. Triggers, Samples & Edits
11. Bass Guitar
12. Bass Distortion
13. Recording Metal Guitar
14. Vocals
15. Parting Shots
16. About The Author
17. Politics & Production
18. Comfortable Clicks For Nervous Drummers
19. Creating Your Own Drum Samples
20. One Vocalist, Two Mics

The SOS Guide To Extreme Metal Production: Part 2

Contents:

1. Time Alignment & Phase
2. Grouping The Groups
3. Finely Balanced
4. Panning & Stereo Width
5. Equalisation
6. Filter Away
7. Intelligent EQ
8. Where The Meat Is
9. Compression
10. Effects
11. Conclusion
12. Drum Samples In Metal Mixing
13. Drum Samples & Side-Chain Gating
14. Listening Levels & Environment
15. Master Bus Processing
16. Listen For Yourself!

They really were a great series and very informative especially for someone new to this.

i had 12 dollars in my paypal account, so i got these. Cool Info, thanks for the links!

 

[ahjteam]

I often struggle to get my snare and vocals fitting nicely

I usually keep them mono, but then spread them with a stereo reverb