You got it man yeah, try the hardware api, that'll be miles better than the plugin. And yeah just brighten the guitars up a little. I love the snare personally, I think it's all taste really.
Thanks! Yep, I agree with the guitars. I'm going to post the final version today. I added a bit of top end to the master and the guitars sound fine now. Regarding the snare, I'm glad that you and many others like it. I wanted to have a different drum sound than what I usually hear in metal mixes. It's totally normal than some people will like it and some others won't. The client is really happy with the mix and that's what matters the most to me!
The ride almost sounds like a click track. Needs more sustain, way less attack.
Otherwise fantastic mix, I wouldn't change anything.
I totally agree, I don't like the ride either.. The band gave me consolidated WAV files for the drums and there's really nothing I can do about it at this point..
Can you share any info on your mastering process? There's something very natural and non-fatiguing on all of your mixes/masters.. Thanks!
Thank you very much! I really appreciate this type of comment! I guess I simply try not to crush my mixes louder than everyone else. I think that the volume knob on every system, iPod (etc) exists for one good reason ; you turn it up and suddently, the music is louder! It's like a magic button that lazy people from the new generation seems to have forgotten. I understand that "louder seems better" but I think there's a good compromise between being quieter than every commercial releases and "loud as hell, no clarity, no punch, no dynamic".
When you start compromising the potential of a song and the audio quality of music just to get it louder, I think something's wrong. By that, I mean having kick without any low-end, snare with only decay and no attack/punch, brick-wall song without any dynamic that makes it hard to tell if you're listening to the verses or the choruses, etc.
We're all aware of that loudness war and unfortunately, we have to be competetive in some way. People are listening to music in iPod headphones while walking down the street with all that noise. I get the point but still, I 'd rather be 2dB quieter and retain all the details I like about a song or a mix.
the overall mix sounds great man. the snare grew on me. the only thing that seems weird to me is the perspective of ride...is it physically on the same side of the kit as the hihats? anyway, i've been following your work on gearslutz since the playdates stuff and i'm always impressed.
Thank you very much man! Regarding the ride, it is panned on left and the hi-hat is on the right. The ride is really bugging me (and many others as I can tell) but I can't change it now.
By the way, I just finished producing and mixing 3 new songs for The Playdates that recently signed on a label. I'm gonna post it soon on GearSlutz!
