Mix Advice

[DrScreamo]

Hey, this is my first mix I've ever done and I'm looking for some feedback and suggestions on what i can do to make it sound "fuller."

I've learned a lot from this forum and I'm stoked to hear what you have to say that can improve my sound.

http://soundcloud.com/marshallbreedlove/intro

 

[oroinvictus]

There's definitely room for improvement here. The drums sound very unnatural and are very quiet, I can't really hear them. With this kind of music the drums really help drive things along. Cymbals or overheads are inaudible. The guitars need editing to get them on time, the playing sounds pretty sloppy. The lead guitars sound out of tune, especially during the last bit of the track where you can only hear them. The guitar tone itself needs a lot of work, all I hear is honky mid-frequency pick scratch and not much actual tone. Any sort of bass guitar is inaudible. The vocals sound like they could be pretty good at the source but need more processing to get them to shine, namely a de-esser. From 0:48 to 0:51 and a couple other times in the track, there is an inexplicable low-mid 'hump' that goes on, you can see it on the waveform. Maybe starting from scratch with a fresh set of ears could help you.

 

[DrScreamo]

Thanks! I checked it out and i did start from scratch like you had suggested.

Here is the new mix, any more suggestions from anyone?

http://soundcloud.com/marshallbreedlove/intro-mis-2

 

[3tuxedo]

Definitely take to heart what oroinvictus said, he has amazing tips. I would say personally, the guitars need to be either edited or just played tighter. I'm a piss guitar player so I normally edit my guitars quite a bit. They just sound off. A great way to make a really punchy breakdown is quantizing the guitars with the kick and then make sure the bass is coming through nicely.

 

[DrScreamo]

When you say quantize, do you mean like the flex tool in logic, or could I make say a midi tack with the rhythm and use vocalign to quantize it?

 

[3tuxedo]

I meant flex time, but I suppose the vocalign thing could work. Flex time is a great tool dude. I used to use Logic.

One thing I do wanna say is the improvement from the first clip to the second one is a huge step man, that is how you make adjustments.

 

[oroinvictus]

Definitely a huge improvement over the 1st mix. I wish the guitars had a little more body in the 800hz-ish area but that's just my personal taste. Don't be afraid to chop up those guitar files by hand and manually set things right, sometimes trying to quantize things can be a real asspain.

Definitely take to heart what oroinvictus said, he has amazing tips

You're too kind

 

[Gujukal]

I have to agree that it's a big improvement from your first mix. The tuning on the lead guitar is still painfully obvious. If you don't want to re-record it you can always use a program called Melodyne. I use it sometime on the lead guitar to get the perfect tuning and it sounds really good if you don't over use it