Mix in progress... Real drums, real amps

Heabow

Heabow

More cowbell!
Aug 24, 2011
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France
Hi

I always got very good advices and honest opinions (either bad or good) with you Sneapers so I share this little clip to get some feedback this time again!

I recorded this band a few weeks ago and today I started the mix. I recently bought a DT770 I decided to mix with them only (at least for the beginning) I think it's a decent starting point. I know what are the weakest zones but my ears are pretty tired and maybe your comments will confirm my thoughts.

Snare and kick are blended with samples. 4 guitars: Jet City 100 + Engl Savage 120 on Bogner cab single SM57.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36870048/DLmastest5.mp3 (mix updated)
 
Tones are very good! You'll get an amazing mix out of this.

I can only give my opinion for what it's worth:
-the volume balance could be a bit better so instruments blend better together. Generally speaking I would say drums are bit too loud especially the snare! It does sound like it's 100% samples though but could be just me. :)
-reverb on toms is too much for my tastes, reminds me of old Metallica. :)
-guitars could have more lows and middle to blend better into the mix. Maybe sounds a little bit like you did some drastic EQ to guitars that wasn't necessary.

But still I'd rate this mix like 7-8 out of 10 so nothing to worry about.
 
Thank you Clark Kent! I'm glad you like it!! I listened to the clip with fresh ears and I agree on pretty much everything you said.

So I worked on the guitars and bass to get more controlled low end, I think they blend better now. The cymbals are less annoying too. Also the snare is way less loud. In fact, I sampled the real snare and mixed it with the original bottom snare (that is non sampled) and 2 samples to get what I was after (a bit ringy) It usually works like a charm but in this case, the drummer had a very irregular and inconsistent playing so the result is a bit artificial. And yeah, I tend to use too much of this Dverb on the toms and drums in general :)

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36870048/DLmastest2.mp3
 
I must say the differences are very subtle for me but it's getting better. :) Getting a Rammstein vibe from the guitars.
 
Cool :)

Isn't too much gain? I find always very difficult to set a proper gain for disto guitars.
 
Sounds fantastic to me, man. the kick could probably stand to come up a little in my opinion. Same for the snare, but that's just my preference.
 
Heabow said:
Subtle? Mmm... Strange coz I made some drastic changes actually. Anyway, I think this one is ok (still have to fix some floppy drum parts) Two days to make the sound of the main elements, I guess that's one too many :)

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36870048/DLmastest5.mp3

Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...

Haha.. yeah that drum thing was something that kind of bothered me too but it's always a bit difficult when you have to compensate for a lacking performance.

Sure it's different! The subtle thing is the way it should be. You don't want to completely change the mix. The latest mix sounds pretty good! Guitar treble maybe a bit irritating there, I dunno if it's the volume level or simply an EQ thing but it's starting to sound complete!
 
Drums sound a lot like Woe, Is Me Number. Interesting snare. They could maybe come up a touch? Toms sound a little loud, but they're played for a second total so its hard to say. The guitars are awesome, but I'd be a little worried that the brightness would get fatiguing after a while. Bass is my kinda bass :D Really nice mix (and very unique), almost there.

Are there vocals?
 
I feel that the snare is being hit in a strange way on the beginning... Just my 0.2 cents.
Loved the balance on the last one! I think a bit of automation would be benefical too.
How about the vocals? Are you recording them too for this one?
 
Thanks a lot guys for the good words and your precious advices, it's VERY encouraging!!!

I LPF'd the guitars a bit more and I brought up the snare a little. The whole thing sounds punchier now, less fatiguing. Pretty classic tricks for the bass actually: one track for the sub/low and another one for the grit/disto (sansamp + Metal Amp Room) EQ and comp are SSL plugins. Both go in a mono buss where I put VCC and MPX tape sim. Another stereo buss with chorus.

I must say that I'm quite happy with the toms. I am always very prudent while I tune them before the recording. The drummer doesn't play much toms on the songs but when he does I want them sound really obvious :D

Oh, it's a "premastered" test! VCC, MPX, PT EQ7 (only for subtle LPF and HPF) and SSL comp used.

I will post a clip later with vocals, additional guitars and keyboards to know your opinion! Cheers!
 
Thanks for the info. I already heard about that chorus trick but I never tried. What you think of it? It´s really worth?
 
Well, it depends of what you're after really. Sometimes I feel the bass needs some chorus and sometimes not (more often actually) I usually don't like when I clearly hear the chorus on the grit bass track and I just want to make the low end sounds a bit wider. So the two bass tracks have not the same amount. Also I find important to slightly EQ the chorus to get rid of the unwanted frequencies. Hope it helps!
 
Hello, I'm back here :) I stopped working on this project for about 2 weeks. Yesterday, I mixed this song. Still have to add the vox but I'm just curious of what you think of this: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36870048/Master instrutest.wav Also, it supposed to be the final level. Is this loud enough (I think so) Do you notice some clipping shit or not?

Thanks in advance for being honest.

PS - sorry, as I'm writing, I only have access to the Wave version. But the song is relatively short...
 
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