Modern Hardcore Mix - Please Help Me :)

[HaveHeart]

Hi out there,

I put a lot of effort in this mix. What I tried is to make it sound as professional as possible.
I also mastered this track (just to get it loud). I am pretty new in the recording thing and read a lot of stuff on here and also watched the Creative Live Classes “Recording Rock Guitar”, “Recording Rock Vocals”
But what am I missing? My mix is lacking some low end I think (compared to stuff like The Ghost Inside / Stick To Your Guns). Not enough pressure overall!
Also the Drum sound is not punchy enough.
Can you probably help me ?!?!?!?!

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wupf3pnyitpz8bb/Waves Like Walls - Trapped Master 22.10..mp3?dl=0

Here is what I am using:
DAW: Reaper
System: Mac Mini
Interface: Apogee Duet
Recording Mic: Shure SM 58
Monitors: Yamaha HS 7
Headphones: Sennheiser HD-25

Plugins Used:
- Waves SSL 4000
- TSE X50 2.4 (Amp Sim)
- ToneBooster Track Essentials Bundle (DeEsser, Compression, EQ,….)
- Valhalla Vintage Verb
- Reaper Stock Plugins (Saturation,…)
- TSE B.O.D + TSE Tubescreamer
- EZ Drummer + Metal Machine EZX


Guitar Chain:
ESP LTD EC 400 with EMGs - > Apogee Duet - >

TSE X50 (High Quality / Stereo Mode) ->
Tubescreamer in front / Drive 0 / Level max / Tone middle / ->
Amp Settings: PreGain 2 / Lows 5 / Mids 2,5 / High 4 / Post Gain 6 / Poweramp not activated / IRs Fat Lazy Cabs XXL blended with Fat Lazy Cabs Orange Crush ->

TB EQ: Low Cut at 80 Hz / wide Digital bell -5 db in the mids around 500 Hz / Some more cuts to remove bad sounding frequenzies. ->

Sending the Guitar Tracks to a Guitar Bus which contains of this chain:
- SSL 4000 Comp (mild gain reduction 2-3 db)
- SSL EQ to remove midrangy frequenzies
- Rea Saturation (15%)


Double tracked the guitar -> one panned 100% left one panned 100 %right
Also did this with the other guitar (different Amp settings, different IRs)
So at the beginning of the song we have 4 guitar tracks playing. When lead guitar comes in there is on centered lead git and 2 rhythm tracks (left/right)
I also have clean DI Tracks (git 1 left+right / git 2 left+right) running to boost the low end (as seen in the youtube video / creative live with Andrew wade)


Bass Chain:
Bass - > Apogee Duet - >
Splitted the signal in 3 different Tracks: Bass normal/light distortion, Bass “High Heavy Distortion” (TSE Tubescreamer, TSE BOD) with low cut around 400 hz and Bass DI with just the low end running. Compressor on every track also
Send them to one Mix Bus with an SSL Comp and TB EQ ( cuts on 60 Hz (Kickdrum) and boost on 120 Hz )

Drums:
Programmed Drums -> EZ Drummer with Metal Machine ->
Kickdrum: SSL Channel with a Preset from CLA -> EQ (bell – 5 db 300-500 area / low cut 40 hz/ boost 60 hz / cut 120 hz)
Snare: Compressor -> EQ -> Rea Saturation -> Valhalla Vintage Verb
Overheads: TB DeEsser (remove harsh sounds slightly), SSL Comp
Hi-Hat: Compressor + EQ
Toms: Comp + Valhalla Vintage Verb
Room: Valhalla Vintage Verb
Ride: nothing, no ride played
Reverb: EZ Drummer

Routed to a Drum Bus with SSL Compressor with some light gain reduction


Vocals:
SM 58 (without grille) on a mic stand with popfilter –> Apogee Duet
Heavy Compressed Vocals + EQ (low cut 90 Hz and some other things) sent to a Vocal Bus (SSL Channel with little bit of compression + EQ + Valhalla Vintage Verb and some Saturation)
Some parts/words are doubled.
I also have some effect tracks (lo-fi and a harsh vocals track to add some punch)

Mix Bus:
SSL Bus Comp with 1-2 db Gain Reduction
SSL EQ

That’s what I did on this song. Any ideas what I can to better? Would be nice if you share some of your ideas.

Greetings,
HaveHeart

 

[J.L.BeelerMusic]

Just listened to the track on my phones speaker, later today I'll check it out at my desk. I will say it sounded like everything had a pretty good balance.

Your mix notes left me wondering if you happened to cut out everything 40hz and below. Bass track might could benefit from it (like I said I'll check it on my monitors later).

Also if you're wanting snappier drums do some parallel processing on your kick and snare. Duplicate the tracks with a compressor having slow-ish attack time and a lot of gain reduction. This should accentuate the transients.

Then if you're brave and want more low frequencies on your rhythm guitars take the DI and low-pass them (do a bit of a cut at the fundamental kick frequencies so they don't over power it) compress it to hell and back. Blend it to taste, but be gentle. This will give them clean low-end information that doesn't just sound like noise, it's still musical. Just re-read your post and realised you were already doing this.

Like I said I'm basically flying blind and I'm just going off of what you wrote in your post. Hope some of this helped!

Really this should be in Practice Room not FOH, but I checked it out anyways. I would bring the direct mics up for the kick and snare. Get rid of just a bit of the verb/roomy sound in the process. Bring the bass guitar up in the mix. I might wouldn't alternate different cab IR's, it's a little distracting. I am a fan of using multiple amp settings though. Then there's a little bit of pumping in the master. Overall it's not bad at all, keep it up!

 

[HaveHeart]

Thank you for listening and your advises. I will def. try the parallel processing on snare and kick drum + less verb on vocal track and more bass guitar in the mix!

I cutted out everything below 40 hz. Guitars around 80 hz. Vocals on 120 Hz

 

[greyskull]

Guitars sound pretty cool, but could with a bit more mids, a TINY bit less gain and be a little quieter; Just a smidge to help the drums punch through. But that's me listening to this with my Hatebreed fan hat on.
Also the bass seems to be non-existant. Give it more low, more volume, more dirt/Grind and more 1.5 k, like A LOT more.

Also felt that the first chorus guitar was a bit wierd/Distracting; seems to make the chorus not kick in as much. Stick with that first tone. Might just be how it's Eq'd but it sounds a bit phasey/Mono.
The gang vocals could be a bit Bigger, Spank em hard with a compressor and give em a big verb.

The lead Vocals sounded pretty spot on for this sorta vibe to me.

 

[HaveHeart]

Thanks for listening too greyskull.
Yeah i just cutted to much mids on the guitars.
And getting the bass louder with more dirt&grind helped a lot.
The gangvocals were sadly just a 2 men gangshout recorded in a lot of takes.
so that could have done better (will re record that)