my first dirty mix!!!

the snare is a sample from a pearl snare(wood)...I can't remember wich model. I have snare top, snare bot, snare oh and snare room. The process is mcdsp ac-1, waves v-serie eq, urs channel strip pro, massey tape head. I have THE GLUE on the drum buss and take 5db of compression on the snare hit. I'm very obsessed about snare tone...I got the new circa survive and for me is by far the best sounding snare I heard...fat and punchy...I'ts my main goal to achieve this kind of tone...

About the mix...The band want something more natural...My point is if you want something natural you need a really good sound capture. The natural drum sound sound so thin...It's gona be a fucking huge challeng for me now!!!!!
 
Thanks for the info, so, to clarify, you have The Glue on the drum bus and then dial it until the snare hits make it reduce by 5dB? Very interesting, I'll have to check out the new CS, what you have in the mix you linked is the kind of snare I absolutely love.

I totally agree man, unfortunately a lot of bands don't realize that and it ends up being a battle to the end, I'm sure you can come up with something though :)
 
The natural drum sound sound so thin...It's gona be a fucking huge challeng for me now!!!!!

If that's how the drums ACTUALLY SOUNDED why don't you just roll with it rather than trying to transform it into something else?
Jesus, all these digital safety nets...

This mix is pretty cool though, the snare is perfect volume-wise IMO. A little loud but it works.
I look forward to hearing the next version of the mix.
 
I'm sorry for thinking it unreasonable for a recording of a drum kit to sound like a drum kit?
I've never heard a set of drums with the kind of excessive 200hz modern recordings seem to have, ever.
I'm sure he could just beef them up a little bit with a bit of eq?
 
It's not unreasonable to think that, but do those drums sound like garbage trucks or scissors to you? They sound like drums to me... If the raw tracks are thin it is a problem. So you either keep them thin and make everything else thin too to accommodate or you have thin drums and full sounding guitars/bass/vox/etc., neither of which sound like something that would equate a good mix, IMO anyway. As far as the "excessive 200Hz"... 200 is a very common fundamental for the snare body/"thwack"/whatever, it's not like people grab it from thin air, it's already there in most all average snare drums, I don't think it's excessive really. Some guys accent it more and some less, I don't see what the big deal is.
 
^^ The original drums were recorded in a small basement, and the style of the band calls for a tight mix with good separation. Do you really fail to understand why he is frustrated with this?
 
very interesting about the kick sample thing... i do a similar thing but not quite...

on a side note, i'm STOKED to see you posting here more, Yannick!
 
very interesting about the kick sample thing... i do a similar thing but not quite...

I just spent the whole afternoon blending different parts of various kicks and even sine waves. I get to the point where it sounds epic so I export the samples. Upon loading them up in a project, however, it turns out they don't work that great.

I have an idea of what I want to achieve but it's so hard to nail a good kick sound without a mix to help you put things in perspective. I guess I should give up blending samples imported in a project and instead deal with a bunch of tracks of the same thing routed to different samples (or I should just buy Trigger already).
 
The snare doesn't really sound like a sample. It sounds like a well recorded snare drum that's comped well.

Try some tape saturation on those guitars, cutting a bit of high mids, and getting some more air frequencies. There's a bit too much conflict with the screaming vocals.

Overall, the mix rules, and it's quite impressive how loud you've gotten it.
 
thank you greg...for the snare I have a lot of sample and dynamic range. I use trigger for it. For the loudness I have only 1 plugin on my master bus and is not ozone 4 or the slate master plug-in!!!!! No eq, no limiter on the master buss!!! I'm a bit frustrated because I need to remix it...The band want something more like the dillinger escape plan!!!
 
thank you greg...for the snare I have a lot of sample and dynamic range. I use trigger for it. For the loudness I have only 1 plugin on my master bus and is not ozone 4 or the slate master plug-in!!!!! No eq, no limiter on the master buss!!! I'm a bit frustrated because I need to remix it...The band want something more like the dillinger escape plan!!!

Well Yannick, mind telling us which plug you're using??? =D I got a chance to listen to this in the studio and the low-end is fucking SOLID, PUNCHY and TIGHT as all hell. Fucking love it.

So, you're saying ALL you have on your 2BUSS is 1 plug-in just to get loudness? That's impressive...

I'm starting to think my massive 2BUSS processing is a crutch and starting to fuck me over..... shit just ends up getting to messy. Every fader move I make totally fucks the gain structure of my 2buss plugs and then im all :puke:
 
I'm starting to think my massive 2BUSS processing is a crutch and starting to fuck me over..... shit just ends up getting to messy. Every fader move I make totally fucks the gain structure of my 2buss plugs and then im all :puke:

Putting a million plugins on the 2buss is full of pitfalls. I know how easy it is too end up with too much stuff there. If I'm careful I'll have just the maximizer and maaybe a touch of eq if I know I'm completely done with the mix and I can easily skip it if I choose. Other times there's a compressor, a multiband comp, eq and even a clipper and more often than not I'll start over, leaving only stuff like gates and sample replacement.
 
Agreed. When the mix is right, it don't need shit. "Glue" is what you get when you mix the right tonal ingredients.

I generally just use Waves GSSL and Elephant. That's all.
 
thank you greg...for the snare I have a lot of sample and dynamic range. I use trigger for it. For the loudness I have only 1 plugin on my master bus and is not ozone 4 or the slate master plug-in!!!!! No eq, no limiter on the master buss!!! I'm a bit frustrated because I need to remix it...The band want something more like the dillinger escape plan!!!

You're pretty far along in the game. A band should give you a guide for the mix, you do it, and that be it. Don't let them drive you insane. They're aware of the kind of music you do, and the bands you've done, so they should know you like what you like, and give them a killer mix that's your style.

Great work.
 
The plug-in I use on the master bus is not for loudness...it's for the ''glue effect'' and it's the api 2500. When I saw andy sneap, jason suecof, zeuss mixing a album...those guys dont care about loudness...her main concern is the balance and tone of the mix...A good mix is easy to make it loud. When you try to mix for loudness it's the beginning of the end. If you can't give some loudness to a mix maybe it's because something is not a the right place. I hate limiter....limiter SUCK!!! hahaha...I'm always trying to keep away from. Sorry for my bad english!!!!
 
Your best option is probably to just re-record the drums the right way, not fix it with samples. It sounds like the band wants live sounding drums, and as awesome as your drums sound, they don't sound like a raw, live drum kit. I'm a drummer who records bands, so I hear it immediately as a put-together drum sound. Awesome sounding and totally convincing for anyone who doesn't actually play drums, but definitely not how a REAL drum kit sounds.

Personally, I love the mix as-is from a feat of engineering clarity, but I think the band wants it to sound more real, live, and gritty and I agree with them as an artist and producer - it would suit their sound more. It's not about what sounds the most pristine, but what suits the artistic vision.