My first 'proper' mix (clip inside)

[Ermz]

hey guys,

I think I'm finally ready to actually share something with this forum. Up until now I"ve been backed away from posting anything on here because of the insanely high quality material, and professional engineers that frequent this forum.

This is basically a session I did at the academy I study at... I just finished mixing and mastering it.

To start with, I know that the cymbals sound like shit... drums were done in an iso booth... it couldn't be helped.

Rhythm guitars are done through an ENGL Powerball, ENGL cab with GT75 speakers and no boost before. Lead guitars are split between a Marshall JCM 800 running out a 1960A cab, driven by a Boss GT-6 and also the Powerball.

Bass was a shitty LTD Viper through a bass combo amp... mic'ed with a d112.

Vox with a KSM mic.

Anyway, fire away all the criticism guys. I'm happy to hear what you have to say.

http://users.tpg.com.au/afiteam/IMW-JMCSong-mp3.mp3

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Cool. I like how you've kind of got your own sound going on there. You can hear everything clearly too. That being said, I think the snare and kick could be a little more in your face to make the whole thing more aggressive...maybe a little less trigger on the fills and rolls? I don't really care too much for the guitar tone but that's IMHO.

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, getting some negative feedback on the rhythm guitars... will go back to them and see what I can do. They were a bit of a struggle to deal with though... did a lot of EQ to make them 'sit', but even so they sound weak.

Glad you liked the rest. I personally like the whole 'trigger' sound on fills and rolls, it kinda reminds me of Andy's style, hehe, so I kept it.

Thanks a heap for the feedback.

 

[Impy]

I'd say you've cut the OH's and the hihat too high, i'd like to hear some more bottom in 'em, especially the hihat, it has a bit of an annoying fizz to it.

I thought the guitars sounded good but maybe a bit roomy? But that sort of fits the style imo so i don't know...

Anyways, good job for a first...

 

[Ermz]

I agree about the roomy guitar sound. We had the amp cooking real loud, and the room was just bouncing reflections everywhere... had nothing available to muffle or tent with. Agree about the hat too, tried EQing it.. didn't work too well. Will try pulling it back in the mix though.

Thanks!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I'd say you've cut the OH's and the hihat too high, i'd like to hear some more bottom in 'em, especially the hihat, it has a bit of an annoying fizz to it.

I thought the guitars sounded good but maybe a bit roomy? But that sort of fits the style imo so i don't know...

Anyways, good job for a first...

I agree with Impy on the OH's; a little more lows would be good there I think.

 

[JeffTD]

Can't think of anything else to add other than what's already been said; but am I the only one who thinks the singer sounds like Alexi Laiho quite a bit?

 

[JeffTD]

Listening further, a ton of the guitarwork is total throwback to Children of Bodom...was this intended?

 

[Ermz]

Nope, not at all. Rhythm guitarist is a huge Testament/Death fan, and I think that's reflected in his playing. Lead guitarist is big on the neoclassical thing... but lately more blues. His leads have that kinda sound.

Thanks for the advice on the OH's guys. We didn't actually use OHs... couldnt really fit em into the booth. Everything was close-miced. But I'll try to add some of those lows back. Reason I took em out was coz early on I was A/Bing to Sneap stuff and it was destroying me how big and bright his stuff sounded as opposed to mine which was really dull at the time... so i just brightened the living hell out of the cymbals.

 

[Impy]

They need some bottom end, otherwise they'll just sound thin and sort of boring.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

I like the whole Metallica: Garage Days vibe from this mix

 

[Hapexamendios]

The cymbals do seem to be low or thin? The guitar tone has some bite to it. I dig it, reminds me of old school Overkill...don't know why, it just does.

Great job, man. I like it.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

dude.. sounds hollow poddy and tinny... like AM radio or something... hmmm... its not AWFUL by any means.. but I've just had some DAATH on me, so its a very stark contrast.... dunno about that old school tritone riffage, either...

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

but.. the vocals sound pretty good actually! and the harmd guits.. its sounds to me almost like old school obituary, production wise.

 

[Ermz]

I had no control over the music. It's not myself or my band that I recorded. I do agree about the guitars. Haven't been able to rectify that though. Band seem happy, so fair enough.

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

I like the whole Metallica: Garage Days vibe from this mix

Exactly. It reminds me exactly of Garage Days Revisited.

The only things I've got to point that really wasn't to my liking, was the snare which sounded very odd in some breaks, some annoying ringing in the ride...but very good for a first timer, though!


Good luck!

 

[Black neon bob]

First of all, big, BIG thumbs for the vocals! they way they were processed and mixed is amazing, plus the singer has an amazing voice as well...

Lead guitar sounds good as well, no complaints at all..

I do agree on the rhytm guitars.. it could use some bite, and less room.. but that has been said allready..

Further, i love the kickdrum! has a really deep thumb to it... i like that. snare sounds fine to me, and i like the toms just like they are now... cymbals were allready noticed by yourself..

Is this mastered by the way?

Overall, i really like the song, i can feel a lot potential, and when i hear it, it has elements that would make this sound like a professional mix to me, but more important, there are some elements, very few, that keep it from being a fully pro mix... i would probably bring up the drums a bit more for agression, maybe a little more bite in the snare and kick, and the guitars as well...

But overall this sounds very good! Moonlapse, thanks for sharing that!!

 

[Ermz]

Thanks dudes, all the criticisms have been noted. A lot of them i know about but have failed to fix, haha.

I tried actually bringing the rhytm guitars down a bit, pumping the snare and kick, brought the cymbals down a bit. but the end result was just a mix that sounded a lot duller. I'm having a real heap of trouble mixing the bass in there just because the room we tracked in made so many frequencies unuseable. Doin my very best atm, trying to remix, but I think I might just call it a day for the moment, been working on it too long, hehe.

Thanks again and yeah, it's mastered.

 

[Ermz]

I just realized a major fuck-up... the session files are all 44khz whilst my Cubase mixing session is 48khz. The thing is actually playing in slight fast forward, which is causing a lot of that shitassed sound.

I've never actually modified the samplerate mid-session... is it possible to do in Cubase? My mix is already done and shit, I don't want to re-import all the files and have to do all the automation again.

EDIT: nevermind. I found the section where it lets you change samplerates... I've only got 48khz available to me. Goddamn, gonna have to re-import then fix the automation up.

 

[Ermz]

Alright... proper version is finally up

http://users.tpg.com.au/afiteam/IMW-JMCSong-mp3.mp3