My latest work (non-metal, natural stuff)

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Heya, been a while since I posted here. Here's a song from the latest project I worked on:

http://tainted-studio.com/mixes/Little Jack/Master/Little Jack - Summer.mp3

Tracking, mixing and mastering by yours truly. The band wanted the demo to sound like how they sound live, so the takes were mostly from start to beginning, just a couple of punch-in's, no quantizing and minimal auto-tune. Kick has about 20% sample blended in, snare has about 40%, otherwise it's all natural.

The demo is already finished so I won't be changing the mix, but feedback is always more than welcome

The band will be realeasing the whole demo quite soon, so if you like the song, be sure to check out the two other songs when they're out.

 

[AEL89]

I like it. Only thoughts:

- Guitars seem a little wide in the first chorus? I don't think 100L/100R is what's needed - automation would make it a lot more interesting
- The reverse guitar effect needs a little automating and the solo feels a little strange being slightly on the right hand side.
- Have you used a bit of parallel compression on the snare sample? I think it sounds a tiny bit unnatural. I tend to automate parallel compression a lot - bring it up a touch for the chorus but sit it back in the verses
- I'd definitely consider tuning a few of the vocal lines. Definitely a great vibe overall but sometimes its a little too sharp/flat and its detracting from the song. Only a few notes though.
- I'd bring the guitars down a fraction in the first chorus. Makes a bigger deal of the later choruses. Try sidechaining the vocal to the guitars on the last chorus so they can still be in your face without having to bring them up loads.

Great mix overall though! Can you give us details on the vocals? Have you made them dirtier with post processing? Love the way the bass comes in a little distorted in the middle 8 too. Great job, really well thought out mix, sounds pro.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I like it. Only thoughts:

- Guitars seem a little wide in the first chorus? I don't think 100L/100R is what's needed - automation would make it a lot more interesting
- The reverse guitar effect needs a little automating and the solo feels a little strange being slightly on the right hand side.
- Have you used a bit of parallel compression on the snare sample? I think it sounds a tiny bit unnatural. I tend to automate parallel compression a lot - bring it up a touch for the chorus but sit it back in the verses
- I'd definitely consider tuning a few of the vocal lines. Definitely a great vibe overall but sometimes its a little too sharp/flat and its detracting from the song. Only a few notes though.
- I'd bring the guitars down a fraction in the first chorus. Makes a bigger deal of the later choruses. Try sidechaining the vocal to the guitars on the last chorus so they can still be in your face without having to bring them up loads.

Great mix overall though! Can you give us details on the vocals? Have you made them dirtier with post processing? Love the way the bass comes in a little distorted in the middle 8 too. Great job, really well thought out mix, sounds pro.

- Could be, but I wanted to emphasize the contrast between the verse and chorus so I think it's mostly a stylistical preference.
- I think the reverse guitar you're talking about is just the guitarist using his pedal arsenal to dial up the effects
- Nope, no parallel compression on the snare.
- Personally, I can't hear that much wrong with the vocals. I went through them with Melodyne and only picked up a couple of spots where I thought tuning was absolutely necessary.
- Yeah, that's a good one. The guitars do rise in volume in each chorus, but just a tiny bit.

The vocals were tracked in the control room, the vocalist holding an SM7 and the monitors blasting. UA8110 into Apogee AD16. No post saturation whatsoever, just a fuck-ton of compression

Thanks a lot for the input dude, much appreciated!

 

[Mago]

I like it, fits the style very nice!
Not a fan of the ...erm...Snare Strainer I think it is called, that rings out a lot, but in a washy way...if that makes any sense lol

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Thanks a lot for the feedback

The whole demo is now available as a free download. If you're interested, head over here: http://www.tainted-studio.com/littlejack

The website is just a quick promo page I threw together for them as a favor because they're a new band and don't have a proper website yet.

 

[jipchen]

Really like the mix. I think the snare could be a little more roomy, yet I realize there's already a lot of room/reverb on it.. but still.
Perhaps a brighter reverb would achieve the effect I think of. But that's just personal taste. The mix fits the music very well imho.

Also, cool music indeed.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Really like the mix. I think the snare could be a little more roomy, yet I realize there's already a lot of room/reverb on it.. but still.
Perhaps a brighter reverb would achieve the effect I think of. But that's just personal taste. The mix fits the music very well imho.

Also, cool music indeed.

Yeah, could be. Quite a bit of the snare verb comes from the totally smashed drum room mic, which makes it pretty dark indeed. And thanks!