Need Help with this Mix

[ChrisConnorProject]

Hey Guys,

I've got a Mix here than well, i'm not sure it's upto standard. Thought i'd come and ask all you!

Alright! I took off all the EQ's Basically just highpass and lowpassed the guitars like Kronk said to do. I used a completely different kit (used an Allen Morgan Preset on the Avatar Kit) and then seperated the snare top, bottom and the thing next to the snare bottom on the mixer, and set it to a seperate bus, and then a seperate OUT and added a bit of reverb. I re-tracked the left guitar back to its normal state. The levels probably won't be great but it's just to see if the tones worked any better.

Version 4: [SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/user583056/jumped-and-drowned-from-2/s-5O9nx[/SOUNDCLOUD]

Heres the new one, No EQ's on the rhythm sections at all except for the Hi-Pass/Low-Pass, and i hopefully have sorted the drums. I did what Jack said and cut the mids and a bit of bass on the snare and overall kit reverb, and used a different reverb on the snare, cutting the mids on the snare its self and the Reverb. Also i Compressed the Kick with H-Comp like Kronk said to do! I REALLY do hope its better!

Edit: Im not sure, but i think i killed the snare even more than before... it sounds like someones shooting a Paintball gun now, well... to me anyway!

Third Version: [SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/user583056/jumped-and-drowned-from-3/s-kowH8[/SOUNDCLOUD]

I've EQ'd the guitars differently, and changed some stuff with the snare, Dunno what its like to be honest, you guys can be the Judges.

Second Version: [SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/user583056/jumped-and-drowned-from-1/s-cf3Ms[/SOUNDCLOUD]

First Version: [SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/user583056/jumped-and-drowned-from/s-CBaza[/SOUNDCLOUD]

Thanks in Advance!

 

[jackbraglia]

the guitars sound too centered and dull. The snare also sounds dull and too far away.

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Alright so erm.... Pan the guitars more left and right?

What can i do about the snare?

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Anyone?

 

[jackbraglia]

ok, the guitars are panned better now, but the tone is still lacking. what is your guitar chain?

drums still need a lot of work too, that kick also sounds too floppy if that makes sense

 

[jackbraglia]

also try using a different reverb on the snare, and less of it. You can also try cutting a bunch of mids and a little bit of bass from the reverb signal, this will brighten it up quite a bit and will allow it to sit in the mix better

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

ok, the guitars are panned better now, but the tone is still lacking. what is your guitar chain?

drums still need a lot of work too, that kick also sounds too floppy if that makes sense

Erm, i got the Chimp Spanner Rhythm tone goning straight out of my Pod X3 Pro into Reaper, Then on the chain for the guitars i got a Waves VEQ4 EQ and thats all.

On the MasterBus i got the VComp.

 

[kronk_1985]

Also, this is a perfect example of double tracking ruining the feel. The guitars don't really sound edited at all and aren't in time.
And yeh, the drums need alot of work. Compress that kick some more. Use H-Comp if you've got it. It does side-chain compression all in the one plug-in.

Is there a HPF on the guitars? Seems like there's alot of low-end information not adding anything except mud.

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

also try using a different reverb on the snare, and less of it. You can also try cutting a bunch of mids and a little bit of bass from the reverb signal, this will brighten it up quite a bit and will allow it to sit in the mix better

I've basically got the drums in a setup were the snare and the kick are in the same Bus, I'll seperate them and then add the reverb on that track on its own.

I have however removed some of the bass and mids from the overall drum reverb and it sounds better, i'll put up another when im more satisfied though

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Also, this is a perfect example of double tracking ruining the feel. The guitars don't really sound edited at all and aren't in time.
And yeh, the drums need alot of work. Compress that kick some more. Use H-Comp if you've got it. It does side-chain compression all in the one plug-in.

Is there a HPF on the guitars? Seems like there's alot of low-end information not adding anything except mud.

Double tracking is 2 Guitars on each side right?

I only did 1 Guitar on each side...

Gahh, i'm guessing i did a REALLY shitty job at this haha

i have the Highpass on the Left Guitar at 47HZ and the Lowpass at 12kHz and on the Right Guitar i got it at 87HZ for the Highpass and 12kHz for the LowPass.

I'll whack some compression on the bass drum, What sort of ratio and threshhold do you recommend?

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

By the way, i'm no guitar player, I basically suck at guitar and most other instruments haha. So if it's sort of out of sync that's why, i did try my hardest to keep it the same, but it shouldn't be for most of it...

Oooh and also, i used the Rhythm Gauge for one side (Left) and the Lead Gauge for the other (Right) if thts of anh importance.

Also i used a Schecter C-7 Blackjack with Seymore Duncans for the Guitar and a Washburn Taurus T-24 Bass.

 

[kronk_1985]

high pass on guitars should be up near 100/120... isolate the guitar tracks and move the high pass up until it effects the tone.. then bypass and compare.. low pass down around 10/11kHz depending on the sort of guitar tone you're going for.

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Double tracking is 2 Guitars on each side right?

I only did 1 Guitar on each side...

Gahh, i'm guessing i did a REALLY shitty job at this haha

i have the Highpass on the Left Guitar at 47HZ and the Lowpass at 12kHz and on the Right Guitar i got it at 87HZ for the Highpass and 12kHz for the LowPass.

I'll whack some compression on the bass drum, What sort of ratio and threshhold do you recommend?

Never mind, i remembered! what i was on about was Quad-Tracking haha, they always confuse me...

Yeah it was Double-Tracked. I've done the hi-pass/Low-pass thing on the guitars, taken off all the other EQ's to the rhythm sections and only used a Single take, but copy and pasted it so its not out of sync and is more like single tracked.

Should be number 3, when its uploaded

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Also, i tried tracking vocals the other day. It went well, except i hurt my throat! haha but thats not what i was gunna ask.. XD

Basically what happened was after i'd recorded it and compressed it, in reaper, without having anything monitored, i had alot of background noise coming through without playing. And the same when monitoring it for recording. Was just wondering if it was because i had the compression ratio's too high, or just that i was using a shite microphone or something.

I use a Stagg MD-1500 Dynamic Microphone. Not very good at all i don't think but it was just something to start with.

 

[kronk_1985]

Wow.. um. undo everything you did between version 2 and 3. By copying and pasting the same guitar track you've effectively made your guitars mono.. you've compressed ALL of the life out of the snare..

what monitors are u using to mix? This needs drastic work buddy, there's no easy way to say that.

Stop what you're doing. Go spend 20 bucks on Ermz's book and read it.

 

[jackbraglia]

Go spend 20 bucks on Ermz's book and read it.

yea its pretty apparent that you've just started mixing. there are a lot of fundamentals that you are missing. it's also the reason why you aren't seeing too many comments here...people just don't know where to begin

 

[ChrisConnorProject]

Wow.. um. undo everything you did between version 2 and 3. By copying and pasting the same guitar track you've effectively made your guitars mono.. you've compressed ALL of the life out of the snare..

what monitors are u using to mix? This needs drastic work buddy, there's no easy way to say that.

Stop what you're doing. Go spend 20 bucks on Ermz's book and read it.

Yeah i know its bad, and i realised it turned mono after i listened back a few more times and realised it sounded centered and crap. I've re-tracked the other guitar part again and i'm needing to update the whole uploads and stuff.

I use a mix of a Logitech Surround Sound and Jvc Ha-m750 Headphones, and just some crap headphones and my tv, but i see its obviously a pretty shoddy way of doing things...

I need to scrap the drums and start from scratch aswell, i know, i don't even know what i've done to them... They're sort of all messy and everythings linked into eachother and different parts of the kit. Might just go back to using Addictive Drums.

yea its pretty apparent that you've just started mixing. there are a lot of fundamentals that you are missing. it's also the reason why you aren't seeing too many comments here...people just don't know where to begin

I've had the stuff for a while, but i've just never decided to really go for the whole recording thing, it was just to keep ideas without the need to type them in on guitar pro, but i want to make decent use from it now haha. i did read a few things on this forum and a few other forums before i got started but it doesnt seem to have helped... I'm not into the whole reading thing anyway, More practical and learn from my mistakes.

Sorry about the whole badness of it though... i'll look into Ermz's book for sure!

If i completely rip these whole mixes apart and start from scratch (Processing new drums and just using the raw tone) will that help a bit more?

 

[jackbraglia]

I'm not into the whole reading thing anyway, More practical and learn from my mistakes.

haha yea I know what you mean, thats why i went to school for this shit

If i completely rip these whole mixes apart and start from scratch (Processing new drums and just using the raw tone) will that help a bit more?

yea u do need to start over, focus on the drums first. If your drums sound really great, you can (sometimes) get away with the guitars being shit. Also, you need to find a song where u like the mix, and every few minutes of mixing, compare your mix to theirs. You'll then quickly realize whats wrong with your mix.


oh and that sig is wayyyyy too big my friend

 

[Siguros]

oh and that sig is wayyyyy too big my friend

ITS HUGE (thats what she said)

 

[MisSigsFan]

There's way too much wrong here.