New BACKMASK Mix, feedback welcome!

[Kazrog]

I've been working on this track, "Transmission" for a little bit, some of you may have heard some very early versions. This is almost finished, still working on a few issues:

http://www.backmask.com/sneapforum/Transmission_New_Bass_Keyboards.m4a

Drums are Battery until we can properly record our new drummer. Guitars are quad tracked 6505+ with Mesa Standard v30 4x12 cabinet, Audix i5 mic, 2 tracks crunch, 2 tracks lead, ESP mahogany body guitar with EMG pickups, Maxon OD 808 pedal in front of the amp. Bass is a Sadowsky 5 string sample set in Kontakt, until we find a bassist. Vocals are not quite mixed/edited perfectly yet, I'm getting to that last. Keyboards are Reason, Absynth, and Kontakt + Guitar Rig FX.

As a side note, those of you who followed us are probably noticing that this is pretty different from our previous material. If anything, this is the lightest song we've written with this new lineup. I always wanted BACKMASK to be an extreme metal band with melody, somehow things got a bit softened in the previous lineup, happy to be doing exactly the music I want now!

Your comments, as always, are welcome!

 

[Executioner213]

Sounds pretty damn good to me!

 

[RemoWilliams]

I can't hear anything wrong with it. Sounds right as rain as they say down these parts. Thought I can't really hear much bass geetar on da mix, but that doesn't matter. Good composition and tone. Like that snare too.

 

[Kazrog]

I can't hear anything wrong with it. Sounds right as rain as they say down these parts. Thought I can't really hear much bass geetar on da mix, but that doesn't matter. Good composition and tone. Like that snare too.

Thanks! The snare is actually the Ayotte snare from BFD, which I've brought into Battery (since I don't like most of the BFD sounds.) This is actually a new snare sound for me, I've been using the same snare for a few years and I've gotten sick of it, as it wasn't thick enough sounding. The thing I like about this snare from BFD is it really hits you in the chest the way snare does on "Doomsday Machine," which was one of my main references.

 

[NathanSoulfracture]

its all sounds fine except i just dont like the snare :S i dunno, it just doesnt seem to jump out at you, sounds kind of lifeless and dull, it could just be the reverb that was used on it.

 

[RemoWilliams]

That snares is FIERCE! NathanSoulfracture. HA!. So can we expect to hear that snare sample on the new LP/EP works? Or are you going to go all natural snare once you record your drummer?

 

[Lord Lurion]

Hm, I think the snare could use a bit more brightness. I'm into big snares too, but yours sounds mabe a bit dull. Other than that, the mix is extremely cool, as usual. Very nice, dude!

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

Seems a little light in the pants to me? Low end that will probably come proper when you get a real bassist in there.

Like the guitars a lot, tonewise and riffery wise.

Snare does need more "bite" ... 3-4k or so??

This is nit picking, cuz this is like 90% happening to me... really nice.

 

[KeithRT99]

the kicks are too round sounding or something. the snare also sounds pretty distant, but the vocals, guitars, and synths sound cool.

 

[prowlergrig]

i don't like the snare and the hi-hat ....i'm sorry, but to me, it sounds worse than the 5song demo you did a while ago - especially in the high end.
but it may be just me (btw, i'm playing this in winamp 2.x , with a 3rd party m4a codec - might this be the problem? can you post an mp3 version? )

 

[Kazrog]

I may have too much reverb on the kit, and I'm still getting used to the new snare. The bass is as good as I can make it, I don't feel like shelling out the bucks for a nice bass or for Spectrasonics Trilogy at the moment (kind of burned out after spending thousands on gear in the past year, and discovering I have exactly $0 savings, if I ever wanted to buy a house or something LOL.)

Ideally when we record our drummer, we'll use HIS sounds rather than replacing them with third-party samples. This is a pre-production demo, not working with the producer of the 5-song promo right now, just producing this all myself this time.

We're primarily in songwriting mode right now (me, my other guitarist, and my drummer), but we want to post a couple of new high quality demos to our website as soon as we feel they're ready. Our goal is to get a full-length out this summer, and we're talking to producers. Stay tuned...

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Sounds good, cool tuneage...Definitely want to do something about that snare, it sounds pretty bad in my headphones....IMHO I'd play that first riff for half as long at the beginning of the song so that my ADD didn't kick in.

 

[daemon097]

...it sounds pretty good! ...very cool song as well...

so - what are you doing with the vocals for the brutal and clean parts?

 

[LydonB]

It sounds really good. Keep up the awesome work. I don't know if it is my speakers or what, but the guitar solo was a little drowned out by the rhythm guitars. But from what I heard, nice solo

 

[Kazrog]

I'm just leveling the vocals a bit and adding some FX in one or two places. And I agree that the solo is too quiet, slightly. I'm trying to make sure EVERYTHING is heard but I think the solo could be louder. Thanks!

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I think the scrolling is too fast.

Haha, just kiddin' ;-) (cf. Andy's website)

Well I'm only listening through my laptop's harman/kardon speakers, but what really strikes me is the snare (very distant) & the vocals : I don't think they blend well with the music in some parts, maybe a bit of reverb could help, also they seem to lack of power (doesn't sound like real screams but more like soft voices). The guitars seem really good ! \m/ And the lead doesn't seem to low in the mix here... Oh I don't like the kicks, seem to clickly, but even if they were the bassiest ever I couldn't tell on these speakers, so just ignore this judgement

 

[JeffTD]

Listening on my PX-100's right now...

Digging everything but the drums I'd say - too distant, something I've always noticed on your snares (on the Ozzy demo, previous mixes of this song, etc).

The song itself... shiet. Can't wait to start scheduling gigs with you guys!

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

I love the song man! Great stuff! I played all the old backmask songs for my family and girlfriend and they really liked them.

Anyway the only thing I'm noticing is that it seems like a lot of the vocals are panned pretty heavily and I think it would be nice to switch it up sometimes and leave some of the screams in the middle or something. The clean vocals sound AMAZING and I'm glad you're doing more br00tal vocals too. Can't wait to hear more! I'm a big fan.

 

[Black neon bob]

Cool.. a new song eh?...

How does one open that M4a file Shane or anyone else? windows wont let it play here..

 

[Kazrog]

Cool.. a new song eh?...

How does one open that M4a file Shane or anyone else? windows wont let it play here..

Just use iTunes, free for Mac and Windows. I've also heard that WinAmp can play m4a's, but that you have to install a separate codec, which seems like kind of a waste of time. Besides, iTunes is a much better interface for keeping track of your music.

I use m4a format because it sounds better than mp3, period, end of story.