New to mixing and need some strong criticism.

[padr81]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4996715/Her Last goodbye.mp3

song I'm working on with a couple of mates. I think the drums still need alot of editing. haven't got any reall mixing gear to use, cheap yamaha desk, philips €30 head phones and a cheap pioneer hifi (no monitors etc...)

Any comments on tweaks etc.... that I could do within my limitations to make this better.

I have Cakewalk Sonar 7, and a few free vst effects but nothing major.

 

[Calippo Tecks]

distortion guitars level up and maybe get rid of some 500-800hz in those guitars, record those woman vocals in another room, it sounds a bit like someone singing in a bathroom
but overall definately not bad!

 

[padr81]

thanks forlistening mate and i'm greatful for the advice.

i'll ask her to retrack the vox with headphones and I think she probably had them running back outta the speakers into the mic as she was singing. she lives in sweden and me in ireland so it's a bit of trouble to have her record here.

I'll try cutting the guitar frequencies between 500-800k and increasing the volume a bit.

Any advice on the drums as if i lower there volume to make them fit with the guitar better they tend to sound weak.

 

[padr81]

updated the first post with the recommended tweaks sounds much better, any other opinions or recommendations (except give up and get it mixed by someone who knows what they are doing)

 

[AerialThesis]

Are you the one who autotuned her? I can hear the artifacts of it working alot on some notes. I suggest working with a couple of settings to make it more subtle. The vocals are a bit too loud compared to the rest of the mix. Maybe the mix will need to sound a bit more clear and less boomy (or maybe is it the reverb that's boomy?) after backing the vocals a bit. I suggest a bit of reverb on the center vocals. I can clearly hear that you copy pasted a couple of guitar parts and some of your fades are a bit harsh especially at the end. I like the piano tone and the side vocals.

 

[padr81]

thanks mate, i took the auto tune of the vocals and i'll put it on in a more subtle way as I get the hang of it. Was Cakewalk v-vocal I used.

Brought everything closer in the mix and added a smidgeon of reverb to the main vox, but less than the first mix and harmony vox.

Any tips on how to improve the power of the drums.
Do you think I should retrack the guitars.

 

[padr81]

updated again using the extra advice from aerilthesis. Sounds much better imho, thanks for the help guys. Any more advice, imho it seems to be alot lower volume wise than the mixes i hear on this forum, any advice on this and how to get that crushing drum sound you guys have.

 

[padr81]

updated again, again. I'm at my wits end with this, maybe my room is awful or its the factor i'm using €30 headphones but I can't get this any better to my ears (maybe its my ears). Any final recommended improvements.

Also if anyone is interested in having a go at mixing it for fun i'll gladly upload the midi and di's for it. i won't use anybodies mixes bar my own on the demo release as yours would make the rest of my cd sound like crap and i can't afford to pay for it. I'd use it for learning purposes only.