New tune from my band, Rocky Tunnel Kick used.

[Jordon]

Here's a demo of a new tune. The verses and bridge are rough, so it's just gibberish while Ben writes his lyrics. We got the chorus down, though. I recorded everything (engineered, not played, I mean).

The drums are our drummer playing on his edrum kit sending the MIDI to PT8LE, triggering Addictive Drums. The drums were then bounced to their own tracks and replaced with samples of Dan's actual snare and a 22" DW kick that I tracked a few months ago. They were then stacked with another snare (I think it was that big Paramore style snare that was floating around a while ago) and the "Rocky Tunnel Kick" by Morgan C, which has become one of my favorite kick samples.

Guitars: Edwards Les Paul with blackouts, my PRS Mike Mushok Baritone with a JB in the bridge (coil tapped at all times for this song) and a Music Man 4-string StingRay.

Amps: TSE X30 (awesome) and the LE456 through LeCab and Catharsis impulses. The bass was done with the Ampeq SVX Plugin with a tube screamer on a duplicated track.

Vocals were done with an Audio Technica AT3035, but we may re-do them with a Rode NT1000 next week if Ben has and changes to the lyrics. I'll definitely be re-tracking my harmonies (of which, I did all) with the Rode, as I don't like what the AT does for my voice.


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3463841/7DS ROUGH MIX.MP3

The mix is still rough, of course.

By the way, I'm trying to think of a way that I can get that "bottom dropping out" sound when the 1st and last chorus of the chorus are hit. The verses are based around D#, but when the chorus hits, it drops down to B and A#, and I'd like to get some sort of illusion that the song just dropped lower that it did. Think of some of the songs off of Breaking Benjamin's Phobia. Not trying to copy anything, but I think this song could call for that song. I tried some tuned 808's low in the mix, but that didn't really do it for me.

 

[Morgan C]

Glad to hear my kick is working out for you.

Overall this mix is REALLY bassy. Way too much bass guitar, kick is too loud, guitars have too much lowmids. And its pumping a lot because of this.

Sounds like it was tracked really well though. The vocals sound fantastic, really really pro. Very BB-like. There's one tuning issue in the second chorus - we could be 'wrong', something goes wrong.

Not really digging the snare drum either. Although that may change when you master this and crush it a bit. Its a bit too 'poppy' atm, and too snarey, if that makes sense. The attack is focused like at 1khz, which is kinda odd for a snare drum.

 

[Jordon]

Glad to hear my kick is working out for you.

Overall this mix is REALLY bassy. Way too much bass guitar, kick is too loud, guitars have too much lowmids. And its pumping a lot because of this.

Sounds like it was tracked really well though. The vocals sound fantastic, really really pro. Very BB-like. There's one tuning issue in the second chorus - we could be 'wrong', something goes wrong.

Not really digging the snare drum either. Although that may change when you master this and crush it a bit. Its a bit too 'poppy' atm, and too snarey, if that makes sense. The attack is focused like at 1khz, which is kinda odd for a snare drum.

Yea, I didn't notice how bassy this was till I popped it in my car, turns out I had a big bubble at about 70hz on my master buss that was screwing things up. As for the vocal tuning, I just threw everything into Melodyne and snapped it to the note, no real work done, as most of it was a scratch vocal. Thanks for the comment on the vocals. That's where I've been doubting myself the most. I think they sound pretty decent, but I'm really itching to retrack them. I think they could be much clearer, and Ben could enunciate his words a bit better as well.

Thanks for the comments and tips, sir. I'm going to take a look at the guitars and snare and throw up a new mix tonight.

BTW, the main signal chain for the guitar was Guitar -> DI -> TSE X30 (everything set to noon) -> LeCab -> EQ -> C4.

 

[jauernis]

Really like this a lot!! Mix wise bass has a nice nice growl just too overbearing(can you explain a little more about the bass what your chain was and what plus u used), kick is too loud mix itself needs a little more width and highs. SOng is awesome!

 

[Jordon]

Sure. The bass was a Music Man 4-string Stingray. The chain was Bass -> DI then it was split to 3 tracks. The first track was the Ampeg SVX plugin set to an approximation of our bassist's live rig/tone, with a light compression added. The 2nd track was a straight DI, comp and EQ with a 1db boost at about 8k with a very wide Q, and HP'd at 2k. The 3rd track has a random tubescreamer-like plugin on it set for a thicker grit. Drive at 1:00, tone at 10:00, level set for unity gain. What you're hearing is mainly with SVX track with the grit track mixed in to taste. The DI track is acting like a presence knob on an amp (I do something similar on vocals), this is a trick I picked up here, but I can't remember who I got it from.

Do you really think that the kick needs more top end? I'd like to stay away from an overly-clicky kick for this song. I'm more of a punch guy when it comes to kicks.

 

[jauernis]

No I dont think the kick does. The drums are just overpowering I feel like. The whole song has this nice saturation to it but the drums seem stale a bit, like they were played in a different room (mainly when the drums are busy). Just a suggestion due to the drums being so busy(not sure if it would work) but a bit more verb on the drums and a little more grit to make it blend with the song a more.
Sorry one more question can you explain that vocal trick as well is it the same as the bass?

 

[Jordon]

Yup, it's the same as the bass. It just acts as a presence knob and helps to wring some clarity out of the vocals and bass...At least, that's how I use it.

Ya know, I actually had verb on the whole kit but took it off due to how busy this drums are in the song. I'll throw it back on there and see how it sounds.

 

[Jordon]

Here's another mix I worked on for a bit today.

Keep the comments and suggestions coming! I appreciate everyone's help very much.
7DS Rough Mix 3

 

[Wisheraser]

Way better. Everything seems much more balanced now. The only thing that really stands out to me is what the singer is doing on the "wrong" part that Morgan C was talking about. It sounds like he's going to belt out a really powerful high note, but then goes into a kind of wimpy sounding falsetto. It just doesn't seem to fit the song.

 

[Jordon]

Yea, Ben wanted the "wrong" to have a different feel in each chorus. Pushed and gritty in the first, falsetto in the 2nd and full-yet-clean in the 3rd. Like I said, I want to re-track the vocals (obviously the verses are scratch) because in the chorus, he has a line that goes "an ally with a rough intent" and I think "rough" needs to be replaced. It sounds weird and garbled and doesn't make a ton of sense in context with the rest of the chours. Maybe there's a way we can execute that falsetto so it sounds proper, as well. I dig the idea of a bit of variance from chorus to chorus, and I enjoy Ben's falsetto quite a bit.

 

[Morgan C]

Its still FAR too bassy dude, check your monitoring setup because its obviously not translating at ALL. It honestly sounds like you've taken a decent mix and boosted everything below like 100hz by about 10db.

 

[Jordon]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Jordon]

Wow. I'm going to look into it later today. I've actaully hp'd up to 100hz on the master, with a .25db boost around 10k with a wide Q. Wonder if the kick and bass are just eq'ed too wildly.



...Just opened up the session, and I think that may be the issue.

 

[jauernis]

Seems to blend better but the width and punch is still lacking a bit but I think its just a result of the overbearing bass. If you can clean that up pump the volume a bit more this will sound pretty radio!

 

[nwright]

I think the mix as a whole sounds a bit muffled, but everything sounds consistent in it's "muffled" sound. Master bus EQ would probably help it a good bit. Good mix and sound, if even not my taste.

EDIT

I think the vocals could come up a bit in the second clip, and maybe in the first as well. IMO this kind of style has pretty up front sounding vocals.

 

[arv_foh]

I'm with the guys that say this mix could use some EQ on the master bus. It sounds kind of like it's underwater... no top end clarity. I'd do a high shelf starting at around 4-5k and add like 10dB.. I know that seems like a lot but adding 5dB didn't seem to make much of a difference to me. Still sounded muddy.

 

[Jordon]

Instead of fixing it at the master buss, I'm going to work with each instrument so I can get it balanced. I don't want to throw a 10db shelf at 4 or 5k and end up having other things sound tinny.

 

[nwright]

just out of curiosity, I threw an EQ over the master buss (along with some other shizz) and did a quick "master" myself. There was already some limiting, so I couldn't/didn't do much, but I liked the added high end. I only referenced VERY quickly, so the high end may be a bit too much/strident, so YMMV. Good mix, man. I used the first mix, FWIW. I liked it better than the second, even with the bigger bottom end.

http://geetarguy.tripod.com/jordonsong.mp3

 

[Jordon]

Finally got the vocals tracked. This is the mastered Vr.1 mix that I've been working on tonight. I'm going to sit on it for a day or two and re-visit it. The vocals are really giving me some fight (not to mention they need a little more tuning in spots). I can't get them to sit just where I want them, so that's why I'm going to step away for a bit. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and I do know that it's pumping a bit, I just wanted to get this thrown up here for some opinions on the mix direction.

The Confrontation

 

[jauernis]

The vocals are getting burried. Really dig the chorus vocals but the verse is sterile and not warm enough i feel like (seems a little to high endish high pitched)..see if you can give the verse vocals more low end and see how that comes out