Peavey XXX, S2.0 MF mix and master w/help from "Mixing with your mind"

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Yo dude, that guitar tone really is beastly, I'm thinking the XXX could be the ultimate thrash amp Mastered version is pumping and distorting like crazy though, but otherwise sounds good! I like the kick, is that from TMF? Not crazy about the snare though, feels a little high/thin

And as for limiting, I really would recommend getting your hands on Voxengo Elephant and running it in EL-UNI mode, you'll love it I think! (I know I do Way more than L2 anyway!)

Thanks mate, makes me shiver (in a good way) when you say "beastly". Man, do I have to work on my mastering skills, not quite sure what I am doing, I throw shit in the chain everywhere, then just go in blindly and turn knobs everywhere until it starts to sound all right and get to about -10 RMS! I have no fucking idea at the moment, its taken me 6 months to get a decent tone, but I think I am getting there, although my age shows in my tones, as you are correct in saying that they are quite "thrashy". I dont mean for them to come out that way , they just do. Any help in getting the "thrashiness" out of them would be appreciated.
As for the drums, they are MF, Jack Skogs KSE Atlantis (not sure what TMF means), thats it, nothing done to them at all.
As for limiting, I dont really understand what or where in the chain it should be, but its the T-Racks one that came with the 5 for 1 promotion. Is Voxengo Elephant available as a RTAS? Is there a way to run it in Protools on a mac? Please excuse my ignorance on this subject.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Fucking great tone men. The mastered version is clipping but sounds good.

Thankyou Nuno, I really got to get the gist of this mastering bizzo!

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

If I must be brutally honest about the mastered version, it was really fatiguing to listen to and I couldn't even make it through the whole clip.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you used nothing but a limiter on your master buss, which is a big no no in the world of mastering. Read up on how to get your loudness. Good topics around here and gearslutz.

Non mastered one was much easier to listen to.

Brutality is good mate, just like disciplining children! No use sugar coating it, straight to the point is always good.
Now I did use a limiter, and a shit load of other stuff that I dont really have a clue about, but I will read up on how to get loudness properly. I have the T-Racks stuff along with the Waves Gold Bundle, so I am sure I have enough tools, just need to know whats what.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

What were the amp settings?

Ok Jesus, they were as follows

Crunch channel: (O'Clock style)
Hair 1.30 - 2.00
Body 8.30
Bottom 2.00
Volume 1.30 - 2.00
Gain 1.30 - 2.00
Master 7.30 - 8.00

Effects loop engaged with both send and return at 2.00
Left and right guitars are identical apart from the TS's
One was a Maxon 808, the other a HBE Gary Holt Doomsday Device.
Settings on both were:
Gain 9.00
Tone 11.00
Balance 12.00

SM57 sitting inside the cabinet as I have taken the grill off the Warhead cabinet. (Meaning a half inch inside where the grill once was). Mic points 20 degrees left with capsule pointing mostly outside of the dustcap.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

The guitar tone has something beautiful going on in the low end. Nice sounding palm mutes man!

Thankyou very much mate, if there is any part of the tones that I go for and am proud of its that exact low end, palm mutes mean a lot to me, and after hearing a lot of your tones (which I must say are some of the best on here), that truly means a lot to me. The top end is where I believe that I have always struggled, to shimmery or wet, fizzy or steel woolish. I would like to get some of that "thrashiness" out of them, and I think that the upper range will have a bearing on the final outcome, but if ya have any advice, my ears are open. Although I do seem to add that wet shit when trying to master, might have something to do with it!

 

[lolzgreg]

Thanks for the kind words mate

I think its really about just refining your tone every step of the way. Small mic positioning adjustments go a very long way.

I also think you need to really perfect your drum mix A LOT before you settle on final guitar tones. Cymbal content alone can change the entire way you look at your guitars. The washier the cymbals and the brighter they are, the more sheen you need from the guitars to compete.

I recently did the reamping for The Empire Shall Fall's album (my first pro-gig, woo) and the explosiveness in the middle-high end of the cymbals really tailored the way the guitars ended up sounding. There wasn't much ultra-high content in ANYTHING in the mix (which isn't a bad thing, mind you-- the mix is very easy on the ears and punchy), so I ended up using a combo of three different microphones to get the vibe I was after: Two Audix i5's in Fredman position and a Ribbon on a different speaker. I loved the results as did the band.

A lot of people on this forum say that reamping gives you too many options, blah blah, etc. Let's face it, not everyone here has a free weak to get their instruments to fill out that perfect space in the mix from the start. I think it's easiest to get your guitar tone last, because you'll have everything else at your fingertips.

I did 3 reamps so far for the recent project I'm working on and I JUST NOW found one that just made the vocals cut through, the drums snappy and the bass a solid foundation in the mix. EQing isn't what made the magic happen; I did nothing but a high-pass and low pass. If I didn't have the ability to change the guitar tone 'till I was happy, the mix wouldn't be the same.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Yep, my drum mixes are ordinary, just a preset into a stereo track, thats it. Interesting take on the cymbals and the high end stuff to marry into the final guitar tone, never thought about it that way before, but as you said, my drums need a lot of attention. Gotta find out how to put each drum into its own track instead of putting the whole kit on one track, I think that will help things a lot.
The Audix I5s get a good recommendation around here, may have to be my next purchase.
Now, time to go and learn some more .................

 

[lolzgreg]

I just bought a pair of 57s to compliment my i5s. =)

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

(Homer voice) Aaaaahhhhhhh, Complimentation!