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

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

I have just recieved a copy of Michael Stavrous "Mixing with your mind" hardback, and after reading it from start to finish, I thought I'd put a couple of his tips and tricks to the test.
So heres a 2 riff, 40 odd second test with single drum beat, micing my XXX and "chasing the flame" as Michael puts it. (Simple riffage, gotta take those bloody baby steps!) Apologies for not having MP3 compatabilities. This one is 16mb.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/822065/Audio Files/chunky.wav
No processing on anything except the bass, to try and make the $9.00 piece of shit sound half reasonable.


I have a second hardback on order, Bob Katz Mastering Audio, which hasn't come yet, but I decided I'd give the old mastering a go anyway, so heres the "mastered by myself" version. Apologies again, this one is 10mb.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/822065/Audio Files/master01.wav


I think the book has helped me more in understanding that there are endless posibilities and techniques to try, and really putting some time and effort into it, that there is no "MAGIC" position or cure. The good thing about all of it is that I can see improvements as each month goes by, and with the help of this forum and a hardback in hand, things are looking up. As for mastering, well, thats a while off yet, but I'm gonna keep on tinkering, whilst devoting 90% of my time to the overall mix.


So after all that, how did I go? What suggestions would you make? Am eager to hear from others as my ears at 36 years of age are not the best!


Cheers in advance.

 

[AerialThesis]

Something around 1.2 k is going wrong. a guitar resonance maybe?

 

[HollowmanPL]

i see that your master is much more louder and has a irritating snare

man, you've got a very good guitar sound

 

[Brandon E.]

Drums seem way too loud to me...they take the forefront over the guitars

 

[kaomao]

the mastered version is limited a lot, you're destroying the mix.
Nice guitar tone chuggah chuggah riff has a lot of body

 

[Mike Moriarty]

Love the guitar tone. The master version sounds great. I would lower the snare and bring up the kick a little but thats just me. Well done dude.

 

[jesus69lol]

What settings did you use to track the amp and what kind of gear?

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Something around 1.2 k is going wrong. a guitar resonance maybe?

Not sure what that means, thats the semi noobness coming out of me.
Will look into it, cheers.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

i see that your master is much more louder and has a irritating snare

man, you've got a very good guitar sound

Hahahahaha! Yep, spot on with that snare! Cant believe I put that in there. Thats whats good about getting different ears for this shit. You have some of the best shit going round on here mate, so I'll put that into practice, thanx.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Drums seem way too loud to me...they take the forefront over the guitars

No wuckas. Will drop volume of drums when I replace the snare. Thanx.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

the mastered version is limited a lot, you're destroying the mix.
Nice guitar tone chuggah chuggah riff has a lot of body

Thanx buddy. I have a limiter in the chain, good to hear some critisism, as thats the only way to learn.
So I should horn down on the limiters output?
God Im a noob at this mastering shit!

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Love the guitar tone. The master version sounds great. I would lower the snare and bring up the kick a little but thats just me. Well done dude.

Cheers mate, will beef up the kick a bit when drums are tackled.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

What settings did you use to track the amp and what kind of gear?

Hey Jesus!
Quad tracking here.

Left channels: Ibanez RG 7620 w/blaze> HBE Gary Holt Doomsday Device> Boss NS-2 (loop mode)> Peavey XXX (crunch channel)> Randall warhead 4x12 w?V30s> SM57> MBOX Pro2.

Right channels: Ibanez RG 7620 w/blaze> Maxon od-808> Boss NS-2 (loop mode)> Peavey XXX (crunch channel)> Randall warhead 4x12 w?V30s> SM57> MBOX Pro2.

 

[Dexter_prog]

Great tone. Snare and bass drum are TOO loud and cymbals are too low (that cymbal sounds like another hi-hat :s). Idon't quite like the mastered version, the stuff you did to the snare ruined it in my opinion, guitars are louder but they sound too crispy.

 

[Metaltastic]

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!)

 

[Nuno Filipe]

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

 

[Harry Hughes]

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.

 

[jesus69lol]

Hey Jesus!
Quad tracking here.

Left channels: Ibanez RG 7620 w/blaze> HBE Gary Holt Doomsday Device> Boss NS-2 (loop mode)> Peavey XXX (crunch channel)> Randall warhead 4x12 w?V30s> SM57> MBOX Pro2.

Right channels: Ibanez RG 7620 w/blaze> Maxon od-808> Boss NS-2 (loop mode)> Peavey XXX (crunch channel)> Randall warhead 4x12 w?V30s> SM57> MBOX Pro2.

What were the amp settings?

 

[lolzgreg]

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

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Great tone. Snare and bass drum are TOO loud and cymbals are too low (that cymbal sounds like another hi-hat :s). Idon't quite like the mastered version, the stuff you did to the snare ruined it in my opinion, guitars are louder but they sound too crispy.

Cheers Dexter. I totally agree with the cymbals, they do sound like another hi-hat. As people have pointed out, my mastering skills are uke: Great to have another set of 30 odd ears chiming in to let me know, as I thought it was good, apart from the snare!