Progressive metal track - new mix

[AEL89]

I posted this track up here about 4 months ago. I'm still a complete amateur but since then I've been working a lot on other stuff, learning the ropes through experience and feel I've picking up loads of useful tips from the guys on here.

Check it out - I'm really happy with the way it's sounding, just wanted to see what people thought of what I've done and the track itself (its my band!). This was recorded in December and I only came back to it last week - no vocals at the moment but if people are interested I'll post a new version when its all finished!

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1041607/Arbiter CLIP.mp3

 

[Iamsparrow]

The kick sounds a little dull for my tastes. Cool song!

 

[AEL89]

hey man, thanks for checking it out. Yeh the kick had no life in it so I triggered it completely. Snare is 50/50, toms are all natural. I think i might try blending in some of the Slate room mic samples...maybe black album kick or something with some boom

 

[Nebulous]

The kick could come down abit IMO, especially at the start.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

To my ears it aint the kick volume, but the wetness and the volume of the snare, as I have said before, I have different ears to most Dig the Dime sounding riff to.

 

[AEL89]

yeh, I was probobaly a bit lazy not automating the kick but I do like drum heavy mixes - but that's just my taste. Kick is really annoying me now its been pointed out, I'll have to do something to it.

Yeh cheers dude - we do like a thrashy riff. Snare is kinda wet but has quite a lot of snap...once again - i just think thats down to my taste

Thanks for listening!

 

[Matthias King]

This is badass. Excellent sound and composition.

 

[AEL89]

ahh cheers dude. Vocals are literally top of our agenda now so if any of you are interested - I'll post up here again with the final version.

Thanks for checking it out!

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I like the composition! Really cool, just one word of advice, don't pan the toms so hard, they're quite distracting!

 

[AEL89]

I like the composition! Really cool, just one word of advice, don't pan the toms so hard, they're quite distracting!

toms are panned 70 each side...are you listening on headphones?

 

[AEL89]

oh and thanks very much too! Glad you like the track

 

[PostMortem1666]

The bass sounds very distracting. Try turning it down and maybe adding some more lowend and scoop it a bit more and maybe that will help a little bit. Great music though!!

 

[AEL89]

cheers dude. I like a loud, dirty bass eating up in the middle but that's just my taste. When we record the album everything is going to be a lot more organic (mastodon-esque) so i think the bass tone will sit better then. Yeh there's a fat spike at 1.5 so i could dip around 300-400...might give the guitars a little more room. Boosted quite a lot around 100 and to my ear its got loads of lows... Maybe some 2-bus comp would glue everything a bit better though..? Any views on that?

 

[MetalMiller]

Guitars have to come more upfront (to dark). Sounds like they stay behind drums. And bass more backround. Agree on toms, otherwise great mix.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

70 might actually be too much, depending on the case, but I'm listening on my monitors and they are waayy to wide, it doesn't feel realistic, feels like the toms on the "drumset" are like 1 meter apart from each other

 

[AEL89]

i think i like them in the verses (thrashy downstroked riff) but in the chorus, you're right - they're too wide. Thanks for the posts and for listening - any other opinions are welcome. I'm tempted to reamp these guitars again soon or at least adjust the eq a touch. Also, i think a multiband comp to tame the lo-mids might free up some space for a little presence to be added...maybe just boost around 6k then roll off around 12/13? What do you guys think?

 

[digitalmikey]

I love this song man. Great job. Do you have anymore like it? What was used for the drums?

 

[AEL89]

Hey dude, thanks a lot and sorry for this late reply. Drums all close mic'ed and triggered using drumagog. Kick is the ludwig (which comes with drumagog), black album room mic kick and the natural tone. Used a beta 52. Compressed and EQ'd all to taste and then found a blend i was happy with. Very short plate reverb on it too.

Snare is a slate mixed with the natural tone. Beta 57 on top, SM7 on the bottom. Really cranked a Massey tape-head on it too. Toms are natural tones.

Overheads are hi-passed to around 400, gently comp'd, slightly boosted above 6k and have a tape-head on them. Also sent them to an aux with a sans-amp on for some grit.

We're starting to get through a lot of writing so I'll post more album demos when they're recorded!