Reference Mixes, feels bad man.[Rant]

[JasinElric]

I tried using some reference mixes to balance my low-end and try to get an idea of where to make some slices in the guitars. Unfortunately my skill is not up to par with my goals and I just wind up feeling like a piece of shit. It's too easy to fuck things up and lose perspective.

What's even more depressing is I'm using things that don't even require a lot of brainwork to use, like S2.0/ZomBass. The bulk of the work is basically handed to me and still I can't manage to secure a tight low-end. There's so little useful information between 40hz and 150hz, trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss is like digging for something eatable in a dumpster.

The damn guitars want EVERYTHING! And if you anger them by making any cuts or scoops, they'll piss all over everything you just worked for. Seating high-gain guitars is like playing wack-a-mole on meth. Cut here, they pop up there, cut there, they pop up back here. An hour in, all that's left is fizz, ear fatigue and a shattered soul. Time to scrap all EQ and start again.

I will conclude my rant with props to all those who've managed to figure out how to sculpt a well balanced mix. Five years in, and I still feel like I just sat behind the desk yesterday. This is without a doubt the most difficult undertaking I've ever gotten myself into.

 

[Heabow]

I know what it is! I am myself in a bad mood at the moment because after almost two years of work, my mixes just sound like pure shit and I feel like I don't know anything production wise. I always reamp the guitars because I simply don't know how to shape a good tone during the recording process. It takes literally days and days of hard work alone to finally obtain a crappy guitar tone. Really depressing...