reggea/ska/rock mix, need some opinions

[John_C]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/910836/rebreaper4.mp3

Any thoughts? I'm getting used to some new monitors and I'm worried it's a bit congested sounding.

Any opinions/advice would be welcome

Thanks

p.s. I had no part in tracking, which was done OK-ish but not in any way how i would have wanted it. There are no samples on the drums, 100% natural.

edit: link updated to same as second post

 

[John_C]

I did another revision for them, a big improvement i think, i redid most of the mix with ik tRacks plugins and vcc http://dl.dropbox.com/u/910836/rebreaper4.mp3

The master is crap, I know, but I'm no mastering engineer.

 

[pikachu69]

Overall it sits well. The main thing for me is the bass guitar and kick drum.
Reggae bass is not so sharp or cutty if you know what I mean. It sounds like an active bass, which is ok, but I would try a low pass filter on it to get rid of some of the harshness and extreme top end. In some cases right down to 3khz. Reggae bass is all about sub bass and carrying the whole bottom of the mix. Try automating the high pass on the bass to only turn off when the guitars are using distortion. So yeah a round phat bass will work better I think.
Similar thing with the kick. a ittle less in the extreme highs (6 - 10khz) use 2 - 3.5khz for click and again a little more bottom and softer sounding.

Try making the clean verse guitar a little less wide and take it down a db or so, so when the chorus hits the distorted gat goes out wide and fills the space. Reggae scank works better centered and may help to glue the vocal with the track too as there is not alot in the centre of your mix.

Drums could come up a little over all.
Hope this helps.

 

[John_C]

Overall it sits well. The main thing for me is the bass guitar and kick drum.
Reggae bass is not so sharp or cutty if you know what I mean. It sounds like an active bass, which is ok, but I would try a low pass filter on it to get rid of some of the harshness and extreme top end. In some cases right down to 3khz. Reggae bass is all about sub bass and carrying the whole bottom of the mix. Try automating the high pass on the bass to only turn off when the guitars are using distortion. So yeah a round phat bass will work better I think.
Similar thing with the kick. a ittle less in the extreme highs (6 - 10khz) use 2 - 3.5khz for click and again a little more bottom and softer sounding.

Try making the clean verse guitar a little less wide and take it down a db or so, so when the chorus hits the distorted gat goes out wide and fills the space. Reggae scank works better centered and may help to glue the vocal with the track too as there is not alot in the centre of your mix.

Drums could come up a little over all.
Hope this helps.

Thanks, great to have a new set of ears on it. It is an active ibanez and not a good one.... The bass being brighter is a bit more common in ska which is where these guys really sit normally, but i may have gone over the top. A bit automation should soften it up a bit for the verse, I'll see what the band want.
Good call on the verse/chorus width, anything to make the chorus bigger/more epic is good.

The drums to come up? I was worried about them coming through too much and being overpowering, maybe I went too much the other way. Also I'm having a horrible time with the snare, there's so much bleed from the crash that getting it any louder is just nasty. Maybe I'll resort to some sample reinforcement for the chorus.

I've actually sent the mix to the band now so we'll see what they think, but I can see another revision happening in a week or so

 

[pikachu69]

no worries m8.

Try going in to the .wav of the snare and mannual gate it to kill that bleed, it doesnt take too long to do as the snare is not hit too often. More OH and room will help bring the body and sustain of the snare through more as that is where it really resides, not so much in the close mic. That and some parallel comp on the drums buss. Maybe bring the HP filter on the OH down a bit? no more than about 180hz.

If you want a second ear on it send it to me and I will master it for you.