The usual critique this mix please

[abaga129]

I'm nowhere near finished with this but I'm in desperate need of advice. The snare sounds like shit and the drums just kinda sit in their own little space (not in a good way). I'm pretty happy with the guitars though.

Anyways, go ahead and pick it apart and tell me what ya think.
P.s. some weird stuff happened on export so ignore where the drums fuck up and where one guitar randomly drops out.

 

[Carnivorouschrysalis]

The snare sounds a little muffled to me, you probably should bump up the high end on, as well as maybe bump it up a DB or two. And probably bring up some of the Overheads, too. Though, the cymbals you have sitting in the middle are incredibly loud, so they need to be balanced out. I'm not too fond of your bass drum sample, either, sounds a little too "papery" to me. Almost like....cardboardy, if that makes sense.... A lot of bass drums i hear on the forum are like that, which kind of bugs me.....

other than those little nitpicks, its not half bad. It's definitely a good start.

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

^^^ All good advice in my book, except I don't really mind the kick sample.

I would add that you should turn the lead guitars in the beginning up a bit.

 

[abaga129]

Thanks guys, the drums are definitely my main concern. Thanks for pointing out that about the cymbals. I tend to neglect them. I think I might try blending a brighter snare in because the main snare was mostly bottom to begin with.

 

[Refractor]

I think the drum mix is suffering a fair bit here. Smaller cymbals like the Hi-hat and the splashes pop out too much and the rest are under a blanket. You just need EQ the drums better and balance the mix out. Currently the kick dominates your drum mix completely. Just need to pump some life into the drums as a whole and also, go easy on the OH compression(could just be your Amb compression or Mix bus compression acting up, not sure).

Guitar is pretty cool and once you re work your drum mix, if you just make it sit in the mix, you should be set!

 

[abaga129]

I think the drum mix is suffering a fair bit here. Smaller cymbals like the Hi-hat and the splashes pop out too much and the rest are under a blanket. You just need EQ the drums better and balance the mix out. Currently the kick dominates your drum mix completely. Just need to pump some life into the drums as a whole and also, go easy on the OH compression(could just be your Amb compression or Mix bus compression acting up, not sure).

Guitar is pretty cool and once you re work your drum mix, if you just make it sit in the mix, you should be set!

Thanks! I will definitely consider your advice when im mixing it. Drums are my worst enemy.

 

[abaga129]

Here's the newest mix. I think everything is much more balanced and glued now. Tell me what ya think



Edit: totally forgot to turn down the splash...

 

[Carnivorouschrysalis]

Hmmm, the snare still seems quite muffled, but it seems to be a little better. I would first try bumping up the high end on the EQ (starting around 6k and up). If that doesn't work, blend in really crisp snare with it, or start over from scratch. and there still seem to be the same problems with some of the cymbals. The high hat around 0:39 is quite loud compared to the rest of the drums, and the ride at 0:44 jumps WAY out there too. try pulling the hi hat down by at least a couple DB and maybe even that ride cymbal more than that. You could stand to bring the Rest of the overheads up by maybe 1-1.5 db.

I still don't like the bass drum, but that apparently seems to be my opinion XP

EDIT: I do rather like the way your toms, sound though, what samples are you using?

 

[abaga129]

Hmmm, the snare still seems quite muffled, but it seems to be a little better. I would first try bumping up the high end on the EQ (starting around 6k and up). If that doesn't work, blend in really crisp snare with it, or start over from scratch. and there still seem to be the same problems with some of the cymbals. The high hat around 0:39 is quite loud compared to the rest of the drums, and the ride at 0:44 jumps WAY out there too. try pulling the hi hat down by at least a couple DB and maybe even that ride cymbal more than that. You could stand to bring the Rest of the overheads up by maybe 1-1.5 db.

I still don't like the bass drum, but that apparently seems to be my opinion XP

EDIT: I do rather like the way your toms, sound though, what samples are you using?

Thanks! I never know what to do with the cymbals haha I guess its back to the drawing board.

All of the cymbals and toms are from the truth custom black and gold kit from sturgis

 

[Carnivorouschrysalis]

Dang, i was hoping i could get those toms for free.....i'm in need of some crispy toms that have a lot of punch, though i'm rather low on cash..... and you don't have to go back to the drawing board, just work a little more on balancing everything.

 

[abaga129]

Nope :/ I paid $45 for the whole set because I needed something to start me out (and my friend convinced me that by getting them we would sound just like we came as Romans ) but I haven't seen a need to replace anything except the kick and snare. I think you can just buy the shells for $20 though

 

[abaga129]

Here's another mix of it, i worked my ass off on this one but i think i like it quite a bit! Not to sure about the bass yet though since i reamped it.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56167527/2-5-13.mp3

 

[oroinvictus]

Guitars have a strange low-mid frequency that could be cut out. It totally masks the bass and makes the guitars sound very impulse-driven on my monitors.

 

[abaga129]

Guitars have a strange low-mid frequency that could be cut out. It totally masks the bass and makes the guitars sound very impulse-driven on my monitors.

Thanks, i listen for that

 

[Colin M. St. Claire]

I would cut some low mids from the snare rather than keep boosting the top end. I actually didn't mind the kick. Hat was too present. Everything else seems nice though.

 

[abaga129]

What about now? Added the vocals to the mix


I also cut some lower mids and boosted some much needed upper mids on the guitars and really worked on fitting them in with the bass better.

 

[abaga129]

Could really use some last minute advice on this. The guys are wanting to release it soon

 

[abaga129]

Here's a new mix. Im still struggling to get this sounding the way i want. I made some major improvements on the drums though. Take a listen and tell me what you think dl.dropbox.com/u/56167527/Clockwork%202-14-13.mp3

 

[Clark Kent]

Well I would say that the original problem was that guitars were too loud. I actually couldn't hear anything else but kick and guitars at first. Personally I feel like the kick sample is very digital sounding. The mix is a lot better now than it was in the beginning.. I'd still lower the guitars quite a bit.

 

[abaga129]

Well I would say that the original problem was that guitars were too loud. I actually couldn't hear anything else but kick and guitars at first. Personally I feel like the kick sample is very digital sounding. The mix is a lot better now than it was in the beginning.. I'd still lower the guitars quite a bit.

Thanks a lot Clark! I never even thought about the guitars being too loud. And I see what you mean about the kick sounding too digital. It sounds more like a click drum than a kick drum. I'm not sure if it's just that the low end is getting masked or that I just need to approach it with different samples.