What am i doing wrong!?

[stephensonnn2]

I've been using PodFarm for the guitars and bass and addictive drums but i just cant seem to get a song as high quality as 90% of this forums users do. Im a little bit stumped to be honest, although i do think the snare and kick drum sound a bit weak. Can anyone enlighten me to why i'm so shocking at mixing?

 

[Chris Lucas]

What'd you record vocals with and how are you processing them, they sound really "weak". How are you panning stuff and what are you doing for bass. Be a little more specific about the guitar signal chain too, that could be an issue.

 

[stephensonnn2]

Vocals were done with an SM58, obviously not ideal but it's all i have at the minute. If i remember rightly i compressed the vocals with a quite a high ratio 5:1-8:1, eq'd them and added some reverb.
The kick lays dead in the centre with the bass guitar, with overheads hard left and right. Guitars are panned hard left and hard right, double tracked to try and beef 'em up a little bit. And the vocals are centred, with harmonies panned about 60% left of right.
The signal chain i used for the guitars was Noise Gate > Tube Screamer > Diamond Plate > 4x12 Treadplate W/Condenser > 4 Band EQ (with slight cut at 4khz). I used the dual tone function of pod farm and duplicated that chain but altered the Diamond Plate settings slightly to try and give it a bigger sound.
Im not too sure about what i used for the bass guitar but i believe i used the '1974 rock classic' amp with the bass overdrive pedal.
To my ears the mix sounds 'good', but its nothing compared to what ive been hearing throughout this forum haha
Sorry about the vague manner of my reply, i can't load the project up to look at the settings at the minute, thanks for replying though

 

[Chris Lucas]

Hrmmm I guess I'm wondering how much gain reduction you're getting on the comped vocals. Ideally you could upload the tracks and have someone else give it a shot and then we'd really be able to say where you're lacking, whether it be in the mix stage or tracking or whatever.

 

[stephensonnn2]

Yeah i will definitely try and get hold of the stems when i can get the project up, but im wondering if anyone at all can pinpoint the problem i'm facing with the mix as a whole. Cos no one i've asked can seem to put their finger on whats wrong with the mix; it's quite frustrating really haha. Thanks for taking the time to try and help though.