24-12-2016, 08:25 AM (This post was last modified: 27-12-2016, 11:32 PM by Adrnalnrsh.)
Here's the current mix. I haven't done any pitch correction on the vocals and I'm probably 60-70% finished mixing this song. This is the first song I've ever tried mixing. I don't have studio monitors or good headphones til Xmas. I am mixing on computer speakers and ear buds. I am using Logic Pro X, a few built in plugins and some Slate plugins. No samples for the drums were used.
Barely any automation is used thus far. Looking forward to doing a slower song next time.
24-12-2016, 02:44 PM (This post was last modified: 24-12-2016, 02:47 PM by Roy.)
Well you've pick an ambitious song to be your first. The first thing that jumps out at me is that there are certain parts that are out of time. The good news is that this will give you a chance to work on moving tracks around and lining up audio files. The electric guitar tracks 3 to 10 and the 4 Scream vocal tracks need to be aligned. They're all off by the same amount so group them together to do the editing. They need to be moved forward. I've found that using Electric Guitar tracks 4 and 5 to line up the files at the first chorus is the easiest way to visually align them with the rest of the song. Check the preview track and other mixes on here to see where they should be.
That said, for a first mix it's not horrible. Especially for this song. There's a few things that can be a problem with this song that you've dealt with well. Namely the bass and vocals. The bass is a little out front but tonally works since you got rid of the high end fuzz that it had. Same goes for the vocals. Eq wise they sound decent which is tough on these vocals. They're bright and midrangy but you tamed that and now they're listenable.
In the bridge I noticed some low end noise. Maybe it's from an effect on the kick? I'd say track that down and remove it. It's only going to add mud to an already busy mix.
Good job. It needs work but you seem to have good instincts for what needs to be done. Keep at it.
Well this is a really hard song to try if it's your first mix. I would suggest an easier one with less tracks.
You definitely need to replace the kick and snare at least. Drums are louder than guitars... and for the most part the mix feels lifeless. It needs reverb work, most of it sounds very dry. Lead guitars are out of sync... the screaming too.
I would definitely try another song.. this one is too hard especially if you don't have the proper reference equipment.
25-12-2016, 08:06 PM (This post was last modified: 25-12-2016, 08:06 PM by Adrnalnrsh.)
I got speakers and headphones today.
Presonus Eris 4.5's
Sony MDR-7506.
Also got my Focusrite 2i4 for my own recordings.
I never listened to the reference song so I'll do that and see if I can fix it up a bit before switching to an easier song.
As for replacing the kick and snare what do you normally do? Use a midi instrument and type it all out or use a drum replacement feature in your DAW and then just working on the quantizing/sync'ing.
I use the drum placement feature in Logic 9. It works ok but often will miss an obvious hit or trigger some other really quiet part. Sometimes I need to really go through a track and clean it up before it triggers correctly. It makes a MIDI track from that. I then pick a sound and fix the velocity because Logic seems to do it fairly randomly. I go with a fixed velocity. Then I listen through and make sure all the hits are right. Then tweak any velocity to make it sound more natural. Then auction other sounds to see what fits best. And sometimes duplicate the MIDI track and have multiple samples going on. It depends.
(25-12-2016, 08:18 PM)RoyMatthews Wrote: I use the drum placement feature in Logic 9. It works ok but often will miss an obvious hit or trigger some other really quiet part. Sometimes I need to really go through a track and clean it up before it triggers correctly. It makes a MIDI track from that. I then pick a sound and fix the velocity because Logic seems to do it fairly randomly. I go with a fixed velocity. Then I listen through and make sure all the hits are right. Then tweak any velocity to make it sound more natural. Then auction other sounds to see what fits best. And sometimes duplicate the MIDI track and have multiple samples going on. It depends.
Thanks, makes sense. I saw a video on youtube on how to do this. I'll give it a try. I also saw the guy bounce the track in place and re-add it as an audio file to replace the midi as it requires less CPU I suppose.
(25-12-2016, 08:06 PM)Adrnalnrsh Wrote: I got speakers and headphones today.
As for replacing the kick and snare what do you normally do? Use a midi instrument and type it all out or use a drum replacement feature in your DAW and then just working on the quantizing/sync'ing.
Thanks.
Nice
Well if you are using logic pro.. Look up 'drum replacement' in youtube. It's very easy and you don't need to sync anything if the drums are recorded with no tempo issues (these are well recorded)
The video will explain it better than me here.. Lol
Sorry mate for beeing honest: The drums are very, very thin and sound like they were recorded in a carport. The whole mix lacks that sort of "larger than life"-sound that it needs. I give you props for trying to mix this one though but you should definitely choose a different song for you skill level. There are too many obstacles that you are not ready to deal with at the moment which is okay. You need a basic skill set for this kind of music, like choosing the right samples for this genre, making everything loud without killing all the transients, all sorts of things. It takes time to learn that stuff.
And I don't know why but the second mp3 stops at 2:43
The second file plays past 2:43. At least the downloaded file does. For me the forum player is a little funky. It doesn't play m4 files and will often restart an mp3 after a couple of minutes.
While Blitzzz its pretty much right about deciding to mix this one and the results you got I will say what really helps as a mixer is having a positive attitude and diving into a mix. I have a fair amount of experience in mixing and recording and I stayed away from this one for a while. And I still don't have a decent mix of it. However, no damage done. Mix whatever you want. We'll all try to give honest input. Even if the mix is a total failure (speaking generally) if you learn one new thing about mixing then it's worth it. I will agree that you should probably move onto another song. Whatever song interests you on here and see if you can learn something new from it. Don't get mired down into one song.
Never let the mix get the better of you.
