Dark Ride: 'Hammer Down' kapu mix

[kapu]

If I were a betting man, I'd say the source tracks have Slate drum samples and Logic Pro synths written all over them. ^_^

[Blitzzz]

Drums: Yep, it's Slate. I think it's a CLA Snare with the Reverb of Snare13 and Kick10 (could be Kick 12, I´m in the office and can't remember). I started with a zombie kit in Superior Drummer with different kit pieces from different addons, but the further we went into production the more I wanted to be on the "safe" side with my samples. Also tried GGD and Eyals Drumforge-Samples, but they didn't feel right for this song.

Synth: I´m a Cubase guy, so no Logic synths. My weapon of choice for synths is Kontakt, but our singer wrote the synth parts for Hammer Down and he used https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/

Mix: Your mix has a lot of power - and I absolutely love it. The first riff hits very, very hard, the drums are super punchy. Everything sounds bigger and larger than life.

The vocals could be more upfront imho, they get lost in the chorus, especially in the last chorus. The mix sounds a bit squashed when the chorus hits which is okay for me, but you might wanna back of the limiter just a tiny little bit. If the mix loses some of its power and br00talness, I would leave it like it is There is probably more to lose than to gain here.

Both verses could come down in volume/wideness just a bit more to make the bridge and chorus even bigger. Try to pan the guitars and synth tracks 50% to the middle instead of 100% L/R and pan them 100% L/R in the bridge and chorus. You can also bring down the volume in verse by 1db. Listen if this makes impact of the bridge and chorus even bigger, but don't push your luck too far. The difference should be felt, not heard.

There is a slight low-end buildup in the solo because of the doublebass. you need to control that with an automated low shelf or use a multiband compressor. It's not much, but it's there and it's kinda distracting

Yes, the mix sounds kinda distorted and squashed and I would probably not mix it that hot, but damn I had a great time listening to your mix. It has more energy and excitement compared with my mix and now I´m not sure if I like your version better than mine, hahahaha

Edit: Before someone mysteriously gives you a 1-star-rating, let me put your mix in the right place first, hahaha

[kapu]

Drums: Yep, it's Slate. I think (. . .)

Tank for comprehensive feedback. I did some minor adjustments and updated file. I probably won't go to such detail as the amount effort increases too much if I'd start making a 'final' mix out of this. But you're right about the kick build up, vocals being buried at some points and 'size' difference between chorus und verse.

Initially I had vocals louder, but took them down a bit before rendering. Now I put them back up. I find solace in the fact that average headbanger won't care for the vocals too much, and the true fan will read the lyrics from album cover anyway by a candle light when listening the record in her gloomy dungeon. But if you're the producer, then your wish is my command and I fix. ^_^

Good to hear if you enjoyed the br00talness and energy etc. In terms of loudness I went for -6 LUFS and -6 RMS dBFS AES17, which is pretty much a standard for contemporary rock and metal, although a pro mastering engineer would probably do a cleaner job. After trying different calibration level settings I've landed on basically an arbitrary configuration where my mixes average on around -18 to -15 dBFS RMS AES17 and the SPL is around 75-80 dB, and in the end I basically do a 8 to 10 dB boost on the master with a limiter and compensate this by lowering the listening level the same amount, and do some further tweaking against the limiter before rendering. Roughly speaking. ^_^

[matiasgodoy399]

Wow the beggining punched my face! Love this mix. Please check mine! I think mine is a little more opened up, yet it loses a little power. DRUM AND BASS in this mix kick my ass! maybe too much kick on the guitar solo. And I don´t know if I love or hate the snare sound, it has a lot of personality! Haha Greaaaat great mix!

[Dangerous]

I'm not sure how a song of this genre should sound. In saying that I love your work here, in all aspects. If I have a go at this multi, I'll be sure to use this for inspiration.

5 Stars for me also!

Dave.

[kapu]

Large tanks! There's always room for small tweaks, at least in my mixes. After a while this still sounds quite convincing, and that being said I did some minor adjustments and updated file. ^_^

[Astrovader]

Your mix is very good!! I'm not a pro Mixer more a beginner, but i think it's a good mixed Mix. The balance is good, there is nothing going under and nothing sticking out a lot, except of the snare a little bit ,but thats only 1 db or less. In comparison to my mix it's more balanced and the drums are louder

[kapu]

Your mix is very good!! (. . .)

Thanks! The snare is a bit forward, but the sound has the same nice quality as the rifles of paramilitary organization executing left wing liberals declared as enemies of the state without proper trial in a abandoned concrete factory, so it has it's place. ^_^

[matiasgodoy399]

Your mix is very good!! (. . .)

Thanks! The snare is a bit forward, but the sound has the same nice quality as the rifles of paramilitary organization executing left wing liberals declared as enemies of the state without proper trial in a abandoned concrete factory, so it has it's place. ^_^

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA best description ever!

[kapu]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA [...]

Yes, the description was actually used by one client, so I can't take credit for the creativity. It's suprising how many of the sound descriptions include acts of violence against animals and/or babies. Maybe it has something to do with highlighting aggression or something. ^_^