25-12-2013, 09:44 PM (This post was last modified: 25-12-2013, 09:44 PM by cjbee.)
(25-12-2013, 09:36 PM)Mr.Franky Wrote: Well, try to think of drums as one instrument instead of different instruments. Seriously, give it a go Use a dirtier/snappy compressor like an 1176 or so. Not too crazy of a ratio, Fastest release and slow attack. A lot of compression. This gives a lot of snap to the 'dry' drum tracks. As a guideline, always (never say always though..) use fast release on drums for a punchy sound.
Yeah, that's great and all -- totally valid -- but it's quite clear here that he needs to focus a bit more attention on the micro-aspects of the kit before thinking big picture. Getting the kick and snare rocking together at the start is a pretty crucial determinant of how a mix will turn out -- not necessarily for every style, granted, but for a song like this...yep. Probably the most important elements apart from the vocal.
(19-01-2014, 05:40 PM)EleKtroFR Wrote: OOOOK Guys, here it is my latest mix of this song... I had to work really hard but now i can say it's a long way better than before!
Tell me what you think, i really appreciate your critics!
Hey,
Why are the distortion guitars panned to the center? Spread 'em out. Preferably hard L/R, but that's taste.
The bass and guitars, and the whole mix for that matter, is muddy. Try adding some definition to the bass in the 2Khz area.
Drums sound very weird to my ear. The kick sounds as if the drummer is kicking against a cardboard box. Overheads/cymbals sound phasey. Snare sounds too weak for this genre. Try not to compress the attack out of it. Could also use some more length, which you could accomplish with a reverb. But be careful so it doesn't push the snare back too much. The drummer is pretty good, but the recording is terrible. Try adding samples. Don't be afraid to use samples. Just do whatever needs to be done to get where you want it to be. If you're not sure if you know where you want to be, check out some professional mixes. For this genre, again, go listen to Paramore records. Check out 'Brick by boring brick' by Paramore. THAT is what a genre like this should sound like. Compare your mix to that song, and pay attention to everything. How does the snare sound compared to yours. How is the overall balance? How much treble is in the guitars? (Hint: ALOT!) Where does the bass sit? How loud (or actually how silent) is the paramore vocal in that mix? Pretty quiet, but why is it so clear and defined? A shitload of MUSICAL compression and proper EQ, but more importantly because the rest of the instruments is giving it space. How? EQ, compression, and more importantly panning. Get stuff out of the center, to make space for the vocal.
Back to your mix: Vocals EQ is pretty good in the verses, but could use more compression. Some notes disappear under the rest of the track while at certain phrases it jumps out way over the track. Don't like the vocals in the chorus. Try to keep them a bit natural. Probably it's the balance with the doubled vocal track. Also de-ess the vocals more. Maybe try a 166ms Slap delay on the vocal.
Hope this helps a bit. Just my humble opinion though
Oh and.. DO AS MUCH MIXING AS POSSIBLE. Really, in order to be good, one must really dedicate his days to it. It can't be learnt overnight, but by years of experience.
Really thanks for your reply mr. franky! i'l keep going with this song... it's pretty hard to make it sound good! but i'll try to compare with paramore and will see .
For the drums i thought they got better now, i'm checking my mix with others and i like it... mmmm
Firstly i'm gonna make space for vocals and make them more "linear".
(20-01-2014, 10:46 AM)EleKtroFR Wrote: Really thanks for your reply mr. franky! i'l keep going with this song... it's pretty hard to make it sound good! but i'll try to compare with paramore and will see .
For the drums i thought they got better now, i'm checking my mix with others and i like it... mmmm
Firstly i'm gonna make space for vocals and make them more "linear".
Stay tuned and still thanks for your help!!!!
My pleasure.
Also, sometimes it's good to step back and let it rest a bit. Don't get to focused on one mix for too long. Leave this mix alone for a week or so. Do something else in the meantime. Then get back to this mix and have a real impression of the mix again. Really helps a a lot when you're starting out and learning. Then you really hear what needs to be done.
20-01-2014, 10:23 PM (This post was last modified: 20-01-2014, 10:24 PM by cjbee.)
Vocals sound good, EQ-wise...they fit within the track well enough but they still need more compression. Check out my mix thread if you get a second...I think I used the Waves CLA-3A going into Rvox, doing a combined total of about 15db of compression on the vocals...it helps using multiple compressors when doing this much compression because knocking off 15db with one compressor can get ugly fast.
And why didn't you tune the vocals? It's probably the most distracting thing about it.
The drums also sound a bit boxy to me and aren't ripping my head off like they should with this type of music -- they should bring the bulk of the energy, IMO. You should really look into how to do sample replacement. Slate Trigger and Drumagog make it really easy and are fairly cost-effective.
The guitars sound good and are balanced well. I dig how you treated those.
Indeed, guitars sound better. I miss some punch in the bas.
But indeed, the biggest factor are the drums. This genre requires real aggressive drums that punch you in the nose on every snare hit. It's not only volume wise I'm talking here, it's everything. Indeed, look into sample enhancement or.. because this wasn't tracked too brilliantly, maybe replace the kick and snare. Toms should be OK to work with. The floortom is pretty good, but the tom was recorded poorly. TUNING. Also it's a shame there are no room mics on the drums. Room mics are very important, especially for this genre. Thats where a lot of the excitement comes from as long as it doesn't sound too roomy. Funny thing huh. Maybe try duplicating the overheads and try to make a room sound out of it. Compress it in a way so the room sound comes out but make sure the cymbals don't rip off your head. Add some reverb to that. For that case, just put the verb on insert and use the 'mix' or 'dry/wet' knob to taste. You don't want it too wet of course.
Also I'm still not liking the vocals in the chorus. The balance of the lead vocal and the double is unnatural. Push the double vocal back a bit, so it's more about the lead vocal. The double is there just to add some more shimmer/depth/character. It should be pretty subtle imo, but still have its effect.
Also, what helps for this bass is having the DI track, and duplicating it.
Use the duplicate and run it through an amp kinda plugin like a sansamp or so. Get some distortion on the bass and mainly focus on the mids/highs. I like to get the low stuff from the DI track, as I usually find it tighter.
Next what you might want to try is to make an aux track and insert a chorus on that channel. Send the bass duplicate - which for instance we call "Bass Amp"- to that chorus aux using your aux sends. This gives something special to the bass, adds width and some excitement. Again, this should be a pretty subtle thing. You shouldn't be able to say "Wow there a chorus/doubler on the bass" when you're listening to the mix with everything playing. Also, try not to work in solo. This is a really big one! You could solo to hear what's there, but when you want to adjust something like an eq or so, don't do it in solo. Do it when evertyhing is competing with each other. Also, when for instance you are Eqing the bass
, don't necessarily focus on how the eq affects the bass. Listen to how it affects the vocals, the kick and the guitars.
Use a dirtier/snappy compressor like an 1176 or so. Not too crazy of a ratio, Fastest release and slow attack. A lot of compression. This gives a lot of snap to the 'dry' drum tracks. As a guideline, always (never say always though..) use fast release on drums for a punchy sound.
