Dark Ride - Hammer Down

[DB Oldhouse Records]

Here is my final mix of Dark Ride - Hammer Down. Mixed with SSL and mastered analog.

[Blitzzz]

Hey there! I really like the beefy rhythm guitars and bass in this mix; they bring a lot of energy! However, they seem to dominate the mix a bit too much, and it'd be great if you turn them down to make space for other elements to shine. Also, use automation to bring certain elements to the spotlight. Right now, the mix is not paying enough attention to all the small details that most of the tracks offer.

I noticed the snare sounds quite processed, with the ghost notes not coming through clearly, which gives the snare a robotic feel. Maybe you can use a more diverse set of samples for the snare, with different velocities, to make it sound more natural and human. Also, please change the "colour" of the snare to suit this genre better; try using a brighter sample with more bottom. The original mix might be a good source of inspiration for how it should sound.

Regarding the cymbals, they're too quiet, with the hi-hat seeming to be lost in the mix. Let's bring them up a bit so they add that nice shimmer and groove to the track.

To address the balancing issues, you should focus on volume adjustments and volume automation for certain parts to find the right balance. I'm confident that with some tweaks and changes to the snare sample and verb, you can create a fantastic and cohesive mix. Once you nail these small adjustments, your track will sound way more lively, natural, and polished! Give it a shot and make it shine!

[DB Oldhouse Records]

here is my new mix, I hope you like it. Mixed with SSL and mastered analogue.

[mikej]

Hi!

Yeah - for me the main issue is that balance of this mix is perhaps a little off as the track progresses?

For me I feel the guitar riff hook at 18 secs should be more up front and not be quite so buried under the rhythm guitars.  The lead vocal should be more up front at the 29 seconds mark and not buried under everything else.  Everything is kind of pushed back and buried under those whisper BV's when they come in.  They are making everything else feel small compared to where we started out.  Those BV's can be blended in underneath the lead vox to add a little width.

The balance from around 48 secs to 1:45 is much better - then we have those BV's push everything back again....  The guitar pick slide at 1:57 is almost inaudible.  2:44 - the guitar solo should perhaps be the star and not so much the kick drum as such?

The raw tracks are really good - you can actually get a pretty good rough mix balance without using any plugins or automation at all. I think this is actually a really good session for practising mix balance.

As Blitzzz said previously - I think if you were to make a few more adjustments to your last mix to improve the balance a bit and get the track flowing nicely from start to finish, then going back through and tweaking the details - I think you'll have a pretty decent mix here.

Cheers!

[Blitzzz]

[quote pid='125294' dateline='1690548209']
" I think this is actually a really good session for practising mix balance."


[/quote]
Does it make sense to pin a comment to this song's section with this advice and a short "how to balance the song"-guide?

I´m also thinking of running a simple competition like "Who get`s the best rough mix with only volume and fader automation." I would judge the mixes with 1-2 people from this forum. I think I still have a couple of licenses of plugins I have never used to be used as freebies for this contest.

[mikej]

Does it make sense to pin a comment to this song's section with this advice and a short "how to balance the song"-guide?

I´m also thinking of running a simple competition like "Who get`s the best rough mix with only volume and fader automation." I would judge the mixes with 1-2 people from this forum. I think I still have a couple of licenses of plugins I have never used to be used as freebies for this contest.

Yeah - I'll send you a pm!

Cheers!

[DB Oldhouse Records]

Thanks for the comments. I study Audio Engineering Diploma , i know a lot of automation. I worked as a FOH Engineer for over 25 years with 600 concerts and 75 Bands. This mix was done for fun, in real studio time I do all automations and everything else.
I made a new mix for you.

[mikej]

Hi!

You got it I think! Latest mix is really good. So much better than the first one you posted.

Everything was there with the mix you posted in #3 - it was just some of the balances that was throwing the whole thing off a bit for me. I think it was well worth spending the extra time on it IMHO.

Cheers!

[Blitzzz]

V3 is really good, love it!

Two things:
1. The original was beefier and had more bass - maybe there is room to make your mix a bit more chuggy?
2. I would bring down the backing vocals in the Chorus. We added them to add more weight to Carstens's voice, therefore the quality/performance isn't really good enough to put them in the spotlight.

[DB Oldhouse Records]

ok thank you  here is a new mix