10-05-2021, 10:38 AM
Hi,
Thanks for checking it out.
I know the mix is not working. This will be a long post. Sorry for the essay - I have lots of questions!
I did consider putting all these questions in the first post, but figured that everyone can hear what is wrong in the mix.. I was hoping I would get some pointers. Many thanks for the comments so far, much appreciated.
I will likely need some more help yet...
I have shied away from revisiting mixing metal as previous attempts were really quite disastrous, but thought it time to give it another try at least.
Mixing modern metal is it's own thing in itself - with it's own terminology and techniques - and I obviously don't really know what I am doing with it yet, despite reading the notes and also watching a few tutorials. I find with mixing you really need to get to the point where it is instinctive as to what is right and wrong as such, and I am so far from that point with this stuff. I hear it straight away when people try and turn dance drums into rock drums and it sounds wrong to me straight away... Likewise, I get it that it is painfully obvious I don't know what I am doing with mixing metal.
For me anyway, you need to be able to figure out and understand the 'why' yourself, rather than watch someone quickly twiddle an eq and add the latest plugin they are selling... on an already great sounding mix... I also don't really listen to this genre that much, other than for research purposes, which probably doesn't help matters either....
Right, Ok...
Kick - I did take loads of low end off, well I thought I had... I high passed it to around 80 or so, but I also gave it a bump around 80hz. I guess I will take off the bump, and maybe try not have it quite so loud in the mix.
Towards the end of the mix I revisited the balance and maybe ended up putting the whole drum group too loud overall perhaps... Maybe should have left them where I had them initially...
Oh, I did create a bus for the kicks, and put an automated low shelf on it for the blast beats though.
Snare:
Yeah I know it's wrong, but I really couldn't figure out how to get to the right sound. I did gate it and take out a little around 500, but from what you are saying, bcs_mix, I should maybe scoop out most of the mids and compress it really hard? I did take out a little 500, but seems that I don't need to be shy with it as such? I was thinking it was maybe more of balance thing I was maybe not getting! I'll try hitting it hard with the compressor instead.
Is the snare also too loud in the mix? When I got it about right, you couldn't really hear the lighter hit snare during the blast beats at all. Is the built in snare balance right, or do I need to be automating the levels here? I really wasn't sure.
Main (Rhythm?) Guitar:
The library mix feels like it maybe has some mids carved out, kind of 1k 2k ish.. not sure... Is this the case, or is it just the mix balance? Or is there some additional processing going on? I didn't do anything with it because 'don't change the guitar tone' but at the same time, I do feel I am missing something here. I understand some people actually do automatically carve out 1k or 2k, or whatever their taste is, but I try not to do things automatically as such, without some understanding at least.
Overall mix:
Right, I hope this makes sense...
To me the library mix sounds a little tube-ish, maybe kind of mid scooped (which kind of highlights the drums and bass) and a bit 6k-ish. Is this more down to the eq and balance of the individual elements, rather than some overall mix bus processing?
I recall my first impression of listening to this stuff is that it is kind of bass light in a way, but I am understanding it is more a case of high passing everything a bit higher than one might normally do, to avoid build up of the low end frequencies during faster passages, etc?
Normally I feel I can figure things out and get somewhere close just by listening and trying a few things, but I am really struggling to work out what is actually going on with this stuff. I have also learned that heavy guitars tend to mess with my perception of things a bit too, so it is also a struggle to maintain perspective after going at it for a while. It's sometimes difficult to take that break you need, when you really want to keep working at it!
Thanks all!
Cheers!
Thanks for checking it out.
I know the mix is not working. This will be a long post. Sorry for the essay - I have lots of questions!
I did consider putting all these questions in the first post, but figured that everyone can hear what is wrong in the mix.. I was hoping I would get some pointers. Many thanks for the comments so far, much appreciated.
I will likely need some more help yet...
I have shied away from revisiting mixing metal as previous attempts were really quite disastrous, but thought it time to give it another try at least.
Mixing modern metal is it's own thing in itself - with it's own terminology and techniques - and I obviously don't really know what I am doing with it yet, despite reading the notes and also watching a few tutorials. I find with mixing you really need to get to the point where it is instinctive as to what is right and wrong as such, and I am so far from that point with this stuff. I hear it straight away when people try and turn dance drums into rock drums and it sounds wrong to me straight away... Likewise, I get it that it is painfully obvious I don't know what I am doing with mixing metal.
For me anyway, you need to be able to figure out and understand the 'why' yourself, rather than watch someone quickly twiddle an eq and add the latest plugin they are selling... on an already great sounding mix... I also don't really listen to this genre that much, other than for research purposes, which probably doesn't help matters either....
Right, Ok...
Kick - I did take loads of low end off, well I thought I had... I high passed it to around 80 or so, but I also gave it a bump around 80hz. I guess I will take off the bump, and maybe try not have it quite so loud in the mix.
Towards the end of the mix I revisited the balance and maybe ended up putting the whole drum group too loud overall perhaps... Maybe should have left them where I had them initially...
Oh, I did create a bus for the kicks, and put an automated low shelf on it for the blast beats though.
Snare:
Yeah I know it's wrong, but I really couldn't figure out how to get to the right sound. I did gate it and take out a little around 500, but from what you are saying, bcs_mix, I should maybe scoop out most of the mids and compress it really hard? I did take out a little 500, but seems that I don't need to be shy with it as such? I was thinking it was maybe more of balance thing I was maybe not getting! I'll try hitting it hard with the compressor instead.
Is the snare also too loud in the mix? When I got it about right, you couldn't really hear the lighter hit snare during the blast beats at all. Is the built in snare balance right, or do I need to be automating the levels here? I really wasn't sure.
Main (Rhythm?) Guitar:
The library mix feels like it maybe has some mids carved out, kind of 1k 2k ish.. not sure... Is this the case, or is it just the mix balance? Or is there some additional processing going on? I didn't do anything with it because 'don't change the guitar tone' but at the same time, I do feel I am missing something here. I understand some people actually do automatically carve out 1k or 2k, or whatever their taste is, but I try not to do things automatically as such, without some understanding at least.
Overall mix:
Right, I hope this makes sense...
To me the library mix sounds a little tube-ish, maybe kind of mid scooped (which kind of highlights the drums and bass) and a bit 6k-ish. Is this more down to the eq and balance of the individual elements, rather than some overall mix bus processing?
I recall my first impression of listening to this stuff is that it is kind of bass light in a way, but I am understanding it is more a case of high passing everything a bit higher than one might normally do, to avoid build up of the low end frequencies during faster passages, etc?
Normally I feel I can figure things out and get somewhere close just by listening and trying a few things, but I am really struggling to work out what is actually going on with this stuff. I have also learned that heavy guitars tend to mess with my perception of things a bit too, so it is also a struggle to maintain perspective after going at it for a while. It's sometimes difficult to take that break you need, when you really want to keep working at it!
Thanks all!
Cheers!
Just uploaded a mix/master? Waiting for comments? Why not give back and critique a mix/master, or two!