05-04-2014, 02:12 AM
I think the overheads are maybe 2 or 3 dB too loud, or perhaps they need a little high shelving cut in the upper ranges to tone the cymbals/hat down a bit... there are a few spots where they're dominating the mix, further forward than the guitars to my ears. Maybe they're reacting a little too strongly to any sort of drum bus compression you might be using. I'd also try putting a transient modeller or some sort of slow attack compression on the kick drum to shorten the length of the beat so that it's not bumping uglies with the bass guitar too much.
In the current mix I think the bass guitar actually sounds pretty darned good, maybe trim it a little in the 500 to 800 range, but it cuts through pretty well for the most part. IMHO this song was recorded 5 to 10 BPM too slowly which is what makes this such an issue, but the principle difficulty in this track is getting the bass guitar and kick to get along nicely. In a faster track you could afford to probably trim out more low end which would shorten both the bass guitar and drum sustain and it'd be fine and dandy, but alas! I don't think the bass guitar is the issue in this mix, though, because in my reference phones I can hear the low end contribution with a bit more definition, but on my speakers I'm getting lots of rumble jumble down below 200. Not really your fault... it's an issue that would have been best sorted out in the tracking phase, but in my opinion killing some of the sustain on the bass and kick with compressors or transient modellers would give you more definition in the low end, which'd drive the song along and make it feel faster and more exciting.
Other than the low end issues, which EVERYONE struggles with on this mix, I think there's some pretty good stuff going on here. I love the high end presence of the bass guitar attack... really groovy and funky, and I think the guitars sound pretty decent with one another, which is always a trick considering they're always trying to eat the other channels!
My main suggestion apart from tightening up the drum balance, which is probably as simple as rolling off high end on the cymbals/overheads and maybe shortening the release time on any kinda compression you might be using, and getting a little more low end definition between the bass and kick is to take a hard look at your send effects... reverb and delay. I have to confess... I love reverb, and much of my favorite music (classic rock) has some level of it, but be vewy vewy careful in a funky track like this. I'd stick with tempo based delays and very short (.2 to .4 seconds) reverb returns with high predelay settings, and keep them very quiet... more subliminal than something actually heard. And low cut the snot out of them to make sure nothing below 2 or 300 is happening, or the low end issues will almost certainly get worse. Room effects can really bring a mix to life, but they can also bog it down in bubbling, tar like murkiness.
All in all, a good mix
. I tend to be excessively wordy with my suggestions, but the things I'm suggesting (with the exception of verb and delay considerations which I tend to agonize over lately ) wouldn't take but a few minutes to implement if you find your ears are agreeing with mine! Another suggestion, though, is to trust your instincts... if when you read suggestions like mine and you think "this guy is nuttier than a squirrel turd," then go with what feels right to you! I personally see great promise in this mix and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work!
In the current mix I think the bass guitar actually sounds pretty darned good, maybe trim it a little in the 500 to 800 range, but it cuts through pretty well for the most part. IMHO this song was recorded 5 to 10 BPM too slowly which is what makes this such an issue, but the principle difficulty in this track is getting the bass guitar and kick to get along nicely. In a faster track you could afford to probably trim out more low end which would shorten both the bass guitar and drum sustain and it'd be fine and dandy, but alas! I don't think the bass guitar is the issue in this mix, though, because in my reference phones I can hear the low end contribution with a bit more definition, but on my speakers I'm getting lots of rumble jumble down below 200. Not really your fault... it's an issue that would have been best sorted out in the tracking phase, but in my opinion killing some of the sustain on the bass and kick with compressors or transient modellers would give you more definition in the low end, which'd drive the song along and make it feel faster and more exciting.
Other than the low end issues, which EVERYONE struggles with on this mix, I think there's some pretty good stuff going on here. I love the high end presence of the bass guitar attack... really groovy and funky, and I think the guitars sound pretty decent with one another, which is always a trick considering they're always trying to eat the other channels!
My main suggestion apart from tightening up the drum balance, which is probably as simple as rolling off high end on the cymbals/overheads and maybe shortening the release time on any kinda compression you might be using, and getting a little more low end definition between the bass and kick is to take a hard look at your send effects... reverb and delay. I have to confess... I love reverb, and much of my favorite music (classic rock) has some level of it, but be vewy vewy careful in a funky track like this. I'd stick with tempo based delays and very short (.2 to .4 seconds) reverb returns with high predelay settings, and keep them very quiet... more subliminal than something actually heard. And low cut the snot out of them to make sure nothing below 2 or 300 is happening, or the low end issues will almost certainly get worse. Room effects can really bring a mix to life, but they can also bog it down in bubbling, tar like murkiness.
All in all, a good mix
. I tend to be excessively wordy with my suggestions, but the things I'm suggesting (with the exception of verb and delay considerations which I tend to agonize over lately ) wouldn't take but a few minutes to implement if you find your ears are agreeing with mine! Another suggestion, though, is to trust your instincts... if when you read suggestions like mine and you think "this guy is nuttier than a squirrel turd," then go with what feels right to you! I personally see great promise in this mix and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work!
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!