Preach Right Here

[The_Metallurgist]

The hiss... well... I actually added that I didn't feel the noise could be sufficiently removed....

that's shocking, you need a quality noise reduction processor. Hbguitar's methodology has serious limitations, simply because the noise will come over with the instrument(s), especially when compressed. and it's this that needs nailing. and of course, when you do so, the stuff in between also gets nailed too. but i'd use a gate for that

i'm intellectually guessing that you worked on this source in 16bit without converting it to 32bit during import to your DAW? for the benefit of the audience who wish to shout me down on that....i do know i'm not adding quality by doing this...just a bunch of zeros to the word-length. HOWEVER all processing applied to this converted 32bit file, will be in 32bit, complete with the benefits of added dynamic range! why 32bit? because 24 bit doesn't divide nicely into 16, you get some stuff left over or left out which makes it a quality problem (at least to people like me). this is why music bums should work in the 32 bit domain, NOT 24bit. earlier ProTools was a major constraint in that regard and they've only very recently actually addressed this!! 24bit is only of use to people who don't need to convert the material to 16 bit, like the movie guys for example (24bit audio can fit on a DVD, but only 16bit will fit a CD)....now i'm typically digressing!

sonically, the mix is as flat as a pancake. slapping a decent exciter over the stereo buss would help inject some life and sparkle into it (especially if you're running 32 bit). i'd recommend an outboard rig like the Aphex Aural Exciter (with BIG BOTTOM!!! the older ones didn't have this), but if not tooled up to work out of the box, setting up will lose you a bit of cost/benefit perhaps but corners can be cut if you're motivated. it's fantastic however, and sometimes comes at an affordable price on auction sites if you watch and wait If you listen to a lot of lossy junk (tut, tut), a rig like this can inject some serious business into your listening quality, so it's not a redundant item when you stop mixing. once adding the exciter into the mix, you're views about reverb will likely change. forever. read up about the history of the Aphex rig...it's fascinating; note specifically the era in which it was employed - analogue. be aware that applying it to a single instrument can have it's benefits now and again.

the intro rhythm guitars were masking the solo on occasion.