Promises & Lies Heavy Mix

[pauli]

Hey Andres, sorry for the delayed response.

So I'm having a bit of trouble with this mix. The main issue that's jumping out right away for me is the low end energy from the kick... there's really way too much going on down there. Funny thing about heavy rock... you don't need much low end, and you really wouldn't go wrong to nix the sub entirely. Especially in a busy rock track, excess low end is going to give the mix a plodding, muddy feel, and I'm struggling with that here. I'd recommend on most rock tracks, especially fast ones, you try highpassing the kick and bass at 40 or 50. Usually I'll highpass the entire mix at 40 during mastering, too, because excess low end and sub is really going to mess with any sort of compression you attempt on the mix buss or during mastering. If you have poor low end monitoring, and almost every small studio is lacking in that regard, be very careful with the low end... wouldn't want to blow someone's subwoofer Try a spectrum analyzer and compare the bass to comparable tracks as Don suggested... that's what works for me personally.

As far as overall balance goes, all I can really hear is the guitars, vocal, kick and cymbals. The kick is masking the bass entirely on my monitoring, and I'm not really hearing the snare, either. On the plus side, the interaction between the vocals and guitars is stellar. I think in a hard rock mix, it's best to mix the drums and bass first, personally, and then apply master buss compression. Basically, the idea behind that strategy is that the rhythm section is going to be driving the compression, ultimately, and then you can mix the guitars and vocals while the compression is active to catch any potential issues that might crop up during mastering. This has several benefits... for one, if you're having a hard time getting the compressor to drive with the beat while only the drums and bass are active, that's a classic telltale sign you've got too much bass going on. For two, the mastering compression also helps keep the vocal from getting too loud and sitting on top of the mix... only to wind up overcompressed during mastering because it'll be the main sound pushing the limiter, which is not something you want.

So overall, this could use a bit of work, but all isn't lost. I'd suggest turning off any buss compression you might be using, then cleaning up the low end. When you've got that sorted, introduce the drums and bass, and then mix the other instruments around those. Keep it up and keep me posted on any revisions