Unseen Mix and Faux Master

[dcp10200]

This one seemed to fit with a Children of Bodem late 90's Death Metal sound, Obnoxiously clicky kick...Check, bass low in the mix...check, Scooped guitars...Check, Bright cymbals and smashed master...check! This is rough but I did automate the guitars around the vocals and sample replace all the shells on the kit and smash it a bit . I'm also half tempted to upload a William Murderface bass version (if you watch Metalocalyse you'll get the reference) of the mix for a laugh, but that's for later.


Cheers,
Doug

Update: I went back and reworked the mix with a more "modern" approach, the kick was getting a little bit too obnoxious and I was missing the low end of the bass in the mix. The guitar tones are switched up abit to fit the rest of the changes, the new version is mastered abit softer as well so it should be less harsh on the ears when cranked up!

Update 2: I did a remix from scratch, this time I went completely with my gut and no reference mix, the master is also is not as pushed and for now has no automation on it. Really mastering was just driving the mix into a limiter and a small bit of multiband compression.

[dcp10200]

So someone left a star rating but no comments...

[loupi]

hey D,
i think you succeeded very well in what you set out to do. it sounds great played at lower volume, like 'radioready' (kick and hihat might be sticking out a just alittlebit). for me however, when you turn it up louder (which i tend to do with 'heavy guitar'-music) it doesn't quite deliver what is promised at lower volumes. your mix still sounds on the decent side of obnoxious though, nicely done!

i think it is an interesting question, how to mix this kind of music. i have the tendency to prefer 'understated' mixes of fe. steve albini that (sometimes) really get great when you cranck up the volume, but may kind of seem a bit on the dull side when played in the supermarket. in the long term (listening to more than one or two songs at the time, as well as enojoying a record for years and years) i prefer mixes that aren't too 'pimped'. maybe i like playing with the volume-knob (i guess that's why i mix)! ;-)

[Roy]

...when played in the supermarket.

I wanna shop where you shop.

As for the mix, it sounds good. Personally, I want that bass guitar filling the low end of the center of the image but I get that might not be the right sound for the genre.

[dcp10200]

hey D,
i think you succeeded very well in what you set out to do. it sounds great played at lower volume, like 'radioready' (kick and hihat might be sticking out a just alittlebit). for me however, when you turn it up louder (which i tend to do with 'heavy guitar'-music) it doesn't quite deliver what is promised at lower volumes. your mix still sounds on the decent side of obnoxious though, nicely done!

i think it is an interesting question, how to mix this kind of music. i have the tendency to prefer 'understated' mixes of fe. steve albini that (sometimes) really get great when you cranck up the volume, but may kind of seem a bit on the dull side when played in the supermarket. in the long term (listening to more than one or two songs at the time, as well as enojoying a record for years and years) i prefer mixes that aren't too 'pimped'. maybe i like playing with the volume-knob (i guess that's why i mix)! ;-)

Thanks Loupi, I agree with you on the harshness bit, I was mixing this at a low volume so that might be why it sound good low. For extreme metal I really like to have a pushed sound that's a bit more produced, the music is pushing the boundaries of music so the sonics of the mix should match that idea.

Not so much into the whole black metal side of things (I never got the idea behind writing heavy music but then making the record sound limp), but I can respect what the bands were doing with what little they had, the Gothenburg Death Metal Scene is really what I love in the world of extreme metal, those bands were brutal and ferocious but still had the production value and clarity to match.

I've uploaded another version of my mix but this time I worked for more of my normal sound for metal, and even boosted up the bass in the mix.

Cheers,
Doug

[dcp10200]

...when played in the supermarket.

I wanna shop where you shop.

As for the mix, it sounds good. Personally, I want that bass guitar filling the low end of the center of the image but I get that might not be the right sound for the genre.

Felt the samething Roy, it needs that growl under the guitars.

Cheers and thanks for the comments,
Doug

[Before You Jump]

Generally the low end and the song are powerful and the vocals pretty clear but it is not bright enough in my opinion.
the guitars get lost and disappear sometimes in the verse because it seems that they are crashed by other elements and therefore the mix is so "mono".
It kinda sounds overcompressed (audible in the overheads) and sometimes overlimited too (for example before the 3.verse).

[Mall of Death]

may kind of seem a bit on the dull side when played in the supermarket

Ah, yes... I really hate it when I shop at Finntroll's and the Dethklok jingle sounds too dull.

Love the obnoxious mix! Although it still sounds a bit too good for CoB standards.

[dcp10200]

may kind of seem a bit on the dull side when played in the supermarket

Ah, yes... I really hate it when I shop at Finntroll's and the Dethklok jingle sounds too dull.

Love the obnoxious mix! Although it still sounds a bit too good for CoB standards.

Thanks Mall, I was just in the grocery store the other day and Hammer Smashed Face just didn't have that punch lol . I agree with you on the obnoxious mix, I couldn't bring myself to thin it out as much as Bodem though haha (still gotta have them lows intact )!

Cheers,
Doug

[TiPa]

Disclaimer : I'm not a professional mixer, just an amateur trying to improve my skills and help the community. So don't take my remarks too seriously
Listening/working environment : Eve Audio SC205 in a "half" treated home studio / Yamaha HS50M in a standard room / DT880 / MDR7509HD

Very powerfull mix ! It sounds very modern, bright and punchy. Every part is very well treated, even this awful bass.
If I have to say something maybe the guitars are too much panned L/R and the overhall mix is a bit too bright for me and my old school death metal standard but very well done !