21-02-2020, 12:05 AM
Nice to see someone else giving the SSD Free Rock Kit some love (the cymbal velocity curves in that plugin made me hate EZDrummer 2 Metal Machine for any sort of swell) and same with TSE B.O.D. Overall I really like the clarity your mix has without losing the sense of a band in a space, it's super easy to end up sucking all the life out of a track like this making everything as clean and clear as possible especially when plugins are the source of all the tones.
My only gripes are pretty minor things, the cymbals don't have a lot of definition on the attack and sound washy when the mix gets more intense (it's been awhile since I used the SSD 5 kit because it's been acting weird with my setup lately so I'm not sure if that's just how those cymbals sound), maybe blending in some of those DFH cymbals could help you out there. While the separation between all the instruments is done quite well, through certain sections where the double kick is playing it feels like it dominates the bass and gives that "And Justice For All" feel to the mix and leaves the rhythm guitar feeling a touch wimpy. During those sections I'd automate the kick down a few dB just till the rhythm guitar, bass and kick feel like one unit. I've also been finding myself tuning the attack of the beater to the guitars with some eq as of late so as to make the kick feel like and extension of the guitar for those heavy chugging sections since it along with the bass generally mirror that part and give you that "Wall of Sound" effect. Lastly, during the first instance of the choir synths and bells they're being completely drowned out, that's our first real point of deviation from the rhythm section plus leads in the whole track, the synths there need to be more present along with the leads to break up the monotony of the track, since the rhythm guitar is just sustaining the same chords as the bass and synths, drop the level on the rhythm and bring up the bells and the choir so they're just underneath the lead.
Overall I like how your mix is sounding and it proves that knowing your tools is half the battle when achieving a quality mix.
Cheers,
Doug
My only gripes are pretty minor things, the cymbals don't have a lot of definition on the attack and sound washy when the mix gets more intense (it's been awhile since I used the SSD 5 kit because it's been acting weird with my setup lately so I'm not sure if that's just how those cymbals sound), maybe blending in some of those DFH cymbals could help you out there. While the separation between all the instruments is done quite well, through certain sections where the double kick is playing it feels like it dominates the bass and gives that "And Justice For All" feel to the mix and leaves the rhythm guitar feeling a touch wimpy. During those sections I'd automate the kick down a few dB just till the rhythm guitar, bass and kick feel like one unit. I've also been finding myself tuning the attack of the beater to the guitars with some eq as of late so as to make the kick feel like and extension of the guitar for those heavy chugging sections since it along with the bass generally mirror that part and give you that "Wall of Sound" effect. Lastly, during the first instance of the choir synths and bells they're being completely drowned out, that's our first real point of deviation from the rhythm section plus leads in the whole track, the synths there need to be more present along with the leads to break up the monotony of the track, since the rhythm guitar is just sustaining the same chords as the bass and synths, drop the level on the rhythm and bring up the bells and the choir so they're just underneath the lead.
Overall I like how your mix is sounding and it proves that knowing your tools is half the battle when achieving a quality mix.
Cheers,
Doug
Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We do it because we love music! It’s the love of music first. Eddie Kramer
Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6
Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6