Dark Ride: 'Hammer Down'

[SonicTramp]

The last mix wasn't done too well. I struggled with masking trying to get the guitars up properly. The synths were ok but nothing to brag about. I decided to go back and redo from scratch but this time I decided to unleash the full power of the gate . Yep, man, the most underrated piece of equipment/plug in/processor. Nobody ever talked about the gate, not like, say, the compressor. The problem is: I didn't know what kind of power the gate has. I spent roughly a week searching to see if I can find anything I missed about it. Nothing new. Same old noise gating techniques, and, it seems, it's such a boring subject to cover so nobody ever does. Fine. I'll learn it on my own then .

The gate is wonderful. It can do much more than just gating out noises. It is just as important/useful as the compressor in its own way once we know how to use properly. I barely get to know it now; it's been a long time since I use it other than to gate noise, but I'll be better soon enough now that I know what it can do and its capability. If you want to know how/what it can do, listen to the _03 mix (w/gate) and compare with the _02. Vastly different in term of quality (with only a couple days of practice). So add it to your arsenal. Cheers!

[SonicTramp]

Have a chance to come back and fine tune the mix after all the excitement subsided. Guitars were too sharp so I dialed it back. Mostly work on the synths and the guitar to make them work together. I'd like to get the bass a bit more oomph but the mix rattles when fader moves up. Still don't know what to do. Hope the guitars are crunchy enough. The snare can be a bit shorter but a combi of compressor+gate couldn't do it. What else can we use to shorten the snare?

[Sean Steven]

I really like your mix. Well Done

[SonicTramp]

  Thanks for the kind words. I tried to look for your mix to return the favor but to no avail. If you have any mix in here, just give me the link and i'll look for it. Thanks

[SonicTramp]

First attempt to master my mix on this song using new (to me) technique. Worked on the snare and got it to where I wanted. Re-balanced some of the guitars to bring out the full power of the part. But mostly worked on mastering my own mix and bring it to a presentable state.

[Sean Steven]

Hey, you're welcome! Sorry for the late reply. Here's an attachment of my latest attempt.
Hope you enjoy,
Sean

[SonicTramp]

Hey, you're welcome! Sorry for the late reply. Here's an attachment of my latest attempt.
Hope you enjoy,
Sean

I didn't subscribe to this thread and completely forgot about it until I was done (never, really) with another song similar to this. My bad. Anyway, I took a few listens to your mix and noticed a couple things.

The synth01/guitars/top of snare are trying to find a place for themselves in the mix and a little crunchy. I guess it's around 1.8k-4.5kHz. A bit loud, relatively with the kick/bass. That in turn gives me the perception of a lack of bottom end. There's a slight build up 100-250Hz in your guitars making it less punchy. I think the OH/OHroom/snareFX tracks are causing it. Maybe you want to check them out.

In this song, I find that the OH, tho it contains mostly hat/crash, and the OHroom and the snareFX need the most clean up. The vocal needs some level balance in some places. That, I think, should be done right from the source (clip gain) instead of relying on automation.

Here's how I treat them. Maybe you'll find it useful. The OH I used a gate to do the heavy lifting, EQ/comp are just there to keep them in check. There was a bit of top end wash caused by the cymbal/crash that lingered on too long. That would def interfere with the top end of guitars/snare/vocal, etc.

The drmrm, same treatment but diff goal. Too much room sound, aimed at cutting more lo mid than hi and to control ambiance.

SnareFX, same but the EQ/comp did more work. The chain for all is gate-EQ-comp Hope it helps. Cheers!

I include here my recent mix. Still working on it.

[Blitzzz]

Getting better bit by bit, but still overthinking it.

Also, this is a metal song. the synth is a supporting character, not the star of the song. right now, it sits in the spotlight like the main character.

[SonicTramp]

Thanks for the comment. Glad you confirm I was getting better, not bc I was better but I could hear more stuffs. There is no confirmation from anyone but me so that means a lot to me, man. I can hear a lot more now since it's been a couple weeks, especially the compressor. Oh, such a beautiful beast that haunted me for the last 5-6 years. For the life of me I could not hear what happens when I lengthen/shorten the attack/release or moving the threshold and the ratio. That's pretty much what I didn't hear, all of it. But not anymore, my man. I can hear it now. I will come back to this song. I love this song. And yes, it's a metal song. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking (the overthinking bit you mentioned, I suspect) it's nu-metal. They just don't put a "nu" there for no reason, right? There's nothing there that is "nu" except for the synths, and so I took my chance and featured (barely) the synths as much as I could. No words from the songwriter himself saying anything so I just went on gut feelings. But I'll try to get the guitar more if that's appropriate to the genre. Thanks, man. I wish I can write like you, 2 sentences and the point got crossed. Awesome.

[mikej]

No words from the songwriter himself saying anything so I just went on gut feelings.

Hi,

Thought it was worth stepping in to point out that someone posted quite a lot of useful information here regarding mixing this particular track, if you (or anyone else) had missed it....

Cheers!