07-09-2014, 08:06 AM (This post was last modified: 10-12-2014, 07:56 PM by Debellatoris.)
Bad Ass song, any and all critiques, suggestions and comments welcome.
#2 after listening to all the other great mixes i decided i needed to clean the mix up a bit. Didnt use a whole lot of compression and kept all the fx i used. Feedback please. I know to get feedback you have to give it, i just dont feel im in any position to tell people what to do with their mixes. Im confident about mine, and can usually figure out what ive done wrong, so if anybody listens and notices something i need to fix, feel free to comment. I want to be one of the greats, and theres alot of talent within these forums that i can learn from.
Hope you enjoy the mix.
#3 Man there are some good mixes on this board, hope my new one can stand up to 'em
I was listening to your mix on my headphones in the office so I can't make ultraprecise comments. It´s a real life check so to say and I´m just a regular guy like you so take all my comments with a grain of salt.
the reverb on the drums is too much for me. sounds like the drummer was playing in another room while the band was rehearsing. the overall amount of reverb is waaaayyyyy too much. the solo part is a big pile of frequency chaos with a reverb tail that builds up like godzilla jumping out of the ocean.
What was your reference track? If I compare your track with the original mix on my headphones its obvious that your mix has way to much low end/low mids.
so yeah, too much reverb, to much low end, not enough separation.
Blitzzz, thanks man. Yes, heavy is my shit, i want that lamb of god level type mixing. Still learning and experimenting, guess that one went to ye old porcelain god. Definetely, gonna read those articles. I read the one you wrote, tryed to do something i thought was different, glad i got me a day job. You'll like the next one. Just wanna let you know im gonna keep informing you of the new mix until i get the ok. But dont just say ok so ill stop sending you a message, im gonna be one of the greats one day and every "your shit sucks" i get counts.
Debellatoris
(13-09-2014, 06:31 PM)mixingdrummer Wrote: great mix man :-) i would like the drums to be bigger sounding but its a great mix
Thanks mixingdrummer, from the name im betting you could probably help me with that. I didnt know what to do, i didnt want to lower the volume of the other tracks in the mix cuz i lost a lot of the sound i was going for. And if i raised the volume of the drums any more, that got annoying, and the kick started distorting. Being a drummer should i mix the drums like they are when you're playingas far as panning goes. People dont do it, but hd is what the now is, which is supposed to be very specific sounds. I like to feel like im in the mix, depth, crazy reverb, cuz there more sounds circulating than people allow. Sometimes it sounds like should be certain points at which instruments sound like they breath, depending on the song. Anyway, if you got some info you dont mind sharing, im all ears. I dont play anything, so im not bias, nor do i have the advantage of knowing what it sounds like to be apart of the awesome. I want the headbangers to bang, the trippers to trip, the regulars to...ok, thats nice, and the rythyms to dance, and the erected pinkys, well, i ate what you ate, and id wait at least 35, 45 minutes. Thanks again man
14-09-2014, 04:54 PM (This post was last modified: 15-09-2014, 02:34 PM by psoares.)
(14-09-2014, 05:45 AM)Debellatoris Wrote:
(13-09-2014, 06:31 PM)mixingdrummer Wrote: great mix man :-) i would like the drums to be bigger sounding but its a great mix
Thanks mixingdrummer, from the name im betting you could probably help me with that. I didnt know what to do, i didnt want to lower the volume of the other tracks in the mix cuz i lost a lot of the sound i was going for. And if i raised the volume of the drums any more, that got annoying, and the kick started distorting. Being a drummer should i mix the drums like they are when you're playingas far as panning goes. People dont do it, but hd is what the now is, which is supposed to be very specific sounds. I like to feel like im in the mix, depth, crazy reverb, cuz there more sounds circulating than people allow. Sometimes it sounds like should be certain points at which instruments sound like they breath, depending on the song. Anyway, if you got some info you dont mind sharing, im all ears. I dont play anything, so im not bias, nor do i have the advantage of knowing what it sounds like to be apart of the awesome. I want the headbangers to bang, the trippers to trip, the regulars to...ok, thats nice, and the rythyms to dance, and the erected pinkys, well, i ate what you ate, and id wait at least 35, 45 minutes. Thanks again man
hey! did you used sidechain on the kick/bass for example? or also on snare and toms (with the bass/guitars for example). it helps to make the drums sound through the mix without need to push too much volume on it. Another thing you could try is some NY compression on the drums. You should be also careful with the reverb on drums (I always use just a little and with some pre-delay to avoid loss of power on the attack of the drums). Another thing, i think the instruments are a bit louder. Maybe you should mix with more headroom, and push the volume later when mastering with a maximizer
(13-09-2014, 06:31 PM)mixingdrummer Wrote: great mix man :-) i would like the drums to be bigger sounding but its a great mix
Thanks mixingdrummer, from the name im betting you could probably help me with that. I didnt know what to do, i didnt want to lower the volume of the other tracks in the mix cuz i lost a lot of the sound i was going for. And if i raised the volume of the drums any more, that got annoying, and the kick started distorting. Being a drummer should i mix the drums like they are when you're playingas far as panning goes. People dont do it, but hd is what the now is, which is supposed to be very specific sounds. I like to feel like im in the mix, depth, crazy reverb, cuz there more sounds circulating than people allow. Sometimes it sounds like should be certain points at which instruments sound like they breath, depending on the song. Anyway, if you got some info you dont mind sharing, im all ears. I dont play anything, so im not bias, nor do i have the advantage of knowing what it sounds like to be apart of the awesome. I want the headbangers to bang, the trippers to trip, the regulars to...ok, thats nice, and the rythyms to dance, and the erected pinkys, well, i ate what you ate, and id wait at least 35, 45 minutes. Thanks again man
hey man yeah i do play drums but as for the mixing of drums goes am just new to all this i am just " a mixing drummer " are your drums the ones that are supplied in the raw files or have you sampled them?
I don't necessarily agree you should stay away from reverb if you don't know what you're doing... My suggestion is to read read read and experiment until you DO know what you're doing. That's probably what blitzzz means but it seemed important to clarify.
There are twenty dozen or so mixing primers that more or less say "reverb is not that important" but unfortunately that really makes light of how critical it is to get the reverb right!
I've read quite a few interviews with famous producers/musicians who claim that reverb isn't necessary in today's styles and they don't use it at all... What's important to understand here though is that they're only telling you half the truth. It's true that in many modern styles, adding ambiance can make the sound feel far away and it can kill the drive... But those producers are talking about mic'd tracks recorded in excellent live rooms! So whether they'll admit it to themselves or not, every time they adjust the mic position during tracking, they've tweaked a reverb setting during the mix, because they're adjusting the instrument's relationship with the room- it's just not a virtual room.
In the case of burning bridges, which was recorded remotely in different rooms and uses a simulated kick, some ambiance will be necessary for blend and a more natural sound.... But when things are this busy in the low end, creative reverb goes out the window. I'd suggest a fully technical approach, starting with a very short ambiance preset with no reverb tail, and I'd cut the lows somewhat severely on the send channel both before and after the signal feeds into the reverb processor (feel free to PM me if you need help setting that up). Remember to set the processor to 100% wet, and slowly fade in the send channel until you can barely hear it on the vocals when they're soloed- then turn it down a decibel or so.
You'll still need to finesse the timing a bit to fit the tempo, and this isn't perfect by half, but this setup should get you about 90% there in most heavy rock styles. Remember that you can also adjust how much each track is feeding into the send channel, so if something feels like it should be a little closer (like the vocals) don't be afraid to pull back the send level a db or two after everything is set up.
One more thing worth mentioning: the faster the low register instruments are playing, the less bass you can allow in the final mix... Because bass waves move very slowly, so your ears (and your speakers) won't be able to keep up, so you get mud. Just as an experiment, try high passing the master buss at 50 Hz. That should clear up the low end quite a bit, and it'll give you a pretty good idea what instruments need low cuts.
Hopefully some of this is helpful, keep at it!
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!
Thanks Pauli, the language barrier is my biggest problem in terms of advice. I don't always find the right words so I have to use the english words and phrases I know which are pretty basic compared to my german vocabulary. This is a little bit frustrating because I´m the chief editor of two german magazines and therefore used to be very precise with my advice in my day to day work
But yeah, you are absolutely right about reverbs. The thing is: There are three reverb/ambience tracks for the drums: a mono room, a stereo room and a snare reverb. They'll give you all the ambience you need for this song.
And you're spot on with the general advice to lower the level of your send as soon as you start to "hear" the reverb. Unless you are using reverb as a special fx I always find it distracting to clearly hear reverb on vocals or any other instrument. Too much reverb is like adding a new instrument that suddenly gets all the attraction.
