mix critique please...

[imagineaudio]

This is a heavy tune I recorded for a friends band. It's the first in a three song demo I originally offered to record for free, but things being how they are, it's turned into a paying gig. That kinda ups my responsibility to deliver something that doesn't sound like complete ass. Being a complete amateur and all around fuckwit, I thought it might help to get some experienced ears on it.

if_mix_1 (http://home.earthlink.net/~imagine.audio/data/New%20Folder/if_mix_1.mp3)


I know I can count on you guys to tear me a new one...

[dikledoux]

The guitars are all washed out and so not as up-front as the rest of the band - sounds like we're listening to them from another room altogether from the vocs and drums.. And the drums are very, very dry... the hats and cymbals sound like they've got an excessive amount of hi-freq boost and they're kinda phasey.

Any way to get the guitars more in-your-face?

my .02

dik

[imagineaudio]

Thanks for the listen....

I did have some HF boost on the oh's, about 5.5db, so I brought it down to about 1.5db of boost, which I think helped push the hats back. I also muted the HH mic, can't really hear if that helped with the phasing, though. I also brought the room mic's on the guitars way down and boosted the presence on the main gtr's to try to bring 'em forward...


...oh and added a different reverb on the snare....

I'm bouncing the mix now and will post soon...

[ajcamlet]

you use any room mics on the drums?

[imagineaudio]

revision 1:

if_mix_2 (http://home.earthlink.net/~deweyandkids/data/if_mix_2.mp3)


I messed a bit with the intro, don't think I like it.




ajcamlet, no room mics for the drums. They were recorded in the bands practice space and recorded to a tascam 2488. I had to choose between a room mic and a hihat mic, and given the tiny space with concrete walls....

[dikledoux]

The guitars sound a bit more up front now and I like the cymbals more. But the guitars still sound like they've got a big smiley face eq. They don't have any midrange, no throat, nothing to make them take your head off. The low end of the guitars is fighting with the bass, too.

this song is starting to grow on me, though :lol:

my .02

[imagineaudio]

hmm... the guitars did sound a little "smiley face" in the room, but maybe I can still pull some midrange out. I have them HP'ed at around 100, maybe pulling some out around 250 will help separate them.

What do you think about the toms?


..back to the womb..

[imagineaudio]

revision 2:

if-mix-3 (http://home.earthlink.net/~imagine.audio/data/New%20Folder/if_mix_3.mp3)


pushed the guitars, made some room for the bass....

...noticed the toms sound a little boomy since I uploaded.



dik, thanks for your comments...

[Scratchy Potts]

This is realy not my kinda thing,so take what i say with a pinch!
but for me the guitars are to loud,the snare sounds very wimpish
theres summink nice going on with the Bass and guitars
that if the levels are right would sound pretty cool
my 2c...:Thumbsup:

[dikledoux]

NOW the guitars are starting to have some teeth and I can hear the bass working too. I'm not crazy about the snare, but I don't think it's a mix thing - mostly just a personal peeve about small, tight snare drums in heavy music. I don't think the toms are boomy - they're ok with me. I'd push the growly main vocals up just a bit now, to get them back up front against the current landscape. But that's just me.

dik

<I always edit my posts when I've had a couple beers>

[imagineaudio]

finished. It's been bought and payed for.

I figured out what was bothering me with the tom's:

I had them bussed to a mono group channel.... I also futzed a bit with the snare. So, this is what they ended up with:

if_mix_final (http://home.earthlink.net/~deweyandkids/data/if_mix_4_tom_fix_clean.mp3)


Not bad, I think, for $125...

Dik, thanks again, I didn't get a whole lot feedback here from other members, but what I got from you seemed to help a lot. I don't think I would've pushed the guitars so hard on my own, and I may not have looked any closer at the bottom end mud.

[dikledoux]

Glad to help. But remember that I have been known to be completely full o' crap. So you MUST include a healthy dose of skepticism with any advice you get from me.

:lol:

I think the guys got a friggin' fire-sale bargain and I'm guessing they're happy with what you did.

dik

[Scratchy Potts]

Yup!! like I said,this aint my kinda thing,but Im diging this!!
so much better now,still dont like the snare but Eh!!..:Uh oh:
ya got that guitar and Bass vibe working fine now
good job man!.:Thumbsup: