Jan 16, 2011 08:03 pm Hey man,
The mix doesnt sound too bad to me, i think between the bass and the guitars there's maybe a little mud that could come out to clear things up a touch.
i was listening thru headphones though.
Check my mix? Low end might be funky...
Posted on Jan 16, 2011 05:17 pm
Quincysan
http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor Since: Nov 11, 2007
Hey guys, if anyone's feeling up to it, will you check the song in my profile "Will you check my mix please?" I'm particularly interested in the low end, because I think my room is tricky with that stuff...and because I did something borderline stupid with the guitars in autotune. Any other critiques are welcome and appreciated.
Thanks!
[ Back to Top ]
Jan 16, 2011 08:03 pm Hey man,
The mix doesnt sound too bad to me, i think between the bass and the guitars there's maybe a little mud that could come out to clear things up a touch.
i was listening thru headphones though.
Jan 16, 2011 09:21 pm those fuzz guitars r definitely comin in a bit strong
try a low shelf to tame the low end on the guitars, but u might have to just to turn them down. Remember when u turn down ur volume real low u should be hearing the backbeat, kick and snare kind of cutting through. Thats way u know that ur beat is making it through and itll have impact. U got a nice rhythm goin on in the song but its totally overpowered
sweet tune though
Jan 16, 2011 09:41 pm Thanks! Based on that, I made a few changes. How's this next mix? In my profile called "Is it less bad now?" Still concerned about the low end, specifically in the guitars. You'll hear some white noise in the background, it's more or less on purpose. Been listening to some Ben Frost recently...
Jan 16, 2011 11:00 pm Well, the backbeat is definitely more driving now, seems to just be some parts where the guitar's low end gets way too heavy, probably gonna need to hone in on that frequency. Seems to just be one buggy frequency that u hit every few bars. Hunt er down
Jan 17, 2011 02:39 am sounds better now, for me i feel the guitars are too low in vol now.
whip the bass freq off them until there's no muddy low end there.
How many tracks of guitar did you do?
how's the bass low end freq when soloed?
Might not just be guitars blowing out the low end could be the combo of bass and gits, might even be in the drums.
got a gate on the toms?
Jan 17, 2011 12:37 pm I took out the source of the low end mud and raised the fuzz guitars a touch. New mix in my profile called mix 4. Closer?
Jan 17, 2011 02:03 pm Brought up fuzz lead tone and changed some of the amp modeling to give it another texture. Brought the drums down a bit. Now at Mix 5.
Jan 17, 2011 07:54 pm This is a dope song!
Hmm, the low end is definitely heavy, compared to the higher frequencies... I'm not sure exactly what my best advice is, but I would just try bringing down the volume of the different parts that are hanging out down in the bottom end. They are all much louder than the vocals, and I want to hear the vocals more. You have a couple parts going on down there, so it's hard for me to differentiate them...
The ride/crash at :47 seems loud also
Jan 18, 2011 11:58 am Thanks for your observations and patience. I uploaded mix7, thinking it's about where it needs to be.
Found some low freq buildup in the drums and fixed the crash at :47 in addition to bringing out the fuzzy lead.
Jan 18, 2011 09:15 pm This mix is definitely better in terms of the low end not being so overwhelming as previously.
The intro sounds nice and level though I might lower the volume on the bass a tiny touch. But when the main part of the song starts, it seems like the high mids are not represented enough compared to the other frequencies. A result of this is that I'm still wanting to hear the vocals more pronounced in the mix. On a 3rd listen, I think if you turned down the volume of the heavy fuzzy guitar, it would help even things out.
Sorry Quincy, I always got an opinion. I should mention that I'm listening on my good headphones. Hope it help some.
Jan 18, 2011 10:53 pm you've done it.
To me, for this style, it sounds good man,.
Jan 22, 2011 03:36 pm I'm coming in way late here, and as always keep in mind my experience level is far lower than anyone elses here.
I just listened to mix 7 and....I feel like theres so little low end that its hardly "interesting" to me. (sonically, i mean. Interesting really isn't the right term). The intro sounds good, but i'm just....i feel like once the beef of the song comes in, there's no depth to it.
And I agree with the statement above "I'm wanting to hear the vocals more pronounced in the mix." And the fuzz guitars may be a littttle too loud, the vocals sound good when the guits aren't competing.
Still have the "Mix 1" version? i'm curious to hear what it started as.
Jan 22, 2011 07:37 pm geez thats 2 now that think the guitars are too loud.
and here i am thinking they arent there enough.
i think there's a lesson to be learnt (all over again) in just that alone.
headphones are NOT a good source of monitor, period.
geez tell us something we dont know mate, (i hear you all say.)
Jan 22, 2011 10:05 pm i havent listened to the latest mixes, but if everyone is saying guitars r too loud and u feel they r too low id like to chance a guess that maybe its more an EQ problem than volume. If u lay guitars (or any instrument) down ur self and mix it ur brain kind of plays favorites and it always sound a bit less pronounced, coz its wat YOU want to hear.
but then again the song u have is very guitar-centric, so to preserve that u might just want to eq them away from ur vox and drums but preserve their perceived volume. Vocal clarity n such starts above 6khz, whcih gives u a ton of space to work with and luckily a not so hot part of teh vocal spectrum is the 1-2khz range (this is the vocal meat actually, but too much makes the voice too pumpy) while coincidentally this is the main gist of the guitars.
bring up ur guitars against teh drums and vocals, do a small (-4db, Q of 2 or more) dip at about 1.3khz on the vox and boost above 7khz and THEN start shelving in ur guitars from either side (low and high), start with ur low at -4db and just start to pull it towards the middle, dont be scared to go extreme, if the volume isnt unnecassarily loud against teh drums there will come a point where the guitars though still clear will sound "transparent" after lower fundamentals are tamed. same with the high shelf, once again ull be surprised how far u can go, eventually the vocal will become much clear and once again ur guitar will seem just as loud but somehow set back (coz ur essentially turning down presence)
this isnt an exact science, so use ur ears, but basically wat u ahve left in the middle of those two shelves should be plenty to convey ur guitar and still not crowd ur mix. dont forget to low cut ur guitars at about 200hz as well, gotta make room for DA BASS
Jan 23, 2011 03:34 am hmm alot of good points there crux.
Dunno if you were gonna get this puppy mastered or not?
I would like to see the end reult after mastering to be honest.
I think thats where its at, at the moment.
Im going thru a similar thing atm with my ****.
Cant hear the snare sometimes, cant hear the guitar shine other times, and sometimes in spots cant hear the kicks that well.
I cant say im an expert, but again, i would like to hear the end result after the mastering.
Im thinking alot of things will be revealed then.
Jan 24, 2011 06:22 am Im sure someones gonna come along and say this in a much more illuminating way... but ill say it anyway, if things arent workign in ur mix, they wont be made to work in the master, ESPECIALLY if ur gonna end up mastering on a budget and not have someone with tons of tools finessing the final product.
in my experience, transfering mixes into HarBal, even after demasking things, u find that if something wasnt where it was supose to be, even after being demasked itll be out of place for another reason, since in not hearing it u didnt put it where it was suppose to be. If something is not EQ'd the way its suppose to, that impacts how u approach its leveling, its compression, its panning, everything.
and really, if u want to know an approximation of how a song will sound mastered, in terms of all repaired n things not as in made to fit on a cd with other trax... just turn it up loud. It sounds over simplified, but in my limited experiences that already tells alot.
Jan 24, 2011 07:19 am i definately get that, but its inevitable that after compressing etc in the mastering stage, your gonna hear everything more subsantially.
Im not saying it'll fix things that are cruddy, more it'll bring things more to the fore front. Cruddy things also unfortunatley.
im going with the assumation everything is sitting correctly in the mix. ( yeah like im gonna get that close even)
My points were more aimed at the fluctuations in vol.
the probs i personally am getting are just plain "covering" of instruments it seems. eg the snare sometimes, sometimes kicks. but just in crazy heavy spots.
But i also realise that instruments in regards to the music im doing atm, are going to get lost at some points in the song, especially when there's layers of guitars, samples, vocals, backing vocals, keys pops and farts all trying to be noticed.
only way im gonna learn the full scale, is to get my stuff mastered, then when its done, reflect on how **** my mixing really is. hahahahaha.
most places offer a test master, so this again will help to refine.
Jan 24, 2011 10:55 am sounds like it might be more beneficial (and worth ur money) to just rent an hour of studio time and listen to ur mix in a tuned room. IMHO
if u want to hear things clearly u know, moving to a tuned room, or hell just to a ton of different rooms and playback systems will highlight different things in the mix, and itll be a much more rewarding learning experience i do believe
in terms of brining things to the fore, seriously just HarBal it if u have it, then slap a limiter on the stereo track and listen. Thats a ton to the fore already without spending a penny or goin through the process of a test master. If u dont have Harbal, just put an EQ ahead of ur limiter and alternate between shelving out ur low end and ur high end.
im startin to feel a bit bad about jacking the OPs thread hehe SORRY!!!
Jan 24, 2011 04:20 pm hahaha, yeah me too. sorry Quince.
no worries there crux will see what happens in the coming weeks.
Jan 27, 2011 05:26 pm I almost missed all these great suggestions! Thanks everybody! And as long as we're discussing recording techniques please hijack any thread of mine you'd like. Always something to be gained for me and everyone else.
I'm out working in CA this week but I'll make some changes when I get home.
@ Fragilicious: I hear you on the tune sounding very mid rangey. I feel the same way. I'm going to re-track drums with the one room mic, but also a couple mics on the kick and toms. Hopefully that will get the sound a little more balanced.
@ Crux: Thank you, I'm going to spend a while going through those EQ settings you suggested. I'll start with the notch on vocals at 6k. Might have to get a demo for harbal for the guitars too.
I'm dissatisfied with this recording. I was trying some new techniques, and they failed, hah. If EQ and new drums can't save it I'll re-track. Starting with vox, moving to electric...probably re-do the whole thing. Ha
Jan 27, 2011 10:14 pm Repost when you've made the adjustments :] Curious to hear.
|
Related Forum Topics: |
If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.