My first time on here asking for feedback...
Home > Home Recording Forum > Mixing Techniques > My first time on here asking for feedback...
Posted on May 06, 2011 02:44 am
quickxkid
Member Since: Jan 30, 2011
I love this forum, you guys are always super rad and helpful.
Tell me what you think of this cover I recorded.
I was going for tough, the original is pretty tough.
http://soundcloud.com/quickxkid/silhouette
[ Back to Top ]
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 06, 2011 04:33 am Man, I was just thinking of this song the other day. I actually have the limited edition version of the CD (just showing off)
Im listening on my crappy iPood headphones at the moment so i cant comment much yet, but it sounds pretty heavy. Some leveling issues r all i can hear at this point. Drums get a bit buried, guitars get a bit high now and then.
and... WHERE R THE VOX mate haha, Thrice is all about those anthemic yells
Quincysanhttp://www.unitedmusicians.infoContributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007
May 06, 2011 01:06 pm I really dig the tones you're getting on guitars! Is that modeling or an amp? What amp/modeler/mic etc. Spill your beans, sir!
I agree that I'd like to hear more drums and less guitar. Seems the cymbals are loud enough at times but the kit itself could come up in my opinion. I like to use two master busses for drums, one stereo bus for overheads/room mics/cymbals and one stereo buss for kick/toms/snare. That makes things very manageable during mixing.
Once the levels are more equal we might find that there are issues with competing frequencies, but we gotta get it in the ballpark levelwise first. Then we can notch out space for the kick toms and snare in the competing guitar/bass tones. I can always tell when my levels are getting close when the teensiest nudge in level up or down on any element of the mix makes things seem wrong. When you're at a point where you can't change the levels without degrading the mix and it still sounds like mud soup...don't sweat it! Then we're ready for some notch EQ's.
May 08, 2011 02:51 am hmm, I always bus my drums all together. I'll try separating them like you do. Sounds like a good idea!
And its line 6 pod farm. I love the tones it gives me. Suits my style perfectly.
I'll mess with it and reupload.
May 09, 2011 02:41 am http://soundcloud.com/quickxkid/silhouette-1
I tend to mix my overheads too loud, so i lowered them.
I also brought the guitars back a little.
What do you guys think?
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
May 09, 2011 03:12 am I'm not familiar with the original but what you've done sounds pretty good to me. I think you might cut a bit of low end off either the kick or the bass as they seem to be competing with each other so the kick doesn't come thru very well.
Dan
Quincysanhttp://www.unitedmusicians.infoContributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007
May 09, 2011 04:06 pm Awesome changes! You might even be able to bring the OH's up a little from here (try changes in second paragraph before increasing volume). I don't feel like there's too much competition going on that hurts the mix. Kick's a little loud, but I like "too loud" kick sounds in this kind of music so if I were mixing I might take it back a tiny smidge, but not much. I'm typically not as worried about the bass being overtaken by the kick; I'm more worried about the kick being swallowed by the bass (because the kick is transient enough that if I can't hear the bass for 50 ms, I don't really care. Just my preference.) If when you back the kick down a bit you start to lose it to the bass, then we might try one of those notch EQ's on the bass right where the kick attack frequency is.
Is there some reverb/delay/eq on the OH's? Removing or lessening the effects might clear things up a bit but that's really a taste call. To me, it sounds like the overheads are in a big room by themselves and were recorded separately from the kit (which has relatively less reverb/delay). I know it's sampled but maybe less verb on the oh's and a little more on the kit itself could give it a more cohesive feel.
Sounds good to me though! There's always something to tweak...
May 09, 2011 08:40 pm Ya! They do sound super roomy.
Weird thing is that I didn't add any verb or delay...
It must be compression that makes it just swallow everything.
I backed that off a lad.
Also, I dipped back the rumble on the kick so it cuts through better. I think this might be the final mix.
I'll have to put more songs up here for critique!
http://soundcloud.com/quickxkid/silhouette-3rd-mix
Quincysanhttp://www.unitedmusicians.infoContributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007
May 09, 2011 09:04 pm Sounds great to me! I think backing off the compression did fix the OH's.
I'll keep an eye out for more of your stuff. Looking forward to it.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 09, 2011 09:22 pm hey man, sounds fantastic. Needs vocals (hand goes up)
Does the orginal have vocals?
May 09, 2011 09:28 pm ya, it has vocals. Youtube it. Its by thrice. Totally rad song.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 09, 2011 09:38 pm yeah not too bad at all. Can do vox if you want add them.
May 10, 2011 12:03 am Ya dude, if you record them I'll mix them in.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 10, 2011 12:57 am I guess i just need a copy of the song you did so i can drop them down.
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 10, 2011 12:17 pm Dont know if im a bit late here, the drums r definitely way better than in mix 1, lots of attack and body, but now the guitars sound a bit weird? they sounded erally good in mix 1, and now they have some kind of weird wah like Q in the middle, its like their forming a word.
the mix actually sounds a bit more center and a bit smaller even versus mix 1. Its ballsy for sure, but somehow i think mix 1, just changed to bring up the drums would be much more lush.
Quincysanhttp://www.unitedmusicians.infoContributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007
May 10, 2011 01:09 pm Oh hey...Cruz is right, something changed with the guitars other than volume. What happened? I agree the guitar tone was a little richer in mix one.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 10, 2011 08:28 pm I didnt hear mix 1 but, i noticed it straight away too, exactly as you say crux, like a real round type of eq there. sounds like an effect to me. could be the verb if there's any on it.
May 10, 2011 09:03 pm Lol nothing gets by you guys. Besides bringing them back, I took off the stereo maximizer i had on them and added a tape emulator plugin thing that does change the eq a bit.
I thought it would give the guitars more clarity, not like a huge guitarey blanket over everything.
How does this sound?
http://soundcloud.com/quickxkid/silhouette-2
(btw, I recently re-mixed my Foo Fighters cover and re-uploaded it. Check it out. http://soundcloud.com/quickxkid/the-pretenders-mix-2)
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 10, 2011 09:55 pm Yeah nice man, i didnt mind the old one that much either, but it is a cover i guess you wanna try "cover it" as close as poss in most cases.
sounds ****hot man.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
May 11, 2011 01:15 am So, I'm a bit late to this. and I have to admit this is not my genre of expertise, but I have some thoughts. The drums on the most recent mix really pop compared to the first mix, I think that is an upgrade. But the guitars on the first mix were clean and sounded great in my opinion... there is something artificial sounding about them on the new mix, and I'm not feeling them as much as the original. With that being said, I wanted to mention panning. The secondary guitar in the first part is panned hard right... I would suggest panning it less hard. Also at about 41 seconds when the song switches, the two guitar leads are panned hard left and right, I would try panning them less hard as well. It is not that big of an issue, but when listening in headphones, it is a bit much for me.
With that being said, the song is well done and these are minor issues for touch up if you choose to change them. Good job!
May 11, 2011 02:11 am Yeah, I try to cover songs as close as I can usually.
Its good practice at achieving different sounds.
But at some point I usually just stop getting it to sound like the original and start just making it sound good lol.
I agree the panning is weird, but that's how Thrice usually does their guitars. Ohwell. Thanks guys! I'm stoked at all the responses.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
May 11, 2011 05:16 am Hey also thanks for the repated mastering of that song.
Had my mate round here today whos an AE and he showed me a few things, so the friggin things have all changed now and for the better too.
The songs are sounding so much more organic now and o joy to listen to.
be hittin you up again sometime man, be some coin in it for ya this time tho.
These thing arent free ya know.
I like to pay my way, no loafers round these parts.
