Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Alternate mix from an EP I finished for a band a couple months ago.

headwerkn · 8th October 2007

listening on an average 2.1 hifi system... i'd agree, the bass is just coming through as sub frequencies and a bit of string noise. to my ears, the bass and guitar feel disconnected....need to bring some 100-200Hz warmth and body back into the bass to help meld them together into that solid 'wall of guitar' sound, and ensure it translates onto small speakers.

same with the drums - they feel distant. cut the compression, maybe ease up on the snare 'verb and dirty up the sample you're using perhaps too, and make it sound more human. it might be a little loud in relation to the rest of the kit too... all i'm hearing is snare.

vocals are good, level seems about right. i agree, guitar could probably be turned down a smidge in some areas.

i'd be working on getting that interaction between the bass and guitar, and bass and kick drum happening first. it's not always easy to get a punchy, contained bottom end, but listen to some professionally mixed CDs of a similar genre and hear how they balance the elements together. there are no hard and fast rules but generally for rock i carve a hole in the bass around 125-150Hz for the "body" of the kick drum, begin to roll off the sub-bass at 80Hz ish, then blend the bass and guitar around 250-300Hz - as a starting point, then adjust from there. You don't mention what DAW/recording platform you're using... Logic in particular has a tonne of EQ presets that are great when you're stuck in a rut (or short on time)... flip through them until you hear something that's close then tweak from there.

finally, lose the limiter and ease up the compression on everything. a little adaptive limiting or subtle compression to bring the levels up a bit is fine but it really does make the track sound flat... in the choruses those chord changes should be jumping out. a trick i learnt back in college with compression or effects is find the setting that you think is right, then back it off another notch or two. dryer and less compressed almost always sounds better.

overall i think you've done a fine job, just try easing up the compression and revisit that bottom end.

good luck with it, and don't forget to post any subsequent remixes!

8th October 2007	#5
headwerkn Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2006 Location: Hobart, Australia. Posts: 709 1 Review written	listening on an average 2.1 hifi system... i'd agree, the bass is just coming through as sub frequencies and a bit of string noise. to my ears, the bass and guitar feel disconnected....need to bring some 100-200Hz warmth and body back into the bass to help meld them together into that solid 'wall of guitar' sound, and ensure it translates onto small speakers. same with the drums - they feel distant. cut the compression, maybe ease up on the snare 'verb and dirty up the sample you're using perhaps too, and make it sound more human. it might be a little loud in relation to the rest of the kit too... all i'm hearing is snare. vocals are good, level seems about right. i agree, guitar could probably be turned down a smidge in some areas. i'd be working on getting that interaction between the bass and guitar, and bass and kick drum happening first. it's not always easy to get a punchy, contained bottom end, but listen to some professionally mixed CDs of a similar genre and hear how they balance the elements together. there are no hard and fast rules but generally for rock i carve a hole in the bass around 125-150Hz for the "body" of the kick drum, begin to roll off the sub-bass at 80Hz ish, then blend the bass and guitar around 250-300Hz - as a starting point, then adjust from there. You don't mention what DAW/recording platform you're using... Logic in particular has a tonne of EQ presets that are great when you're stuck in a rut (or short on time)... flip through them until you hear something that's close then tweak from there. finally, lose the limiter and ease up the compression on everything. a little adaptive limiting or subtle compression to bring the levels up a bit is fine but it really does make the track sound flat... in the choruses those chord changes should be jumping out. a trick i learnt back in college with compression or effects is find the setting that you think is right, then back it off another notch or two. dryer and less compressed almost always sounds better. overall i think you've done a fine job, just try easing up the compression and revisit that bottom end. good luck with it, and don't forget to post any subsequent remixes! __________________ "Just because he's in the mix now, he thinks we have to wait for him."