Mixing/mastering heavy, shouty rock...

[XLR2XLR]

I am mixing a few tracks, heavy rock.

I got the drums sounding ok then added the bass, the double tracked guitars
vox and BV's and I found it wasn't quite "right".

I am doubtful the tracks will go to a mastering engineer and I have found myself
putting a limiter and a little multiband compression on to make it sound
"like it's a record, a CD, loud etc etc, it has also pulled the tracks together somehow
wheas they didn't quite works before hand" (on the stereo bus)

Am I using an innapropriate mixing technique? Sounds better but should I be mixing without such hardcore dynamic processes? I have a bunch of Liquid mix compressors on most tracks as well.

The tracks are not quite gelling together properly.

It started with the "wow the drums are sounding fantastic on their own" and then you add stuff and then end up seeming drowned out, I think I have burnt my ears out for now (I am mixing on my secondary monitors (Alesis Monitor 1 passive)
which seem to suffer seering high frequencies(too bright by far) and a bloated deep port low end. I need my Dynaudios ! but they at my fathers place.

Not sure whether I barking up the worng tree with the stereo bus processing.

[Hybrid]

Just want to give you some of my "heavy" references.
Guns N' Roses "appetite for destruction" (not great sounding but a CD with good sense for scale (vocals are actually softer than blaring heavy guitars! :-O)
Extreme "three sides of every coin" (very compressed but not clipped and it just sounds great - it's been my reference for many years now)

Regards
H

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by Hybrid

Just want to give you some of my "heavy" references.
Guns N' Roses "appetite for destruction" (not great sounding but a CD with good sense for scale (vocals are actually softer than blaring heavy guitars! :-O)
Extreme "three sides of every coin" (very compressed but not clipped and it just sounds great - it's been my reference for many years now)

Regards
H

Appetite for Destruction is not great sounding?

Huh..... could have fooled me.

LOL

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by Hybrid

Just want to give you some of my "heavy" references.
Guns N' Roses "appetite for destruction" (not great sounding but a CD with good sense for scale (vocals are actually softer than blaring heavy guitars! :-O)
Extreme "three sides of every coin" (very compressed but not clipped and it just sounds great - it's been my reference for many years now)

Regards
H

what? appetite is not great sounding?

the use of samples makes your life easier, more punch, less uncontrolled transients..

try to find your masteringengineer, and work with him..

cheers

[Hybrid]

Originally Posted by George Necola

what? appetite is not great sounding?

OK OK!! e I did name it as a reference didn't I?! It's not an audiophile grade recording but it does sound great and it's a great mix (appart from the fact that there is hardly any bass).
The Extreme CD is much more "audiophile grade" in all aspects - full frequency, good use of dynamics, realism in soundstage and so on...

Regards
H

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by Hybrid

OK OK!! e I did name it as a reference didn't I?! It's not an audiophile grade recording but it does sound great and it's a great mix (appart from the fact that there is hardly any bass).
The Extreme CD is much more "audiophile grade" in all aspects - full frequency, good use of dynamics, realism in soundstage and so on...

Regards
H

I will listen to this extreme audiophile CD when I made it trough all those glamers with the spandex-trousers and megaa-volume-hair-cut who are blocking the entrance of the CD-store ;)

no, I dont think Extreme is a good band what about alice in chains or kings-x "dogman"? kings x has an extremly dry sound with lots of nice "delay, gated verb and faderriding attacks". oh, and the CD has some dynamic left

this is a matter of taste.

[bschigel]

king's x Dogman songs great, isn't the extreme record called three sides to every story? It is a great sounding record!

[Hybrid]

Originally Posted by bschigel

king's x Dogman songs great, isn't the extreme record called three sides to every story? It is a great sounding record!

It is "three sides of every story" yes. I don't care too much about the other Extreme stuff either but this is a great album. Sonically it is possibly the best sounding heavy album i've ever heard.

Regards
H

[Fishmed]

Originally Posted by XLR2XLR

I am mixing a few tracks, heavy rock.

I got the drums sounding ok then added the bass, the double tracked guitars
vox and BV's and I found it wasn't quite "right".

I am doubtful the tracks will go to a mastering engineer and I have found myself
putting a limiter and a little multiband compression on to make it sound
"like it's a record, a CD, loud etc etc, it has also pulled the tracks together somehow
wheas they didn't quite works before hand" (on the stereo bus)

Am I using an innapropriate mixing technique? Sounds better but should I be mixing without such hardcore dynamic processes? I have a bunch of Liquid mix compressors on most tracks as well.

The tracks are not quite gelling together properly.

It started with the "wow the drums are sounding fantastic on their own" and then you add stuff and then end up seeming drowned out, I think I have burnt my ears out for now (I am mixing on my secondary monitors (Alesis Monitor 1 passive)
which seem to suffer seering high frequencies(too bright by far) and a bloated deep port low end. I need my Dynaudios ! but they at my fathers place.

Not sure whether I barking up the worng tree with the stereo bus processing.

Try using a buss compressor on the guitar mix. Get the guitars sounding tight without anything else, and then mix them in with the great sounding drums. One you are happy with that mix, ease up the bass to fill out the bottom end. If the vocals are very dynamic, you may have to separate the softer part from the louder parts to compress and mix them separately from each other.

It goes without say (but I am saying it), if the band is not tight, there is not much you can do short of editing the tracks to make it sound right.