Hardcore/heavy mix

[i51423]

http://hauntingmids.thepremierrock.c...song4take2.mp3

Hey guys. Any thoughts on this mix? It's a local hardcore band I'm recording.

[madcowvt]

Good work bro!!
The vocals are a bit to far out there for my taste. Other then that... sweet.

-mark

[Unclenny]

OK...I'm awake now.

I kind of liked the vox, actually....in the context of the song.

[i51423]

Originally Posted by Unclenny

OK...I'm awake now.

Hehe.

How's the low end on this? My ears are currently messed up due to sinus pressure blocking the fluid from draining. I had to mix on headphones. Listening through monitors has some crazy phased out sound.

There's a little click in the automation of the intro guitar. I'll have to fix that. I feel like there could be some more low end... that could be my fudged up ears talking, though. I also want to bring the vocals down a teensy bit.

[BOWIE]

I'd use a darker preamp on the guitars next time. They have too much "air" which is irritating in high gain guitars. With less treble they'll sound thicker and you'll be able to turn them up more in the mix.
I'd like to hear more bottom snare and more drums in general. If you're going to have the vox doing balls-out stuff like that you really need a solid groove to support them. Your foundation is weak and the vox are just stomping on everything.
I kinda like the bass although the player's timing ain't too great.

Hope I don't come across as too critical. I think it's pretty good overall. You definitely chose the right mic for the singer. The room sounds good.

[treymonfauntre]

i think the most distracting thing is that the song seems like its going to be fast as hell, and the vocals should totally be over a fast power chords.. but then once the drums kick in its slow and lathargic. i guess it gets better in the 2nd half.. tough guy vocals to go with tough guy mosh parts. the bass drum seems to be really messing with the buss compressor.
i think 1:07 is really anti-climactic for some reason. maybe more overheads in the mix would help?
thats the most i can pick it apart.. sounds great otherwise.

[i51423]

Originally Posted by BOWIE

I'd use a darker preamp on the guitars next time. They have too much "air" which is irritating in high gain guitars. With less treble they'll sound thicker and you'll be able to turn them up more in the mix.
I'd like to hear more bottom snare and more drums in general. If you're going to have the vox doing balls-out stuff like that you really need a solid groove to support them. Your foundation is weak and the vox are just stomping on everything.
I kinda like the bass although the player's timing ain't too great.

Hope I don't come across as too critical. I think it's pretty good overall. You definitely chose the right mic for the singer. The room sounds good.

I didn't have too much of a choice on pre and mic selection. I'm on all budget equipment here.

I'm hoping to move up to some better pres in general eventually. I'm stuck with Behringers right now. I mean.. they work fine. But they have to be holding me back a bit.

As soon as I started mixing, I was kicking myself for not throwing a bottom snare mic on. I'm not sure why I didn't, but it would've put the snap in the snare that I really want. I'm with you on the vocals, too. I definitely think they could come down a hair. I'll mess with bringing the drums up a tiny bit, too. I think the slightly sloppy bass works for this style of music. All the main impacts are pretty well on-time, so I didn't think editing it all would do much but lose the energy.

Thanks for your comments. You weren't too harsh at all. Those kind of comments just help me further my recordings.

[i51423]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

i think the most distracting thing is that the song seems like its going to be fast as hell, and the vocals should totally be over a fast power chords.. but then once the drums kick in its slow and lathargic. i guess it gets better in the 2nd half.. tough guy vocals to go with tough guy mosh parts. the bass drum seems to be really messing with the buss compressor.
i think 1:07 is really anti-climactic for some reason. maybe more overheads in the mix would help?
thats the most i can pick it apart.. sounds great otherwise.

I didn't have any part in writing the song, so I don't have too much room to edit the composition. For the most part, I think they've got their stuff together for a new band. They've only been together for a couple months. Of course they've all been in bands previously, but they seem to be working out well together.

I actually kinda like when the kick gets the buss comp pumping a little bit. Once I bring the vocals down a little bit, I'll see if it's pumping too much.

Again, thanks for the comments.

[BOWIE]

Originally Posted by i51423

I didn't have too much of a choice on pre and mic selection. I'm on all budget equipment here.

I'm hoping to move up to some better pres in general eventually. I'm stuck with Behringers right now. I mean.. they work fine. But they have to be holding me back a bit.

DAMN, that's quite a promotion for Behringer then!! I din't think the guitar preamps sounded "bad" at all. Just that the guitar was a little airy. You're really doing some great stuff with the Behringers! There's a lot of "financially gifted" guys on here that don't have the skills you have. Bravo!

[virtualsounds]

Great!Thats all I can say. There are many opinions in the hardcore scene. Most engineers use too much high frequencies in the snare. I prefer it YOUR way. Also I can see you have a special sense of things because you made the vocals clear and "standing out more" although the main "rule" of hardcore is screaming and hard vocals to sit right at the edge of the mix (lower the volume). Also in this I agree with your perspective! Great! Keep it that way, you already have your own sound as an engineer as I see and this is great. Great band by the way.

[i51423]

For anyone who wanted the samples I made from the drummer's kit, here ya go: http://recordings.thepremierrock.com/Samples/

Here's the final version of the song I posted: http://recordings.thepremierrock.com/track05.mp3

The kick is probably a bit too loud, but I really dig when the kick messes with the buss compression in heavy recordings like this.

Thanks for listening, guys.

[virtualsounds]

It is not perfect but it sounds pro as hell. Great job man.

[Ashofapheonix]

The actual Sounds them selves sound really darn good. I like the vocals, I listen to punk rock pretty extensiveley the whole spectrum, and this style is quite common, so i'm used to it. From quality of recording perspective its good. But what it seems is a bit bassy. My monitors aren't hooked at the moment, so these aren't through something for critical listening, but agood mix does translate well, there seems to be a bit over whelming amount of lows despite my sub being turned all the way down.

[skealoha86]

This sounds great!! Reminds me of refused...

The guitar has a lot of character and it compliments the vocals well... it is a bit bassy, but not enough to be distracting.

[i51423]

Thanks a bunch, guys.

Refused is a big influence of theirs.

[lpkyer]

Great recording man...I would slightly turn down the vocals but thats it.... Have you recorded the vocals with a condenser? Lots of room information in there.

[i51423]

Originally Posted by lpkyer

Great recording man...I would slightly turn down the vocals but thats it.... Have you recorded the vocals with a condenser? Lots of room information in there.

Yep. Condenser + crappy room + tons of compression = lots of room sound.