Post Hardcore/ Hard Rock Mix Advice

[mreagan]

Help me out! I'm trying to seriously mix hard rock for the first time and it just
doesn't feel right...

first song off of:

MySpace.com - Cold War Transmission - LOS ANGELES, California - Happy Hardcre / Rock / Pop Punk - www.myspace.com/coldwartransmission

it's just a clip, but you get the idea...

thanks,
matt

[Old Cane]

Sounds ok but do they really want the drums like that? It's not the mix. It just sounds like "drum battle!" Makes me a little queasy.

[mreagan]

well, the snare needs some work-I know I need to add a ton of verb and make it feel a more in the mix, but beyond that I'm a little bit lost. Modern Rock songs all have drums (especially kick and snare) that are soooo far up in the mix. How would you suggest I make them fit in better, while still having that presence?

[Kadden Heart]

cool band.

usually i'm very nice abut mixes.
and everything sounds great!!!
except....
those fu*** drums.
do NOT let those drums get released like that, whether they want it or not.
i'm sorry if you like them, but PLEASE redo the snares and kicks,...

it sounds like "envy on the coast" "lucy gray" album to me, that band would be cool, but i honestly can't listen to it because of the drums.

if all else fails, sample it.
if you would tighten up the snare and ut some snap in the kick it would be fine,
but if you're going to leave the snare that bongy and live pull it WAY down.

just my .02 though,...
i'm not CLA

[Megastorm2k]

I dont really think reverb is going to make that much of a difference in that song. To me it just sounds like they need to re-cut the song and be a little more tighter. That snare definitely needs some compression/ eq or maybe you might want to replace it with samples.

[mreagan]

alright, thanks for the input.

To all:
I understand the snare drum issues, what else should I be worrying about?


Oh and if I am going to resort to sampling my drums, does anyone have any samples or suggestions for samples which would work with the type of music?

[Old Cane]

Well, it's not so much the mix. That's probably fine. It's that high pitched machinegun double bass stuff all over the place. The first couple of kicks in the intro sound good and then it sounds like the drummer got the hiccups. It doesn't seem to fit. It just seems like he borrowed a double bass pedal and he's going to use all he can before he gives it back. It's like when I see a rap video, it's slow and the girls are grinding like Chubby Checker or James Brown is getting revved up. I just don't get it. I mean I play guitar and play fast stuff but I can slow down when it's called for. Just because 16, 32 or 64 notes fit in a measure doesn't mean there have to be that many in there.

[Kadden Heart]

it's JUST your snare in my opinion.
from purely a mix perspectvie,...

and some snap in the kick..and bring it up a tad bit.

if you have to sample your snare, do it.
just dont leave that.

i hear the steven slate drums are beautiful, but i don't have that kind of money.
i ended up using Reason to play kicks and snares then exporting that hit, cutting it, and using it as a sample.

if you dn't have reason,...
then i really don't know what to tell you.
i've been searching for cheap punk drums for a while.

[mreagan]

I've got reason, just haven't been very impressed with their snare library I guess.

[Kadden Heart]

it sucks.
this is true.
i have too many refills tohugh,...that helps.

i made a template in reason, with some verbs, compressors, EQ's lined up, then just tortutred each snare to death.

you can also use some low ones, and cracky ones simultaneously, then shape those and bounce to Pro Tools.

gotta work with what'cha got :p

[mreagan]

yeah for sure, I just hate settling for mediocre.

[Kadden Heart]

true.

well friend, i suggest trolling gearslutz for a while to find some samples.

over the course of searching all the posts i could find, i found like,...6 snare and kick samples,...
you'll find some cheap ones if you look hard enough, but still nothing special.

nothing like steven slate drums.
oh well.

but hey, besides that snare your mix sounds great.

[mreagan]

thanks for all the help, I'll be scouring the masses for drum samples tonight.

Peace
Matt

[Kadden Heart]

are you using Pro Tools?
Le, or HD?
if so you should have the ignition pack,..which contains BFD lite, this will at least give you a few good snares to work with if you can't find any good samples.

[mreagan]

yeah but bfd has never liked my computer