Help with a heavy mix

[AmongstTheLiving]

Originally Posted by toddbarriage

This project seems to have been handed off to me, and I'm really curious as to how GS likes/dislikes my mixing style haha.

And any all suggestions are welcome

What's with you guys and burying the vocals? Is the singer really that bad?

[VWAS2009]

hm that link wasnt working its a blank page...

[VWAS2009]

the site must havebeen down last night its working today

[ohmicide]

here's my take on it so far

any feedback will be greatly appreciated, i'm still pretty new at this!

[J-Man]

My static mix attached. Mixed on headphones and made it a bit too loud.

Thanks Alsop for sharing the tracks!

[VWAS2009]

alehoe your mix is great how did you get that chanted vocal loud enough to stick out i had a time and a half trying im still working with it... only suggestion i have is to drop each guitar track like 1 db... the seem to overshadow the vocals just a hair at times... my mix is coming soon... did you use any effects on the vocals or other tracks...

J-Man your mix is pretty good as well... the only thing i would say to you is pan the vocals a little more it seems like they are all centered in your mix

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by VWAS2009

alehoe your mix is great how did you get that chanted vocal loud enough to stick out i had a time and a half trying im still working with it... only suggestion i have is to drop each guitar track like 1 db... the seem to overshadow the vocals just a hair at times... my mix is coming soon... did you use any effects on the vocals or other tracks...

hey thanks and hm by chanted vocals do you mean the main vocals?

main vocals are just eq and compression with a bit of reverb and delay on the sends

i think the vocals have to go up actually hm

[Alsop]

it sounds really good dude!
i just think it needs a little more low end to it

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by Alsop

it sounds really good dude!
i just think it needs a little more low end to it

yeah me too, but that's how all the new hardcore stuff sounds like now a days

i guess i could add a little more though

and i could also replace the toms and turn the vocals up a tad

[Alsop]

odd question!
are you good with guitar tone at all?

[ohmicide]

???

[VWAS2009]

it really depends on what amp/cab they used for low end... i use a Peavey Windsor, a Crate Blue Voodoo and a Peavey 5150 with a combination of 2x12 and 4x12 cabs for all of the sounds in my band the blue voodoo and 5150 can get some nasty low end with the right mic/cab combo... but the windsor is very mid heavy so i use it for more leadish parts... Yea the chant is in those main vocals i have compressed them pretty heavy and i cant get that softer part loud enough... what did you do with the kick drum to get it to pop out?? i have mine eq'd and compressed on both tracks and sitting dead center and pretty loud but it gets lost under the bass it seems like its an either/or thing i can have good kick or good bass...

[ohmicide]

i used that andy sneap kick thumbsup

[ohmicide]

here's an updated mix

more vocals and bass

more toms but less drums overall

less buss compression on the master

[Alsop]

it sounds really good dude

im terrible at getting guitar tone in general

but im tryting to find a way to get tone like this band COUNTERPARTS [2 NEW SONGS UP!] on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

i have guitar rig and amplitube metal

[ohmicide]

yeah you need a real amp to get good tones like that man

[J-Man]

Originally Posted by VWAS2009

J-Man your mix is pretty good as well... the only thing i would say to you is pan the vocals a little more it seems like they are all centered in your mix

Thank you for the kind words I only had time to get the drums and bass about where I wanted them to be. Guitars and vocals are still a "work in progress".

@alehoe: Great mix!

@toddbarriage: Vocals are a bit low. Other than that. Good Work!

[Wow]

Originally Posted by Alsop

funny story...
drums are already fake hahaha

Which drum VSTi is this? I dig the double kick/toms sound - share the secret

Thanks! Love the last mix...(3)

W

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by Wow

Which drum VSTi is this? I dig the double kick/toms sound - share the secret

Thanks! Love the last mix...(3)

W

sounds like superior drummer to me

[Wow]

SD2 eh? Metal Expansion, or stock?

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by Wow

SD2 eh? Metal Expansion, or stock?

i think it's stock

not very good IMO

from what i've heard steven slate drums is much better for this, i think im going to get it sometime soon

[toddbarriage]

Originally Posted by Wow

SD2 eh? Metal Expansion, or stock?

I didn't do the tracks myself, but I'm pretty sure Alsop used the stock SD2. You'd have to ask him to be sure, though.

I'm all finished the project now, the band was really happy with my last batch of mixes. Here's how the version they ended up going with:

Any more critiques about what to do differently in the future would be much appreciated

Alehoe: That sounds ****ing badass. I'm really digging how you EQd the guitars. Did you replace the drum sounds at all?

J-Man: That sounds literally identical to my first take of that song! haha I liked how it sounded, but the guys said it was too much of a "pop mix" (low guitars, cranked vocal).

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by toddbarriage

Alehoe: That sounds ****ing badass. I'm really digging how you EQd the guitars. Did you replace the drum sounds at all?

i didn't do much to the guitars actually

i compressed them with the t-racks fairchild comp (i really like it on guitars)

then i did a 12db cut at around 140hz, dipped 5db at 250hz to let the snare through and dipped 1db at 3khz with the sonalksis eq

and then i boosted the highs 4db at around 12khz with the t-racks pultec eq

i replaced the kick with an andy sneap sample and replaced the snare with a paramore sample i found on some forum

thanks for all the positive feedback! im actually just getting started mixing hardcore/metal stuff, i usually do electronic/dance/pop!

btw, you did an awesome job on the mix!

[Jaybug]

to Alehoe

i was wondering, to get that massively overly comressed limited sound,
what sort of compression are you using, like is it on the two bass, or are you using
parrellell compression on the drums, drums submix,smashing the guitar ect..
and if you do use it on the two bus, how do you stop the drums ect to
stop pumping, or do you use automation for that?

cheers, cause i can get a mix to sit nicely, can hear everything, jsut cant get that overcompressed sound that doesnt squash the life out of the track?

cheers!!

[ohmicide]

i used limiting on the master buss to get that over compressed sound

didn't use parallel compression on the drums on this one

[statzern]

Just a few words of advice,

I play/record pretty much just metal. Your mix is great. Their performance = poop. You know, a good tool of defense in this case would be to play back the screamed vocals DRY to the band. Everytime we're recording and the engineer stops play back and you hear the vocalist keep screaming, it sounds HILARIOUS!

Basically, a lot of producing metal is turd polishing to the extreme, and I would say you've got a nice gloss going on here.

[Ddjembe Mutombo]

Originally Posted by Alsop

it sounds really good dude

im terrible at getting guitar tone in general

but im tryting to find a way to get tone like this band COUNTERPARTS [2 NEW SONGS UP!] on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

i have guitar rig and amplitube metal

A little late, but that band sounds almost identical to It Prevails. Just like alehoe stated, you are going to need good metal amps to get a guitar sound like that. They probably used something like a 5150 on those recordings. A mesa recto would be even better. Even better than that would be something like a fryette deliverance