not good enough for the band

[tdawgg]

I seek some opinions about this mix. the band that did this brought me the tracks, recorded on various "pro-sumer" gear, in different places (drums in one place, guitars and bass in another, vox in yet another) in different DAW's.It took a lot of work to get it to this point, and I spent a bulk of my time on drums. I sent them some roughs, and they gave me some valid feedback (EQing guitars, levels, etc) so I went to work on it to balance it out and get it finished. I got a call that they are now taking it to a friend to have him mix it. I'm kinda pissed, but I kinda understand. Anyway...I value the slutz opinions..thanks for listening in advance.

[A LaMere]

Sounds like a decent start to my ears...

I agree that the guitars need some help.

The problem that I hear upon first listen are in the actual arrangement... the 2nd verse is pretty much exactly the same as the first... I didn't listen to the entire track I suppose but that was my first thought.

Mix sounded like a good starting point though.

I wouldn't take it personally, we musicians are a fickle bunch my friend.

[+++]

The performance needs a lot more work than the mix does. Call it a day, my friend.

[ohmicide]

Originally Posted by +++

The performance needs a lot more work than the mix does. Call it a day, my friend.

agreed

[loveinoctober]

Originally Posted by tdawgg

I seek some opinions about this mix. the band that did this brought me the tracks, recorded on various "pro-sumer" gear, in different places (drums in one place, guitars and bass in another, vox in yet another) in different DAW's.It took a lot of work to get it to this point, and I spent a bulk of my time on drums. I sent them some roughs, and they gave me some valid feedback (EQing guitars, levels, etc) so I went to work on it to balance it out and get it finished. I got a call that they are now taking it to a friend to have him mix it. I'm kinda pissed, but I kinda understand. Anyway...I value the slutz opinions..thanks for listening in advance.

I agree with the band, everything sounds kind of cartoony. But it sounds like the raw tracks might not be there either. The guitar are out of time on the verse.

[tdawgg]

The band said they wanted thier mix to sound like a band called "A Static Lullaby". I listened to a CD they provided me of this band, and the thing that jumped out at me was that the kick and snare were WAY up in the mix. So I did my best to match the reference CD they supplied for me. the raw tracks were pretty "mushy" sounding. I have a BLA modded Sig Series 300r that I just picked up (slightly) used, and the blandness and mushiness of the raw tracks became very apparent. yes, the guitar player is trying to play something that he's really not capable of, and I could spend some time fixing it with elastic time ( I use PT LE 8.0.1), but whats the point? MY take is that the musicians should be able to play their parts live. I did this for free ( I have a day job that I work about 50 hours a week at), so I guuess thats why I'm a little miffed. I just wanted to get everyone's opinion of the mix, more then the song. Does it fit the "style"? If you have heard A Static Lullaby's CD, did I get close to that kind of mix? Thanks again

[ohmicide]

i don't see how this would have gotten any close without drum replacement

[tdawgg]

Massey makes a great free plug for replacing drums...if you buy one of his other great plugs

[Halloween]

Originally Posted by tdawgg

Massey makes a great free plug for replacing drums...if you buy one of his other great plugs

You talking about Audio to Midi? It's no more. Drumagog.

[tdawgg]

actually, I have Strike...the bass player for the band sent me a email and asked me to "turn up the mic under the snare"...thing is, there WAS no mic under the snare! I am waiting to hear the mix that their friend comes up with. The only things I "fixed" in the mix (read: samples) were the kick and snare. I used various UAD and SSL plugs on the rest. The SSL buss compressor is now one of my favorite plugs!thumbsup I have to say that the single most important thing I have added to my mix position is the Primacoustic pads under my monitors (mackie 624's)

[jimcroisdale]

I take it that the drummer was a hi-hat abuser, cos that's all I can hear!

Pshh pshh pshh pshh pshh pshh......

Jim

[CGBMike]

The band's biggest problem is definitely the performance. The whole song seems to be out of time with itself. Mix itself is ok - i agree with an earlier comment that the hat is a bit too in your face. I think the guitars need to cut through a bit more.

Check out a band called Lost Prophets for similar stuff to this.

[hakim]

its a nice tune. problem is time. i would like the snare to snap around 3-5kHz a bit more. otherwise, mix is well balanced, musical and warm.

[Sonic Julez]

These guys need a producer, not just a mixing engineer (skillful as you may be). Are you up for the challenge?

[tdawgg]

thought I would post a second song, just for more feedback. Thanks in advance.

[79_Limited]

The tempos could be slowed down just slightly because it does feel like a train wreck. The main issue I hear is the drummer. Simplify! Before you walk you must crawl first which means he should learn to play in time first before he moves on to the complex stuff.

[tdawgg]

Thanks for the feedback. After listening to the song structure, and not so much focusing on the mix, I agree...the band needs help. I think the drummer is probably the best musician in the band. next would be the bass player, although he is a "converted guitar player". The singer is ok, and I didnt use any pitch correction on his vox. The guitar player is terrible. he has some good ideas, but isnt very good at executing them. What I am really looking for is feed back on the MIX. The band basically brought me raw tracks (which were pretty bad, but at least no clicks and pops, they did a good job paying attention to levels, but recorded on "prosumer" gear"), I recorded only the vox, using a Sputnik and a BLA Auteur. then they left it for me to mix. I had to do a lot of work on the drums to give them some dimension.Actually, all the tracks were pretty "flat" sounding, to me, so alot of EQ was required. I used the UAD Neve 88RS plug on all the channels. I have a full-time job, so I mixed on weekends, I gave the band a rough version of each song, and they gave me some feedback. they said they loved the drums, but wanted to hear more guitar and less vox. So, I went back to work. I tweaked a bit more, sent them a second version. The next thing they told me was that they were now taking this project to their friend. Their friend is a guy that plays guitar in the band sometimes. The stuff he mixes is all done ITB, and no live instruments, everything is done with Reason within PT, so I am really curious to hear what he comes up with. I think the stuff I came up with sounds pretty good, given what i had to work with (of course I do!) I have posted songs on here before and gotten good, constructive feedback about the MIX. That's what I am really looking for. Thanks

[theBackwardsman]

It sounds a bit flat, the low end is a bit weak, the guitars are just buzzing. Sounds to me like the recording is horrible! You will have to work your ass off to get this to rock(but thats mostly because of the discouraging performance) So they didnt bottom mic the snare? No room mics? Then it will be hard to samle the shit out of it too.. I would try to get the mids and low end of the gtrs right. Compress the bass harder and raise it in the mix. Maybe find some good impulses and make a fake room bus, that will allow for you to compress the drums harder. Maybe set up a parallelbus for the drums? They didnt line any guitars for reamping?

[StratSvante]

I think you did ok, these guys were expecting you to make them sound perfect and its way to badly played from the start, especially the guitars!

[tdawgg]

No mic under the snare, there was a "room" mic, but it sounded like ass. there are OH's, and I think they still need a lot of work to warm them up. The guitar source is really bad,I spent a lot of time EQing,three tracks, one SM57, one e606 and a "room mic"of unknown origin (which was so out of phase, i abandoned trying to move it around and line it up, and it sounded horrible) and nothing to re-amp. These guys had a deal with a small label (Feudal Records, I think), and recorded at Sony Studios in LA, then were dumped and told they could buy their raw sessions for 4K. They decided to record their own CD. the singer approached me about doing the whole thing, then told me the drummer was going to record his own tracks, then the guitar and bass player were going to do their own tracks, so all I ended up tracking was vox, in a couple of days. They gave me a "deadline" ( a few weeks), and I worked on it when I could (most of my weekends). I think it's a pretty good case that it's hard to make chicken salad out of.....well, you know the rest. But I do appreciate the feedback, and from here, it would be good practice for me to try and polish the turd a little more.