First Mix in New Studio (Rock/Pop)

[BrandRecordingCo]

Hey guys,

How's my mix? This is my first mix in the new studio I just built. I played all the instruments and sang...and basically wrote this song just to test out the new studio to get a feel for the place. It is completely unmastered and straight off the board. Any comments?

Thanks

[bobx]

sounds like you're on track to making some great recordings in the new place. the drums sound great. clear and punchy.
i think you can probably get a little bit better image with the cymbals/overheads if you spent some more time with the placement.

got any pictures of the studio/build out?

[BrandRecordingCo]

Thanks sir! I should definitely post some pics...I will work on that. Yeah, looking back, I think I had my FOK mic a little to high in the mix, making the stereo overheads seem narrower and confusing the image. Nice catch!

[BrandRecordingCo]

Any more thoughts?

[pineapple]

What microphone and pre-amp are you using for voices in this song?

And for drums?

Thanks.

[BrandRecordingCo]

Originally Posted by pineapple

What microphone and pre-amp are you using for voices in this song?

And for drums?

Thanks.

I wanted to wait to post details, so that there were no bias opinions in regards to the gear used, one way or the other.

Everything was tracked using the Mackie Onyx 1640i board and pre's and into PT m-powered 8.

Drums:
Mapex 5 piece kit, remo emperor tops, ambassador bottoms, superkick heads
kick- beta 52 inside
snare- sm57 on top, no bottom, with foam around it to stop hi hat bleed
toms- sm57's on top, no bottoms
OH- AT 4041's in xy
FOK- I had an AT 4050 in fig. 8 about 6 feet in front of the kit...about 1 foot off the ground.

Bass:
Fender Jazz bass played through an old Peavey head, and into a 4x12 Marshall cab....yes...very strange but it worked.
beta 52 about 1-3 inches from the speaker, a little off axis
AT 4050 about 4 feet back, in fig. 8, level with cab. Mixed the two to taste

Guitars:
1. Fender American strat though a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12
*mic 1- sm57, directly pointed at cone
*mic 2- sm57, off axis right next to mic one
*mic 3- AT 4050, on other speaker, a little off axis pointing downward

2. Fender American strat through a Marshal ATV150, same mic set up as above

3. Martin 000-15 acoustic
*mic 1- AT 4050 where body and neck meet
*mic 2- AT 4041 around the bridge

Vocals:
Lead: AT 4050, cardiod
Background: AT 4050, about 2 feet back, cardiod

Again, all through the Onyx pres. This was mixed hybrid from pro tools out to the Onyx 1640i. I used all Digi stock plugins, and some of the Massey plugs as well, but that is all.

I don't know if you are asking about the vocals because you like them, or because you don't. I personally find the sound of the vocals to be the least attractive part...they sound a bit grainy...but it may just be my voice. What do you think?

[Rockshamrover]

Originally Posted by BrandRecordingCo

Hey guys,

How's my mix? This is my first mix in the new studio I just built. I played all the instruments and sang...and basically wrote this song just to test out the new studio to get a feel for the place. It is completely unmastered and straight off the board. Any comments?

Thanks

You sound like that guy from Scriti Politi, that's good

Can't wait to hear the completed mastered version.

[pineapple]

I ask for voice microphone because it have a "special" sound. I like it.

[once a roadie]

nicely done

[EddieTheRed]

I love that staccato riff in the second verse!

Sounds great man, maybe just a little overcompressed for my taste.

The vocals sound a little separate from the rest of the mix, too, but besides that it's killer.

Nice work!

[AfterViewer]

Would bring up (vol. strength) a notch on all the vocals/backing vocals as you have it, except for the "counter" vocal/melody three quarters way into the song, keep that as is. The integration on a whole will be more dynamic, I feel. Strong composition, should have stronger vocal statement. Good recording!thumbsup

[BrandRecordingCo]

Hey everyone thanks for the great replies. Yeah, I probably tend to mix my own voice lower than others...which may be a factor here. I appreciate all your comments, and I'm glad most of you like it. I will post a "mastered" version when I get it done.

Thanks!

[twilight]

after a quick listen i think it could use a bit more highs here and there, and there is some mud in the lower mids.

[AgustinZubillaga]

Hi, here it goes

Good:

Vocal sound, nice & smooth
raw drum sound
arrangement
song itself

Not so good:

vocal pitch, try a pitch corrector (not a lot, just to tidy things up a bit)
drum reverb (lack there of?)

Bad:

Elec Guitar dist/OD, doesn't fit the song, too crunchy/dark

Recommendations:

Drums
-Try compressing them more (on a parallel bus), 4:1-8:1 with a fast attack(<1ms) and release (<70ms), if you have a fairchild/distressor/1176 emulation even better! blend with original
- Send them to a med/large room reverb, 500ms to 1.5s, bring it up quite high, it gets lost in the clutter.
- bring up the top end with a broad high shelving, starting at 6-8khz, around 3-6db
-send the snare to a short dense bright plate (1.5s to 2s)

Ac Guitars
-try compressing them through a LA3A emu if you have one
-send them to a parallel bus, HPF (12-18db oct) at 3-5Khz, compress THE HELL out of it, bring up and blend to taste with original tracks (this trick works with almost anything you want to brighten up but keep top end dynamics under control)

El. Guitars
-Look for a tube marshall emulation, something a bit cleaner and brighter

Vocals
-LA2A if you can get your hands on an emulation. compress hard
- send it to a parallel bus, HPF (12-18db oct) at 3-5Khz, over-compress, bring up and blend to taste with original track

just my 2cents, keep up the good work!

[BrandRecordingCo]

Originally Posted by AgustinZubillaga

Hi, here it goes

Good:

Vocal sound, nice & smooth
raw drum sound
arrangement
song itself

Not so good:

vocal pitch, try a pitch corrector (not a lot, just to tidy things up a bit)
drum reverb (lack there of?)

Bad:

Elec Guitar dist/OD, doesn't fit the song, too crunchy/dark

Recommendations:

Drums
-Try compressing them more (on a parallel bus), 4:1-8:1 with a fast attack(<1ms) and release (<70ms), if you have a fairchild/distressor/1176 emulation even better! blend with original
- Send them to a med/large room reverb, 500ms to 1.5s, bring it up quite high, it gets lost in the clutter.
- bring up the top end with a broad high shelving, starting at 6-8khz, around 3-6db
-send the snare to a short dense bright plate (1.5s to 2s)

Ac Guitars
-try compressing them through a LA3A emu if you have one
-send them to a parallel bus, HPF (12-18db oct) at 3-5Khz, compress THE HELL out of it, bring up and blend to taste with original tracks (this trick works with almost anything you want to brighten up but keep top end dynamics under control)

El. Guitars
-Look for a tube marshall emulation, something a bit cleaner and brighter

Vocals
-LA2A if you can get your hands on an emulation. compress hard
- send it to a parallel bus, HPF (12-18db oct) at 3-5Khz, over-compress, bring up and blend to taste with original track

just my 2cents, keep up the good work!

Hey great feedback! I would agree with pretty much all of it. Like I said, I wrote and recorded the song very quickly to test the new place/gear...and it shows in some areas. I do agree about the electric guitar sound, should have played more with it to find a more fitting tone/dist.

The way I mixed this song was sending all my drum and bass tracks to there own bus, with an 1176 on it and digi eq after with a slight boost in the bass and highs. I think I also sent a mult of the snare to another compressor and squashed it, then mixed to taste as well.

All guitars went to another bus, with a compressor and eq as well...no parallel compression though here...maybe I should have.

Vocals were multed into about 5 tracks, 4 being compressed with different compressors for different tones, and then blened to taste with the original uncompressed track.

I'm going to experiment more with using even more parallel compression on the drums and bass, and possibly guitars too, and then send them to their bus groups for group compression/blending/eq. This is part of Michael Brauers technique I've really been getting into, and loving it. This song was actually the first full mix I used his multi bus technique on...and I think it worked great.

I really like your tip about the hpf on a parallel track...I'll have to give that a go on my next mix (tonight!) and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the great criticism!!!

[Shegy]

Very nicely done!thumbsup

Good song, preformance and mix.
A few suggestions: overal sound is a bit too bassy in my opinion, maybe a bit of cut somewhere in 100-300Hz region.
I d also agree with Agustin over e-guitar sound, definetely too dark and sounds a bit dad.
On the snare some nice, not too long plate would give it more life.
I like dry mixes, but maybe just a little bit more room overal would make it more appealing.

Anyway, great one for the first one in a new studio.

Cheers

[miscend]

I like the smooth sound of the AT4050 on your vocals. Its a good mic. The overall mix sounds a little unbalanced - seems to lack in the high frequencies. Good song nice work.

[AgustinZubillaga]

Originally Posted by Shegy

Very nicely done!thumbsup

Good song, preformance and mix.
A few suggestions: overal sound is a bit too bassy in my opinion, maybe a bit of cut somewhere in 100-300Hz region.
I d also agree with Agustin over e-guitar sound, definetely too dark and sounds a bit dad.
On the snare some nice, not too long plate would give it more life.
I like dry mixes, but maybe just a little bit more room overal would make it more appealing.

Anyway, great one for the first one in a new studio.

Cheers

+1 thumbsup

[BrandRecordingCo]

Originally Posted by Shegy

Very nicely done!thumbsup

Good song, preformance and mix.
A few suggestions: overal sound is a bit too bassy in my opinion, maybe a bit of cut somewhere in 100-300Hz region.
I d also agree with Agustin over e-guitar sound, definetely too dark and sounds a bit dad.
On the snare some nice, not too long plate would give it more life.
I like dry mixes, but maybe just a little bit more room overal would make it more appealing.

Anyway, great one for the first one in a new studio.

Cheers

Hey, also very good feedback. I will note your suggestions. I'm trying to figure out the high and low end of the new environment...may take some time...but I'll get it! Good suggestion about the reverb too!

Originally Posted by miscend

I like the smooth sound of the AT4050 on your vocals. Its a good mic. The overall mix sounds a little unbalanced - seems to lack in the high frequencies. Good song nice work.

Hi thanks! Yeah I love the AT 4050...although it can be very essey, but with a good desser and a bit of eq it really shines well on vocals.