Pop/Rock mix suggestions please

[maartenl945]

Hi,

A bandmate of mine already once posted a mix of this RHCP song that we're doing with a band in Holland. This is my mix (ITB), with some added stuff compared to the previous mix.
I'd really love some suggestions about how to make this sound better though, because I think it definitely needs improvement. For example, I can't get the bass to sound right, but any other suggestions are appreciated as well.

Thanks,
Maarten

23-03-2007: Just added the updated version, with the following changes:

• More meat to the drums.
• Bass now just the DI.
• More de-esser on the VOX.

The bass still sounds weird though. Any more suggestions to improve this ?

[maartenl945]

Cannot be rescued ?

[djui5]

Wow that sounds funny :)

The drums are so weak, and I think your trying to fill the song out with the bass, but it's not working. The drum room sounds cool, but you need more drums in there. You need more kick and snare, a lot more. Also, the bass is all over the place. Did you automate the volume like that?

Vox needs some de-essing really bad.


Guitar solo performance is pretty good.

[maartenl945]

Originally Posted by djui5

Wow that sounds funny :)

The drums are so weak, and I think your trying to fill the song out with the bass, but it's not working. The drum room sounds cool, but you need more drums in there. You need more kick and snare, a lot more. Also, the bass is all over the place. Did you automate the volume like that?

Vox needs some de-essing really bad.


Guitar solo performance is pretty good.

Thanks for the comments. Drums are actually Drumkit from Hell, but not bounced (meaning that all the mic bleeds are missing which usually give a bigger sound). I actually thought this gave a different more bright sound, but perhaps not a wise decision ;-)
I'll bounce it and increase the kick and snare.

The bass has some automation, but definitely not meant to be all over the place. It was a DI, which i've mixed with that same signal going through an Ampeg sim. I'll tone down on the automation and perhaps keep the bass sound more simple (just the DI).

There is some de-essing on the vox, but I'll increase it.

Guitar is me, so I guess I had to make it sound halfway decent ;-)

I know I've got a long way to go, so thanks for the ideas to improve this.

Maarten

[djui5]

anytime :)

[maartenl945]

I just updated the mix in the initial post. Anymore comments ?

Maarten

[FossilTooth]

The second posting is a definite improvement.

The drum sound is too trashy of this track, and the mix lacks a certain sense of musicality.

I'm can't tell if you got some compromised sounds going in and didn't know how to work with them, or if you got reasonable sounds and overworked them.

Good effort. It looks like you can learn, and you should have the ability to continue improving as time goes on.

[maartenl945]

Originally Posted by FossilTooth

The second posting is a definite improvement.

Ok thanks.

Originally Posted by FossilTooth

The drum sound is too trashy of this track, and the mix lacks a certain sense of musicality.

Yeah I can see what you're saying with the too trashy comment. I think it's probably the cymbals and open hihat sounds which make it that way. Maybe I should compress them less and/or lower them in the mix.

Not sure how to improve on that sense of musicality. To me there's two biggies which come to mind:
1. Improve the way the bass sits in the mix.
2. Make everything gel together more.
Not sure how to go about doing that though, so therefore my request for suggestions on this forum.

Originally Posted by FossilTooth

I'm can't tell if you got some compromised sounds going in and didn't know how to work with them, or if you got reasonable sounds and overworked them.

Probably a bit of both. The recorded tracks do not shine in high quality but are pretty decent. Vox and Bass DI were recorded at a friend's place through a focusrite penta, with NT1A on the Vox, and a pretty low-end bass guitar. Drums are samples from DKFH superior, and e-guitars are all ampsim (powercore tubifex). The acoustic was recorded with a AT4040 through a focusrite trakmaster + DI.

I've tried to use some of the MILAR stuff in the mix but might have overdone it.

Originally Posted by FossilTooth

Good effort. It looks like you can learn, and you should have the ability to continue improving as time goes on.

Thanks for your comments. Anymore specific suggestions from anybody that I can try out ?

Maarten