Rock Song - your mix feedback requested

mikelang · 24th July 2008, 04:22 AM

Thanks for taking the time to review this song, just looking for some general feedback on the mix.

theblackpage · 24th July 2008, 06:20 AM

sounds good. what was your set up? how did you go about vocals, they sound good. i think the acoustic in the beginning is too present/bright/loud? idk it sounds like it could use some distance to it. its kinda right in front instead of vocals. thats my only thought

norman_nomad · 24th July 2008, 07:06 AM

Sounds pretty good.

I agree that the acoustic is a little overdone in the beginning... but there's a lot of easy tweaks you could do to back off of it a little. Less compression and top eq.

The song has some pretty heavy limiting going on.. it would breath more if you backed off a db or two... might make a big difference.

Overall the sounds are nice. I like the vocal treatment. Drums are cool too.

You reference Nickelback at all when mixing this... haha...

soundsundergroun · 24th July 2008, 02:14 PM

some cool compression going on with the vox. What compressor is that?

Acoustic-not a fan at all of plugged in acoustics on recording

snare-I would open up the attack a little on the compressor...but that's just my style

kick-I would drop a little of the mud and make it more punchy, maybe even augment with a sample

guitars are nice
keys are nice

overall good job!

mikelang · 24th July 2008, 08:29 PM

Thanks so much for the compliments and the great insight. I remixed it and put a log down below about changes made.

As for the vocal chain, it's pretty humble. It's an AT 2020 mic with no pre (I have a unit to supply phantom power, but that's the only outboard gear used on it). The vocal chain was Waves API 560 (eq), API-2500 (compressor), SuperTap (with just a few ms delay to left, little more to right, eq'd so only the frequencies about 7.2k go through- this is for presence), and a very minor ammount of plate reverb.

Changes in version 2-

Acoustic - The pickup was the dominant track, but a microphone was used on a second track. I swapped the levels on the two tracks, so now the mic is dominant. I lowered the high end EQ, and put less compression on it.

Kick - I lowered the frequencies between 125-500 Hz and boosted 60 Hz a little.

Snare - I raised the attack.

Overall - I raised the threshold on the master limiter by 2 db.

Thanks again for the great advice!

theblackpage · 24th July 2008, 10:01 PM

would it be wrong to suggest to put some verb on that acoustic track. it dosnt sound right to me

norman_nomad · 24th July 2008, 10:29 PM

Now the acoustic doesn't sit well with the vocal. It sounds a little flabby and probably could be re-tracked. I think maybe you could have kept the top end but slowed the compressor release down so that it wasn't so jumpy.. the biggest thing bother me was how much the acoustic was jumping out so much. It's close though...

Regarding the -2db on the master... holy sh!t what a difference!

I pulled both mixes into Cubase and just droped the old mix by -2db. The new mix kills it... you can actually hear kick and snare... the whole mix has balls now.

Anyways... good work dude!

Machina · 25th July 2008, 12:46 AM

I think the acoustic guitar is WAY better with more amount of the mic-track. Actually I would get rid of the pickup - it always sounds kinda cheap to my ears. Maybe double-track it to have some stereo image and a little more reverb or delay. Even if the distorted guitars come in it should be possible to have a good separation between them and you should be able to hear both. There could be also more kick with a little more attack imho. Really dig the snare! All in all good work!

Cheers,

Chris

theblackpage · 25th July 2008, 01:24 AM

^^^ exactly. if you can double track them. do so. it would sound much better i think, and a tad of reverb maybe

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24th July 2008, 06:20 AM	#2
theblackpage Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 64	sounds good. what was your set up? how did you go about vocals, they sound good. i think the acoustic in the beginning is too present/bright/loud? idk it sounds like it could use some distance to it. its kinda right in front instead of vocals. thats my only thought

24th July 2008, 07:06 AM	#3
norman_nomad Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 1,960	Sounds pretty good. I agree that the acoustic is a little overdone in the beginning... but there's a lot of easy tweaks you could do to back off of it a little. Less compression and top eq. The song has some pretty heavy limiting going on.. it would breath more if you backed off a db or two... might make a big difference. Overall the sounds are nice. I like the vocal treatment. Drums are cool too. You reference Nickelback at all when mixing this... haha...

24th July 2008, 02:14 PM	#4
soundsundergroun Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 161	some cool compression going on with the vox. What compressor is that? Acoustic-not a fan at all of plugged in acoustics on recording snare-I would open up the attack a little on the compressor...but that's just my style kick-I would drop a little of the mud and make it more punchy, maybe even augment with a sample guitars are nice keys are nice overall good job!

24th July 2008, 10:01 PM	#6
theblackpage Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 64	would it be wrong to suggest to put some verb on that acoustic track. it dosnt sound right to me

24th July 2008, 10:29 PM	#7
norman_nomad Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 1,960	Now the acoustic doesn't sit well with the vocal. It sounds a little flabby and probably could be re-tracked. I think maybe you could have kept the top end but slowed the compressor release down so that it wasn't so jumpy.. the biggest thing bother me was how much the acoustic was jumping out so much. It's close though... Regarding the -2db on the master... holy sh!t what a difference! I pulled both mixes into Cubase and just droped the old mix by -2db. The new mix kills it... you can actually hear kick and snare... the whole mix has balls now. Anyways... good work dude!

25th July 2008, 12:46 AM	#8
Machina Gear nut Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Near Munich Posts: 133	I think the acoustic guitar is WAY better with more amount of the mic-track. Actually I would get rid of the pickup - it always sounds kinda cheap to my ears. Maybe double-track it to have some stereo image and a little more reverb or delay. Even if the distorted guitars come in it should be possible to have a good separation between them and you should be able to hear both. There could be also more kick with a little more attack imho. Really dig the snare! All in all good work! Cheers, Chris

25th July 2008, 01:24 AM	#9
theblackpage Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 64	^^^ exactly. if you can double track them. do so. it would sound much better i think, and a tad of reverb maybe