Feedback on my mix/sound. Rock Music.....I'm young, be nice.

[DrummerGuy09]

Please listen to my mix and tell me how it sounds. This is one of my first recordings on my PTLE set up. I have already learned alot sence i have recorded this track. I just want to see what ya'll think. I'm only 17, so be nice to me! eh Please ask questions if any...

Thanks!

Here is another link..

http://hereonout.net/Music/Bad%20Girls.mp3

[Chris Parsons]

Sounds a lot better than most demos 17 year olds are doing...great job!

The snare sound is great but the rest of the drums (kick and toms) sound dead. It could be a performence issue but just curious, what mics did you use on them? They sound a little boxy, what kind of room did you record in?

The piano part is cool but it takes up a lot of space in the mix, too much space IMO. I'd like to see the guitars come up and get bigger and the piano to sit in the back a bit...don't pan it so wide. It sounds like the paino is giving the track a big hug to me

Where's the bass? This type of song needs a punchy bass that sits right under the guitars, no less.

Vocals sound great! maybe a little louder but they're cool.

Keep up the good work bro, and let us know how you recorded this.


-Chris parsons

[DrummerGuy09]

Thanks for the feedback. On the toms i used sm-57's on both. On the kick i used (the only kick mic i had at the time) a Shure PG-52. I had all tracks go through my presonus digimax but i had to compensate for a lack of inputs so i had to put the toms through my 002 pres. I hate them but i didnt have any other pres. Maybe thats why they sucked. I reciently got a re-20 and i want to get an audix D6 soon. Can you suggest a way for me to make them sound better?

Yeah i agree with you about the piano part taking up to much space. As for the bass, i never can seem to get a great punchy bass sound. I have a nice bass, nice bass amp...what should i do? Go direct? Mic the bass amp? Both? I have a Joe Meek studio channel (i herd was pretty good for bass), line 6 bass pod (not my fav), Music man sting ray bass, ampeg amp and a good musician. Any suggestions?

[everybody's x]

well it sounds better than my recordings, Im 35 and have been recording daily for the last 15 years

kinda reminds me of glassjaw in some parts, I dont think the bass sound is a problem maybe just turn it up a little

nice work, Im gonna go shoot myself

[Jay Kahrs]

Wow dude, truthfully that sounds pretty freakin’ good!!! It has the vibe and sounds of a rough mix, but it’s all there and the tones are intact and haven’t been mangled beyond recognition which is a beautiful thing! It sounds at least as good if not better then material I’ve gotten from a couple of ‘name’ engineers that’s slated for label release. I dig the song a lot too…it’s really honest & raw in a good way. It sounds like System of a Down, Thursday & the Dresden Dolls got into a back alley brawl and the losers got tossed into a blender!

As for the mix, nothing really sticks out and says “Wow, look at me…I SUCK!!!” It’s more like polishing and doing clean up work. The kick is beefy, the snare and cymbals are good…the toms don’t suck either, if anything they’re a bit too “big”. I’d carefully carve low mids out of ‘em and maybe add some attack in the upper mids if they still need to poke through. The kick needs more snap too…it should slice like the snare for this style of music. If anything the snare sounds a little dead, like the head was super old but the tone is good, it sounds like snare drum and not a timbale!

I don’t mind the piano taking up that much room in verses because it’s the dominant instrument there. It should come down or get smaller (maybe both?) in the choruses to make room for the guitars. The guitar crackle & noise at 1:25 before the second verse is pretty kool. The clean guitar is midrangy & a little boxy…it could shimmer more then it is now.

The bass tone seems fine, it just needs to be louder. It might be to be shaped a bit after it's turned up...it's hard to tell without having the multi-track master so I can hear the true tone of it. More importantly rhe lead vocals need to be more out front in the chorus and the backing vocals seem a bit buried at times. That’s probably more a space issue that can be remedied by dropping the piano back, mucking with EQ & compression or most likely a combination of the above.

The mix is super dry, is that intentional?

Overall man...you're really on the right track!

[Chris Parsons]

Well I didn't say anything "sucked" haha... But I think the toms and kick could get a little eq. The basic scooping out the low mids...adding a little low end and a little top end for attack. I'm not going to give you numbers becasue they probablly won't be correct for YOUR mix. And yeah, bring the bass up...like others have said the tone might be great, but... If a good bass tone plays in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, is it really a good bass tone?

Keep it up!

-Chris Parsons

[DrummerGuy09]

Anymore suggestions??

[djui5]

The drums sound really boxy, especially the snare. It dosen't have the punch it should for a song like this.

The singer's top end is a bit brittle.

The piano sounds really muffled. If this is intentional, that's cool, but it's a bit much I think. I would like to hear a "drummed down, smashed to bits" piano sound.

The dist guitars are a bit thin sounding.

The left tom sticks out quite a bit.

The Cymball's don't seem to have space between. It's almost like the OH's are mono..

The bass needs to be tighter. The songs lacking the power it could have because the bass is just kinda hanging there.

Regarding the performances. I think the drums fit the song. The singer is performing well for the song, but it's not being recorded/mixed like it should. Guitars seem ok aside from the tone thing.

The arrangement is a bit different.

[rainsinvelvet]

Overall it sounds nice. I think the mix just needs some attention..

The snare seems boxy to me, but you might like that at thats cool too.
I deff. would like to hear more bass in the mix maybe just turn it up?
The left tom is distracting how much it pops out.
I'de turn the vocal up a bit and maybe fill in the low mids on it.
The mix does seem a bit dry overall to me, but again that might be what your going for.

Bottom line is that is sounds pretty damn good!
Keep it up.
ERic