Please critique my first paying mix!

[tubesandteles]

Hey,
I like that song. The singer reminds me of the singer from MAE of Tooth and Nail fame. I was wondering, is that vocal mic a C1 or an NTK? I think you just need a de-esser on the vox before the reverb. It should be fine. The guitars are a POD aren't they or an amp simulator. Just beef up the bass guitar, that should fix it. Add some real cymbals. That would be cool. Neat song though.

[djui5]

poopants,
I think you did a killer job for your first mix/recording. Congrats.

On that note, I think the snare is way too compressed. It sounds funny because of the compression.

Overall the mix sounds conjested I think. I think I read you strapped an L2 across the mix buss?

[rainsinvelvet]

Well,
I think it sounds pretty damn cool. If it was my mix and I had the time to tweek..
Maybe back off the compression on the snare like djui5 said. Maybe that will give you a bit more snap/ snares. (just my preference).
I hear what your saying about the guitars.. A trick I've used in the past was to use the digi lofi plug in and just bring in a little bit of distortion(like just a touch) to make guitars bloom up a bit.

But really, it's there. I mean you could tweek it forever, but only guys like us are gunna sit here and tell you what YOU need to fix

Overall it sounds great!

ERic

[heartofantares]

Originally Posted by tubesandteles

Hey,
I like that song. The singer reminds me of the singer from MAE of Tooth and Nail fame. I was wondering, is that vocal mic a C1 or an NTK? I think you just need a de-esser on the vox before the reverb. It should be fine. The guitars are a POD aren't they or an amp simulator. Just beef up the bass guitar, that should fix it. Add some real cymbals. That would be cool. Neat song though.

, funny thing you say that because although I am a huge MAE fan, I don't think I sound at all like him, however upon playing that cd my one buddy was like ... you sound like that guy from MAE... so this makes two people...

Honestly if you ask me, I think that guy is a way better singer and what you're hearing in common with both our voices is autotune abuse lol. but thanks.

vox
SM7 - > TwinQ -> waves renn de-esser -> waves renn eq -> waves rvox
i was really conservative on the de-essing because i hate what it does to the sound, not sure if i should use more, automating sounded funny too

all guitars are real...
gibson firebird -> marshall amp -> orange cab -> 57 -> TwinQ -> waves renn eq -> psp vintage warmer

cymbals real too.. just sampled kick/snare/toms

[Poopants]

Originally Posted by djui5

poopants,
I think you did a killer job for your first mix/recording. Congrats.

On that note, I think the snare is way too compressed. It sounds funny because of the compression.

Overall the mix sounds conjested I think. I think I read you strapped an L2 across the mix buss?

Thanks, it's not my first mix or recording though. I've done about 4 or 5 before, this is my first paying mix/recording. Though I'm doing it for dirt cheap...

About the snare - I think that's the #1 thing I'm stressing about right now. It's not the actual snare that's heavily compressed, it's the sample that has that loud transient. I've been trying to find a way for the snare to stand out because it wasn't loud enough before, and as I turn it up/process it the bad tuning becomes more present. One thing I did this time was to distort the sample through AC1 - but now it sounds funny to me, so it needs more work.

As for the mix sounding conjested, I agree it's kind of slammed sounding - the L2 is only on the 1st mix I posted. In the second mix I think I may have turned *everything* up a little louder in the process of tweaking, so it's hitting the mixbus compressor a little harder, maybe I'll try raising the threshold a little to give it some more room.
Does the first mix sound as congested to you?


BTW thanks all for the great responses!

[DP40oz]

Hey man as far as the snare goes I had the same problem you're having for a long time. I love the pop but you lose the body. You can try multing another snare track soley for depth, compress it with the quickest attack you can, i use an 1176 but i've used an L2 for it too. Just totally squash to the point of total craziness then bring it in underneath the other snare to taste. If you're not liking the tuning of the snare, try a few different samples. Just my 2 cents. Sounds great already though.

[djui5]

Originally Posted by Poopants

Does the first mix sound as congested to you?

No idea, didn't listen to it.

I'd try adjusting the threshold for sure. Your hitting the buss comp way too hard :)

[Poopants]

Originally Posted by DP40oz

Hey man as far as the snare goes I had the same problem you're having for a long time. I love the pop but you lose the body. You can try multing another snare track soley for depth, compress it with the quickest attack you can, i use an 1176 but i've used an L2 for it too. Just totally squash to the point of total craziness then bring it in underneath the other snare to taste. If you're not liking the tuning of the snare, try a few different samples. Just my 2 cents. Sounds great already though.

I actually did that with the real snare track, but I could only bring it up so much before the bad tuning was really noticeable. I don't have any snare samples that I could use besides the one I sampled from his kit.

Anyone know where to get some good pro samples? I recently lost my library when I accidentally erased my backup drive

[Poopants]

Originally Posted by djui5

Merry Christmas....

This one's got meat and crack.

Thanks man! I appreciate that.

[astronmr20]

Getting those guitars to stick out more in the mix...

Obviously this would have been done a little more at tracking, but the EQ on the Twin Q was a nice opportunity to push those mids. I really like Meek EQ on guitars... it lets you push that 1k without gtting harsh.. thus really sticking the guitars out smoothly.

Right now, in the mix, you could cut the compression BACK a bit on the guitars, and also push the mids in a wider-bandrange. Say from about 500 to 2k.. maybe 2 DB or so with a decent plugin EQ. Just see what that does before doing anything else. The big thing will be to keep them from competing with vocals.

It is a nice mix. Was not on my studio monitors when I listened.

[astronmr20]

Meat and crack!

Pretty much my diet.

[aetucker1]

coming from a drummers point of view...i think the kit sounds too compressed. When i hear cymbals pumping as much as you have them, it sort of hurts my ears. also, I personally would bring in your panning for the toms and high-hat. besides those things, it sounds really good...............................but....... ......................crank those guitars!!!!

[paulnowo]

I am a complete amateur at this stuff but sometimes's an amateur's opinion is important so here goes:

- Vocals sound awesome
- Snare sounds like someone is hitting a cereal box :)
- Guitars sound great in the 2nd version
- Song is really catch, it would definitely get some indie-spotlight plays on TV/Radio around here

So, in conclusion: fix the snare and this song is good to go. Great job!

[Poopants]

I appreciate all the comments guys. We have re-tracked the guitars and I haven't gotten to re-mix it yet, but we're about 95% done recording the whole project so I'll be mixing the whole album pretty soon. There are 2 more songs besides this song up on their Purevolume and Myspace, though "I Stare" is still an old version (it was mastered though, but by Vlado the impaler. Can't wait to remix with new guitars and get it mastered - we're using a different guy)

Anyway these guys are blowing up I'm really excited! They're the #1 unsigned band on Purevolume right now! They're on the front page!

www.purevolume.com/inamere

[Ronster]

Originally Posted by Poopants

This isn't my first engineering project but it is the first project I've done after getting some fun stuff like Mytek converters and a Fatso and Seventh Circle pres and the first one where the band is paying me.

I am recording/mixing 10 songs and this is the first one. Everything was recorded either in the singer's livingroom or my bedroom which I acoustically treated to the best of my ability. We had to rush to get the guitars and Vox done to get the song on a compilation so we're re-doing the guitars at least (I'm not happy with how they turned out). I also had to rush to get the mix done because the deadline for the compilation is 5:00 tomorrow and I have class till 3! So it's obviously not mastered, just a little L2 thrown on at the end.

Please don't be nice I'm still only 21 and can afford to learn what I'm doing wrong, tell me if it sucks/what sucks!

Thanks guys :)

btw it is copyrighted

WOW DUDE, i can't believe you're only 21 and i can't believe you have Mytek converters and a Fatso and Seventh Circle pres!!! sh!t, i could barely afford Ramen noodles when i was 21 and in school...how'd you get all the nice gear?

on another note, WOW AGAIN, i can't believe how good that sounds for your first payed engineering gig!!! good job!

obviously i don't need to say anything about the mix because you already know what to change and i guess you've changed it but haven't been able to get around to finishing the song. just thought i'd say keep up the good work, and keep finding good emo/screamo/power pop/rock bands to work with. by the time you're 25 you'll have a good reputation and lots of work. sh!t, maybe i'll come work for you in a few years?

[Axiz7]

Real nice!

Anything done tho the drums...timing wise?