Feedback/Tips on some mixes

ogy

Hey guys

Just finished 2 songs out of 4 for a mates EP im doing.
I'd appreciate any feedback or advice you lot can offer on it!

This is my first go at recording and mixing a band proper so be kind:)

Don't Act So Funny http://www.mediafire.com/?enj2yelx3zj
No Point Fighting
http://www.mediafire.com/?9xxdzkmgdm0

Considerations (excuses):
- Wasn't the best gear in the world (tascam us-428, rode NT1A and NT5s, sm57, sennheiser 602)
- limited inputs (only four channels so drums are kick, snare top and overheads only)
- recorded in an untreated room (except for a mattress:))
- i wasn't there for the last few elements like backing vocals so some of them weren't recorded great (noisy/roomy sounding)
- some of the levels and pan positions aren't right but i need to get away from the tunes for a few hours before i revisit cos i've lost perspective a bit
- mixed on (decent) headphones cos my monitors are broke

so all that aside:) let me have it...

ogy

Just put another one up if anyone decides to spend a bit of timing ripping it apart:)

Much The Same
http://www.mediafire.com/?gpjbnikgznt

teamdresch

First song -

A touch of verb on drums and vox would be good.
A snappier snare sound might be nice.
The hi hats sound a bit weird, how are you processing the overheads?
Have you checked all the drum mics for phase?
The guitars could be louder overall.
The bass could use a bit more definition.
Maybe some mild distortion to make it sound a bit more interesting.
It's DI-ish sound could use some help in general, it's pretty much carrying the tune for large sections. It'd be nice to hear it through an amp.

Where'd the bass go on the second song?
Are the guitars recorded through a pod or something similar?

ogy

- yeh, still not totally comfortable using reverb, only using one small room on all the tracks to try and get a handle on getting the basic sound. i'll experiment a bit more with it
- snares a bit dead now that you say it:)
- theres a weird clippy/clicky sound in the hats alright, its in all the tunes. Not sure whats up with the hats, i'll give them another listen. I'm trying the old new york compression thing on the overheads of all three tracks.
- the overheads are in phase, the kick and snare weren't perfectly in phase and sounded better when i flipped the phase on them, hadn't got any other mics. I'll know for next time to spend more time making sure their definitely in phase. I only realized by the time we started doing the guitars that i could just zoom in to check the phase. i know i should be able to hear it but i'm not quite there yet:) With overheads, not everything can be perfectly in phase, so what do you prioritse, kick/snare?
- yeh the guitars are a bit loud, i think the first burst of guitars is ok, but ill automate the tracks to go up a few db before they come back in.
- i went overboard on recording the bass, used DI, 57 and 604, and forgot to actually make sure the bass sounded anygood in the first place:) should have spent a bit more time with the bass amp as it was really boomy and muddy. I didn't use the DI track in the end and hacked the other 2 tracks apart with EQ to try and get rid of the boominess.
- theres was an effect on the bass when the song was originally written, kind of electro, a distortion, octave and phaser, something like that. but the bass player lost the pedal he made the patch with:) i spent a bit of time trying to get it going again using guitar rig but it wasn't sounding great so i left it. might revisit that idea.
- yeh the bass is way to quiet on that track, i didn't notice at all.
- jaysus i musta really messed the guitars up for you to think they sounded like a pod. they were recorded with a 57 and the nt1a, it was a 70s les paul and an old fender hot rod.

cheers man great to borrow you experienced folks ears for a while:)

teamdresch

The guitars don't sound bad, they just need to be placed a bit better in the mix I think.
Go very easy on compressing the overheads.
Try parallel compressing the whole kit instead.

white_falcon

I havent a clue about mixing something like this at all, but to the average listener on the street (moi), I would say the guitars definitively need to be louder and if you could get the snare a bit less dull, it would definitively bring a nice sound to the piece

ogy

Try parallel compressing the whole kit instead.

by the whole kit do you head overheads and kick and snare or everything except the overheads? cos i only have kick, snare top and overheads.

I would say the guitars definitively need to be louder and if you could get the snare a bit less dull

dunno what to do with the snare, ive sweeped slowly through the whole spectrum and can't find a nice snappy spot at all.
bringing the guitars up as we speak:) i'll post some new mixes soon

thanks again lads, welcome anymore comments

teamdresch

Yeah, whole kit as in whatever you have.
Either way, go easy on the compression, it seems to bringing out a little nastiness in the overheads.

Trying high passing the snare between 70hz and 200hz somewhere. Maybe also dip out around 150hz to 400hz to lose some of the tubbiness. Try to find a boost somewhere between 2.5khz and 7khz for that snap. You could also try a high shelf somewhere north of 6khz too.
Don't be afraid to get crazy with the EQ. Also, do your EQ'ing while listening to all your drum tracks, there's no point in getting the snare sounding good in solo.

PaulBrewer

teamdresch wrote: »

Also, do your EQ'ing while listening to all your drum tracks, there's no point in getting the snare sounding good in solo.

Agreed

ogy

nice one cheers lads, using the parralel compression on kick and snare tracks worked great. i'll revisit the eq as soon as i get back to the tracks.
unfortunately have a max/msp assignment to get stuck into for college so gonna have to leave them for a few days, maybe good to clear the ears!
i'll post up new mixes next week
thanks again

jtsuited

sort that kick out with a lot more bottom end. mixing on headphones = making more work for yourself in the long run. you'll end up adding a load of extra room ambience to the sound and your whole bottom end is pretty much gonna be guesswork.

also your ears fatigue a lot faster on headphones.

ogy

yeh, its only one of my monitors thats broke so maybe i'll eq some stuff in mono, never thought of that till now. yeh headphones definitely less than ideal but hopefully i'll get monitors fixed within the next few days.