Because I'm a glutton for punishment. (repeat song)

[TreWatson]

o hai. same song, better mix.


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i think i got a bit of a room sound back in the drums, and i FIGURED OUT WHAT THE ISSUE WITH THE SNARE WAS.

IT WAS THE ....ING BLEED CONTROLS D:. this WHOLE TIME, THE GODDAMN BLEED.

now it has a nice snap and it has enough echo to carry itself.

it also no longer clips like hell.

critiquespl0x, let the other thread die, but i appreciate the criticism, it helped me come up with this.

also, the song as a whole has been re-approached with the riffs in time now.

fixed the audio buffers too.

in general, things are shaping up better. haha

[CooleyJr]

Awesome man! Teh Sik!!!

[british beef]

Nice tone dude!

[TreWatson]

thanks, guys.

please keep the feedback coming!

[Sliggy]

An obvious step up from the last effort. Now that your shit's not peaking I might be able to hear what's happening! Huge improvement though.

1. Kick still seems a little wet. It MIGHT still be clipping (can't say for sure) but I suspect there's just a little too much top end. Just needs some shaping, but that might be personal preference. It's certainly not a major problem.

2. I still think your snare is flawed. Try boosting some lower frequencies to fatten it up, or alternatively (and possibly better) you could roll of some highs and just turn the level up. Either way I think it needs some body. It needs more "snap" too but that could just be a volume issue. Have a tinker with it anyway.

3. Too much gain on your guitar tone. I don't think this point is personal preference, I think it's just a fact. When you're not playing anything your guitar is humming like crazy, and it just doesn't sound thick and juicy. Believe it or not thick juicy "Meshuggah / Bulb" tones have a very small amount of gain on them. Less gain = more smooth. Smooth tones are what you desire sir. You might roll off some top end too, or at least make a substantial cut where all that noise is.

4. Overheads are still pretty damn quiet. Listen to a Bulb track for some reference. Again, not trying to say you should make your mix the exact same, but just get an idea of where cymbals sound good. You'll be surprised at how much louder his are than you notice.

Your mix just needs some life, but I think a boosting of the overheads + some of these other points might help. Don't just go in and follow my advice exactly but maybe use some of this as a guideline and then do what YOU feel is best too. This is just how the song is striking me.

[TreWatson]

Originally Posted by Sliggy

An obvious step up from the last effort. Now that your shit's not peaking I might be able to hear what's happening! Huge improvement though.

1. Kick still seems a little wet. It MIGHT still be clipping (can't say for sure) but I suspect there's just a little too much top end. Just needs some shaping, but that might be personal preference. It's certainly not a major problem.

2. I still think your snare is flawed. Try boosting some lower frequencies to fatten it up, or alternatively (and possibly better) you could roll of some highs and just turn the level up. Either way I think it needs some body. It needs more "snap" too but that could just be a volume issue. Have a tinker with it anyway.

3. Too much gain on your guitar tone. I don't think this point is personal preference, I think it's just a fact. When you're not playing anything your guitar is humming like crazy, and it just doesn't sound thick and juicy. Believe it or not thick juicy "Meshuggah / Bulb" tones have a very small amount of gain on them. Less gain = more smooth. Smooth tones are what you desire sir. You might roll off some top end too, or at least make a substantial cut where all that noise is.

4. Overheads are still pretty damn quiet. Listen to a Bulb track for some reference. Again, not trying to say you should make your mix the exact same, but just get an idea of where cymbals sound good. You'll be surprised at how much louder his are than you notice.

Your mix just needs some life, but I think a boosting of the overheads + some of these other points might help. Don't just go in and follow my advice exactly but maybe use some of this as a guideline and then do what YOU feel is best too. This is just how the song is striking me.

thanks, Sliggy, I'm not necessarily trying to go for a Bulb sound, though playing wise I'm approaching some of the riffs the same way) and I was trying to keep the overheads from overpowering the mix. and I dunno about the humming...

i have the noise gate up INSANELY high and it reads SILENT in the monitor, so i dunno where that hum is coming from...


the kick IS personal preference. i hate clicky overly tight sounding snares, i like a little of that "catching the head" sound, with a little extra carry on it.

and of course, the snare can be fixed, I was just trying to fix the loose/roomy feel that it has had since i first started using Metal foundry.

[Sliggy]

Yeah I know you're trying to create your own sound. I'm just citing other people's works to show that you can have thick, juicy tone with high overheads etc.

The problem with the snare isn't it's "mood" or "behavior" for me, it's just that it lacks power in general. Whether you go for a snappy sound, a fat sound, tinny, muddy, whatever. It should still be a driving force in your mix and it should be strong.

I think your tone is buzzing because there's so much gain. You should have your gain as LOW AS POSSIBLE while still being distorted enough to play the parts without sounding "Fender Stratocaster" like.

[TreWatson]

Chad, I love and hate you at the same time. lol. I appreciate it though.

might be the gain on the Boost+EQ i have in PODfarm.
I can take another look.

hell, it's thanksgiving and I don't have to pick up the lady just yet.

EDIT: ok, so i re-did the song with the guitars Gain dialed way down until I couldn't hear that weird fizz inside of the notes.

frankly i hate how it sounds now, I lost all the sustain and the guitars are just empty as .....

other changes:

adjusted kick/overhead volume

Put an EQ over the main Snare out to beef it up a little

i actually like the buzz, i hate "smooth" tone, it feels so empty, especially when hardpanned, i'm seeing all these holes in the riffs now and i dislike it.

maybe i should try to Quad-track?

[Sliggy]

LOL well my "suggestions" aren't necessarily going to be good ones, they're just the things I would try first. I'm not guaranteeing any kind of fix. This is your song and your tone dude. All I'm suggesting is shit for you to give a try to see how it sounds. If you hate it, then change it right back.

I wouldn't suggest quad tracking yet. The problem (in my eyes) isn't that there's too little in your tone, but that there's too much. If the gain was right, maybe it's the top end. If both are right, maybe it's just the input volume. If all that's right, then maybe there's too much gain or something on your bass tone. So many possibilities!

I'm not trying to tear your mix apart, it's pretty good! I'm just trying to listen to it and think of all the things you might give a shot just for the sake of experimentation. The first mix you posted was pretty flawed but now it's just a matter of dicking around and seeing if anything sticks out to you. You've already fixed all the "problems."

[TreWatson]

it was mostly the gain thing being "not personal preference but fact" that drove me to do it.

I might try to boost the gain back up some and use the EQ on Pod farm to drop the fizz/buzz out.

though when it do that it gets this "behind a blanket" feel, anything i could do on that?

[Sliggy]

Maybe try lowering your treble and upping your presence? Whenever you take frequencies out of a sound though your ears are going to tell you "oh shit you can't lose that!" So it's important to make the cut and then give it some time. Something is definitely buzzing unpleasantly though regardless of personal taste, even if you like a gainy, trebly guitar sound.

[TreWatson]

Originally Posted by Sliggy

Maybe try lowering your treble and upping your presence? Whenever you take frequencies out of a sound though your ears are going to tell you "oh shit you can't lose that!" So it's important to make the cut and then give it some time. Something is definitely buzzing unpleasantly though regardless of personal taste, even if you like a gainy, trebly guitar sound.

can-do.

dude, thanks so much for giving me all this insight, i really appreciate it.

Rep and Kudos through the roof for you.

[Sliggy]

No probs dude!