My "band", WIP, not electro, not garbage. Any feedback would be amazing. - General

As usual, I'm posting a separate thread, but I think it's justified. This took about 6-8 hours of band work plus another ~10 hours of editing (aka me working way harder than anyone else in the band) to complete, of course this is only 30 seconds but we wanted a facebook teaser and it isn't 100% ready yet. So anyways, I figured Facepunch is the go-to place for heartless critique, since all anyone's friends will say is "omg this awsum" or ignore it completely because facebook sucks for publicity. [media]http://soundcloud.com/logan-mcdaniel/preview-where-you-go[/media] Notes: 1. We [i]are[/i] re-doing the lead vocals, there are some breathing problems which produces a lot of off-key notes. Also the first few seconds are just our singer is making up words, it was our fifth take and he got the order mixed up so he just made up crap. 2. Also redoing that little guitar solo riff. Band: "Hey, you should do a guitar thing in that empty spot." Me: "K." 3. I wish I could post a longer version for you guys, but I don't want our friends seeing the whole thing yet, and making it private or whatever is either impossible or likely very annoying. [b] If anyone links me to a good site to do a quick upload I'll post the whole thing[/b]. I know there is a site that does just that, but I can't remember what it is. 4. Questions are mainly on the chorus, which is the majority of the sample. Q's: A. How is the mixing? Too much bass? B. How is the balance on the harmony vocals? We want to have the harmony really strong, but perhaps it's losing the lead vocals a little bit? C. Anything you can think of to improve or fix, PLEASE, even if it's just a thought, tell me. I want to make this song the best it can be.

It's a nice song, but I dislike the mixing. Sounds very thin.

[QUOTE=Yur|ko;30255507]It's a nice song, but I dislike the mixing. Sounds very thin.[/QUOTE] So more bass? Or just spead it out more evenly? Should the guitars and drums also have more in the lower end as well? Vocals?

More bass. It sounds like the whole thing has a high pass filter on it, really weak and thin. As he said though, the songs nice, just sounds like it's been recorded on a laptop mix or something. If you sort ou the mixing and recording it'll be awesome. The singing's off too, but you said you're re-doing that so that's cool.

[QUOTE=chaz13;30260031]More bass. It sounds like the whole thing has a high pass filter on it, really weak and thin. As he said though, the songs nice, just sounds like it's been recorded on a laptop mix or something. If you sort ou the mixing and recording it'll be awesome. The singing's off too, but you said you're re-doing that so that's cool.[/QUOTE] Yeah, unfortunately the vocalist isn't very good at singing, always out of key, has awful diction, although given he just had surgery on his mouth (to remove an entire set of extra teeth or something weird like that lol) I'll pretend it was just this once. Anyways, we might re-record the guitars to get more middle and low end, as well as some more bite.

Read up some tutorials about mixing too (EQ, compression and all that jazz).

I think the drums are the main concern, you could probably save the mix by compressing them and slightly boosting their lower end. Experiment. Also the vocals are quite loud compared to everything else.

How many mics do you have on the drum? Do some panning to the left and right. Usually when I do a mix I do this. EQ Drums (kick)/bass. Solo drum tracks and do a quick mix. (Make sure your cymbals aren't masking your toms too much). Then un mute the drums and work on the rest of your mix. Usually when you EQ a HPF and a 4-6dB boost @ 73hz and 250hz makes it sound pumpy.

[QUOTE=peterson;30273821]How many mics do you have on the drum? Do some panning to the left and right. Usually when I do a mix I do this. EQ Drums (kick)/bass. Solo drum tracks and do a quick mix. (Make sure your cymbals aren't masking your toms too much). Then un mute the drums and work on the rest of your mix. Usually when you EQ a HPF and a 4-6dB boost @ 73hz and 250hz makes it sound pumpy.[/QUOTE] Okay, I'll try to see if I can EQ the drums a little better, that sounds like a plan.

cut out everything in the mix like EQ or compression

[QUOTE=thisispain;30275553]cut out everything in the mix like EQ or compression[/QUOTE] So no EQ or compressor at all?

[QUOTE=thisispain;30275553]cut out everything in the mix like EQ or compression[/QUOTE] what

if you can't use EQ or compression properly then it's better to use it sparingly EQ and compressors should only be used if you see the active purpose for it, else stay away from it that's a rookie mistake a lot of people make, they just pile on the EQ and compression without even the slightest bit of thought into what it does [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] i don't know if the drum set is a real one or a VST, and that's a bad thing. if it's a real drum set you've probably gutted out all dynamics from it which is an awful thing to do and guitars which are distorted should not sound like white noise, they should be crisp unless they are completely in the background

The levels on the drums should be brought up a ton. The guitars don't really have enough presence in the mix and the lead guitar definitely needs to go up as well. Song needs some more bass too. Nice song though. Looking forward to the full version. [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=thisispain;30300386]if you can't use EQ or compression properly then it's better to use it sparingly EQ and compressors should only be used if you see the active purpose for it, else stay away from it that's a rookie mistake a lot of people make, they just pile on the EQ and compression without even the slightest bit of thought into what it does [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] i don't know if the drum set is a real one or a VST, and that's a bad thing. if it's a real drum set you've probably gutted out all dynamics from it which is an awful thing to do and guitars which are distorted should not sound like white noise, they should be crisp unless they are completely in the background[/QUOTE] This is good advice but I don't think he's that much of a rookie. This mix is hardly compressed compared to a lot of stuff and some more EQ (subtractive, not additive) could help everything blend together a bit better.

[QUOTE=Z3r0747;30301542] This is good advice but I don't think he's that much of a rookie. This mix is hardly compressed compared to a lot of stuff and some more EQ (subtractive, not additive) could help everything blend together a bit better.[/QUOTE] it sounds like the drums are quite compressed but it's not that telling at the level they are right now

Well, for starters it would probably help if I made the whole damn song louder. No matter what I've listened to the song on, it's much quieter than any other song, ei I was playing on my car speakers and I had to adjust the volume a good deal before it was as loud as any other songs. And I have been continually playing with the EQing and compression of the song. It seems better but I may just be killing it. Expect an update in a day or two.

[QUOTE=Biscuit-Boy;30303664]Well, for starters it would probably help if I made the whole damn song louder. No matter what I've listened to the song on, it's much quieter than any other song, ei I was playing on my car speakers and I had to adjust the volume a good deal before it was as loud as any other songs. And I have been continually playing with the EQing and compression of the song. It seems better but I may just be killing it. Expect an update in a day or two.[/QUOTE] I can try to mix it for you if you can give me all the tracks in separate .wav files.

[QUOTE=Z3r0747;30301542]The levels on the drums should be brought up a ton. The guitars don't really have enough presence in the mix and the lead guitar definitely needs to go up as well. Song needs some more bass too.[/QUOTE] So basically turn up everything?

[QUOTE=Yur|ko;30307265]I can try to mix it for you if you can give me all the tracks in separate .wav files.[/QUOTE] Oh jeez, there are 10+ tracks :\ I'd like to let you try though, you are pretty friggin awesome. I'll see if I have a lot of time on my hands at any point and shoot them your way. [editline]7th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=TH89;30310803]So basically turn up everything?[/QUOTE] Well, the master level is pretty quiet, so he has a point in a round-about sort of way.

[QUOTE=Biscuit-Boy;30316143]Oh jeez, there are 10+ tracks :\[/QUOTE] THE MORE THE MERRIER seriously i want to try mixing it. it'll be good practice.

[QUOTE=Biscuit-Boy;30303664]Well, for starters it would probably help if I made the whole damn song louder. No matter what I've listened to the song on, it's much quieter than any other song, ei I was playing on my car speakers and I had to adjust the volume a good deal before it was as loud as any other songs. And I have been continually playing with the EQing and compression of the song. It seems better but I may just be killing it. Expect an update in a day or two.[/QUOTE] Normalize it/ run it through a master limiter.

As everyone else said, the mix is pretty bad, most notable in how quiet it is. The guitar and bass melodies are a bit generic as well.

I'm glad I did not write this song if that is the case haha (other than writing the harmonies for the vocal part) I've already turned the master volume up, but I don't know if I'll re-toast it any time soon since I haven't changed much else besides the mixing.