Members Oswlek Posted August 13, 2014 Members Share Posted August 13, 2014 All I know is that anything not specifically mentioned as being problematic in my comment above sounded awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stickboymusic Posted August 14, 2014 Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Did some updating... still not sure about the snare. At this point, there is very minimal compression on it. Made some other minor tweaks like cutting the acoustic guitar from the intro and verses... felt it was unnecessary clutter. http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12885625 Snare sounds a bit better like this - i think turning the whole drum track up a few dbs will make a big difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks Stick. I did a quick fix this morning... and I think it helped. I believe I did parallel processing (added an aux bus with compression on it, then did a send from the snare to the compression bus, while still going to the regular drum bus, and blended in the aux bus). There are two versions here... one where the drums were raised 1 dB, the other raised 2 dB: +1 dB: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12886127+2 dB: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12886128 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stickboymusic Posted August 14, 2014 Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks Stick. I did a quick fix this morning... and I think it helped. I believe I did parallel processing (added an aux bus with compression on it, then did a send from the snare to the compression bus, while still going to the regular drum bus, and blended in the aux bus). There are two versions here... one where the drums were raised 1 dB, the other raised 2 dB: +1 dB: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12886127 +2 dB: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12886128 There is no point me nit-picking the mix as I know you have other things to add to it but for whats its worth the +2db seems to be more like it - just make sure the rest of the mix sits nicely with that drum sound (eq elec guitar etc) and the new bass is going to help as its not fully locked in at present Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Yeah thanks... I know it's a bit of the cart before the horse. I'm really just working to get a good drum sound. I realize that a final mix will likely require further edits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stickboymusic Posted August 14, 2014 Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Yeah thanks... I know it's a bit of the cart before the horse. I'm really just working to get a good drum sound. I realize that a final mix will likely require further edits. Well its sounding good now - the real test it how it sits in the mix so id leave it for now and work the track up - you may find you need more verb... some eq cuts in the kit to sit it in etc depending on whats going on around it - sounding ace though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 14, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 14, 2014 OK!!! The track is coming together nicely! I listened to the naked drums and I think they did put a bit of transient squash on the date itself. They sound great though. If you have time and are willing to experiment (and have a {censored}load of fun), borrow a snare and reamp the snare's rattle. It sounds amazing. Take a little guitar amp and lay it on its back under a snare in stand. Send only a gated snare from the final track to the amp at a low volume. Mic up the room or just right under the snare. I've mic'ed in stereo out in the room to awesome effect. Anyway, every time the snare hits, it stimulates the physical snares on your dummy snare to rattle. Record that and mix in to taste. It can really add crack and air. Or stack another sample with crack. Or not. It sounds great. One observation. Now with great drums, great vocals, etc. the guitar is standing out as not on par with the surrounding quality. The guitar is fine but just this side of a demo sound and performance. And you really feature it. I know it's just a "rhythm guitar" but it is THE rhythm guitar in a song featuring rhythm guitar. It needs 'tude. In whatever guise that may take. It might be a nonexpert type indie performance with charm and funky tone, it might be Keith Richards swagger and experience, it might be Kings of Leon style pocket and tone (Id veer from that as the track kind of leans that way already in vocal elements), but however you go about it, the current rhythm guitar is completely serviceable but should really be great to rise to your current high level of quality. I suggest a great rhythm guitarist pal and some beers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 14, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 14, 2014 You may find the following tips on drum mixing useful. By Producer/Engineer James Meeker and posted over at Gearslutz. Now... these are really over the top but I suggest you just try them out for fun one evening because when you do you end up saying, "SO THAT'S HOW THEY GET THAT SOUND!!!!" And then pick and choose what you like in amounts that float your boat and its needs. Random tips... not always useful but nice to know. 1.) Snares love plate 'verb 2.) Multiple 'verbs on snare often works 3.) Cutting top end off room mics is often good 4.) "Modern" kick drums have a lot less low end than you may think, and a lot more 4-6K... you may end up boosting +12 db in that range... don't fret, it happens. 5.) Nail you kick/snare compression attack/release curves right away. Once you nail that (and you'll hear it when you do) you've got the drum sounds nailed. 6.) Don't pan the toms too far... 75-45% wide does the trick. 7.) Don't go insane with the top end of the OH's.... too much 10K+ ends up with a very amateur sound. 8.) Snare EQ: HP around 70hz, boost around 120-240, cut around 500-700, boost at 1.2K, and look for something between 3 and 10 K for more boost depending. Depends on what you got and want. Piccolo snares tend to like 6-7k boosts. 9.) Try parallel compression on only the rooms--run one fairly mild, and the other set to annihilate. Balance them out until it sounds cool. 10.) Knock out some 200 and 800 hz in room mics... leave the rest of it alone except for maybe some mild 8 Khz lowpassin'. If the kick has to be tight, HP the signal as well. 11.) Ruthlessly cut the lower mids on kick.... 6-15 db cuts should do around the 300-500 area. Set bandwidth to taste... the tighter the kick you want the more around 150-250 you should be rollin' off on. 12.) Pick either your OH's or rooms as being dominant. Don't put 'em in at the same levels--have one louder than the other. The "modern" way is to choose the rooms a bit more--to balance out the ultra compressed and loud direct mics. Most OH's these days are cymbal info and a little clarity only and are often low in the mix (like -12 db on the meters it seems). 13.) Limit *AND* compress kicks and snares. Love compression with a vengeance for that Lord Alge sound. 14.) Put a stereo widener on your OH's... makes the drumkit image bigger, can make the snare sound a bit fatter too. 15.) Put 20 ms delay on your room mics to get that Albini sound. 16.) Apply vigorous amounts of tape saturation as the first plugin in your chain.... you'll need less compression later on. Gets a good vintage/indie type sound if you lay it on there. 17.) 20-80 ms of predelay on snare 'verbs can be cool. 18.) Non-lin verb sounds on drums is probably going to come back in style--I've already gotten requests for "big 80's drum sounds, tons of reverb" from young bands. 19.) Don't compress your OH mics. 20.) See if you can get a good sound using only your OH's and (some) room mics. Add minor amounts of close kick/snare (maybe not snare) for a vintage type sounds. It can be interesting how great you can get this to sound (except forget it when doing "modern" rock or metal--you need all the close mics you can get). 21.) When in doubt use triggers/samples. However, if it's a "learning" session or your trying to improve your chops don't use those things until you learn how to mix without it. Use the bare minimum when you do use 'em... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks for that Lee. Regarding rhythm, I have Avery coming in a couple of weeks and couldn't agree more. Regarding the snare, I do have both top and bottom mic'd, so maybe I can mess with that bottom snare track a bit more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 14, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks for that Lee. Regarding rhythm, I have Avery coming in a couple of weeks and couldn't agree more. Regarding the snare, I do have both top and bottom mic'd, so maybe I can mess with that bottom snare track a bit more? Sure you can mess with the bottom mic. I have mixed feelings about bottom mics. They can save your ass and they can sound horrible too. Like a wet newspaper smacking an empty tin. I think with the great, yet almost transient free top mic you have, you might be able to find CRACK! from the bottom. Play with it and see. Oh... and try reversing the phase/polarity of the bottom mic and see if it sounds better when mixed in with the top. Sidebar: When micing a bottom snare, that mic is seeing the very close to the exact opposite of the top mic. When the stick hits, the skin on the top, the batter, head, moves away from the mic on transient, but the bottom skin and mic, the skin moves toward the mic. Right? So you flip the phase of the bottom to get them to speak together. Thing is... you don't know if they did that in the recording yet or not. So you need to bring up both mics, put something like the 'Gain" plugin on the bottom mic. The Gain plug has a phase reverse. It looks like a skewed circle with a line through it. Flip it and see if it adds bass. If it does, leave it there. But if it thins out... put it back. That's it. Polarity corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbfrancis Posted August 14, 2014 Members Share Posted August 14, 2014 Hey Justin, Tim Horsely has a deal for HSC VIP members this month, I'll do something next week and let you know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted August 15, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 15, 2014 Hey Justin, Tim Horsely has a deal for HSC VIP members this month, I'll do something next week and let you know how it goes. Oh nice... what's he charging per song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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