Antman261

No worries.

Back off on the compression of the kick drum. If it's not RMS detection then it's often best used on drums for shaping the attack, but not so much for gaining volume. If it is RMS compression, then turn it off, It's only going to ruin your kick drum sound and give it a bloated sort of feel. Unless it's really short and whimpy to start with.

My advice however would be to listen to what's covering up those parts of the kick drum sound that you need to identify it rhythmically. If the high end crack of the kick is at 2.5k, then maybe cut that frequency a bit in the guitar and bass tracks. Also, I'd suggest not cutting 180hz too much unless it really does need it. That's a nice frequency that can translate well to lots of other speakers. There's nothing more annoying then a bass drum that doesn't have a good bit of body/bass until about 100hz.

Also, maybe find another frequency a bit higher, it might be between 4k and 8k, where the attack of the bass drum really seems to stand out, and give that a bit of a boost.

Oh, and don't be afraid to spend a lot of time automating the volume itself.

Hope this helps.

Thanks dude

Hey guys,

www.myspace.com/facepollutionband

Recorded, mixed, and 'mastered' by me. Was recorded for a local TV appearance. Band wanted it to have a bit of a live and raw vibe, which I think I captured, and I think for the most part it sounds ok. Although mic'ing the kick was a bit tough cause the drummer had set up a bass drum tunnel going from his 22" to his 16x16.

If anyone has any suggestions it'd be very welcome.

Yeah I got that, just making sure thinkingthought didn't mistake that as one of those 'golden rules' we seem to search for kind of naively when we first start out (but quite understandably).

Don't mistake that last couple of sentences in the previous post as saying 'Highs are always better then lows' because that's not the case either. Not criticizing the poster, just making sure it's not misinterpreted.

Just having an idea of where abouts in the frequency spectrum you want a sound to end up (in relation to the other sounds) can be a really useful big-picture idea to have when setting up mics etc.

It does reduce the room, but to say it takes it completely out of the picture is a big presumptuous.

The thing about all these things that try to tell you WHERE to place something is that it usually neglects a whole bunch of variables. The room makes a huge difference to sound, the amp, the guitar, the mic, the context of the guitar in the mix, arrangement etc. Sometimes those sounds that weren't what you were looking for, and thus disregarded as bad, are exactly what you need.

YES!!!

Place mic's with your ears not your eyes! You're not listening to music with your eyes so really it doesn't make sense.

You can manipulate people to make them more pre-disposed to arrive on time. How you run your business etc.

managing people and their idiosyncrasies is an important part of the job.

Heres another one

www.myspace.com/octopussmusic

The first song is the only one that they uploaded that was actually the finished mix, so yeah.

I actually recorded this quite a long time ago, but some feedback would still be cool. Again I had nothing to do with the music being played, I just recorded/mixed it.

Another one,

Charging for my work.

I mean, first of all i LOVE what I do to the point where I often just have too much fun with it to charge. Secondly I'm often working with people that can't afford to pay a reasonable amount for someone that just spent 60 hours working on their cd. Then there's the fact that it's hard to work out what to charge, but I know I should because it's also my experience that people wont take things seriously enough unless they've invested a bit of cash in it. It'll make 'em think twice about calling me up at 10pm the night before and saying they can't make it 'cause they double booked <_>

mobo, set the threshold to somewhere it'll activate enough, then set the ratio to the max that unit'll allow. set your release low, like 0.1s or such, then set the attack first, it'll be what you hear in the attack of the notes that you'll be controlling, sweep it a bit, find what you like. Then set the release, look for a setting that seems to add something rhythmically.

Now don't touch those 2 settings, and easy off on the ratio until things sound nice, the effect of playing with the attack and ratio will be reduced, but still there.

Judging wether or not I'm going to like working with the source sounds I'm getting once I get to mix down.

Coaching the talent.

Eminating confidence.

Not screwing up the business side of things. I messed up big time with that one recently

Yeah I dig it, but if you can get a firestudio to work on your system, go for that.

Unfortunately I can't checkout your stuff at the moment because my nets been playing up - goin real slow.

A firepod for preamps and interface

Behringer xm8500 on vocals

2x Rode NT5 on guitars

Thanks

Well here's a recording I finished with someone a while ago,

www.myspace.com/milz0rmusic

I wont share what equipment I did it with because I want people to be unbiased and judge it with their ears.

Any advice for getting a more professional sound would be great. I have a couple of ideas of what could be improved by I'd like some feedback first.

Really nice vibe there jgk62, the mix supports the song quite nicely. However I'd recommend working on your panning a little more, creating some more room in the middle for the vox, kick, snare and bass can give the centre more clarity. Plus i imagine that say, getting that ride out there to one side might open the mix up around the listener a bit more.

Another thing is, it might be good to have a bit more bass in the kick, and i mean really low bass, not too much but enough to let it move you a bit.