CLASSIC ROCK: SCORNED WOMAN by STYLES BITCHLEY

[Styles Bitchley]

Hello to all you brutal bashers. I'm more of a writer/player than an engineer, and I'm mixing through headphones, so I'm sure you'll have lots to bash on this recording, but since it's done on very humble gear, let me know if you like the tune regardless of the lack of engineering. Thanks for your help.
Styles

[fHumble fHingaz]

Awesome vocals! Great song too - guitar playing is very cool.

The bottom end of the mix needs most attention - The drums & bass need to hit harder & have more depth in the mix - I suppose, an inevitable consequence of mixing on headphones. The guitar solos are a bit loud, but that's better than them being too soft. The lack of presence in the bass & drums dept. tends to make the rhythm sound a bit confusing...

On listening more closely a second time, it's specifically the kick that needs to punch & presence - perhaps just raising it's volume would be a good start.

Still, it's an impressive song & performances, & that really does overshadow whatever the mix lacks.

[Styles Bitchley]

Thanks for the comments and the compliments. I'll give it another shot soon. I do have a monitoring system, but I need to find a time when nobody is around to listen properly. I agree on the kick. For some reason on this song it's been difficult to get it to punch better, and that may be the headphones. For me, everything starts with the guitar, so that's why it's probably sticking out so much, but it's easy to back it down a notch.

[EricSartor]

Honestly, I think it's EX Drummer. I can never get the bass drum to kick when I'm using it -.-

[Styles Bitchley]

Fumble: I fooled around with it a little bit, and found that the overheads were messing up the kick drum and kind of muting the snare. I put a pass on the overheads, and all of a sudden the snare had more snap, and the kick worked a little better. I also made the solos a little less "proud", but they're still there. If you get a chance let me know what you think.

[Styles Bitchley]

Sorry for the incorrect spelling, fHumble, and thanks for your reply, Eric. On most of my songs, if I notch out some room at about 96k from the bass guitar, the kick drum works pretty well in that spot, and then I find another notch a bit higher to hear the pedal hit. For some reason on this song it was harder to find the pocket. My taste in what a kick drum sounds like is a little looser than what I hear on some of the metal recordings, so I don't have any complaints about EZ Drummer for what I need.

[fHumble fHingaz]

Hey Styles, I'm at work, so I'm not near a decent monitoring system at the moment - I'll give it a listen when I get home tonight (Australia).

[Styles Bitchley]

No worries, mate. As it turns out, I'm in Florida, it's my day off, and since it's 6pm, I might crack open a Foster's my wife brought home from the grocery yesterday. Talk about the perfect woman!

[fHumble fHingaz]

No worries, mate. As it turns out, I'm in Florida, it's my day off, and since it's 6pm, I might crack open a Foster's my wife brought home from the grocery yesterday. Talk about the perfect woman!

Yah gotta love that!

[dudermn]

96k !!! Man... I am really staggering along. I only go to 20k.

How man-kinds hearing has evolved this month

[jp2121]

Great song, great sound. I wonder if there was an out of phase issue with the kick or snare with respect to the overheads? It is always good to go through the different tracks and flip phase on them to see how things react. I could still use some more low end in the 100Hz to 300Hz area of the kick. Also, more low end in the bass guitar may glue everything together some more, maybe not. Just some things to play with. I am listening on phones too but I know them pretty well.

I would love to hear the drums switch from the hats to a nice ride cymbal during the chorus. They stay on the hats the whole song except for some tom fills. Might be an easy area to inject even more energy into the song. Great tune so far, can't wait to hear more!

[Styles Bitchley]

QUOTE=dudermn;361355]96k !!! Man... I am really staggering along. I only go to 20k.

How man-kinds hearing has evolved this month [/QUOTE]

Sorry, 96hz. I didn't mean to imply I was adjusting the 12th or 15th harmonic, or wherever that would be. I only sound stupid when I talk or write.

[mr_t]

Could use a lot more fattening on the bottom end. Sounds well put together and has a fun sound. Really like the the guitar work on this track man!

[Styles Bitchley]

Could use a lot more fattening on the bottom end. Sounds well put together and has a fun sound. Really like the the guitar work on this track man!

Thank you for your help. I tend to error on the lean side on the bottom end, probably because of the headphones. I'll try it through monitors this weekend and see if I can help it out. Thanks for the compliments on the guitar work.

[fHumble fHingaz]

Hey Styles - the new mix sounds much better... It grooves much better. Is that your voice? It's awesome! - sounds like a cross between Ian Gillan & Paul Rogers - top stuff.

The bass is a little light on, but nothing serious. The mix is also "pumping" a bit from the mix buss compression/limiting. I'm sure you'll remedy these things when you listen on monitors.

Love the song - Have you thought about putting up the tracks for the Slate Cup? Your Song In A Mixing Contest

I think Brandon is still looking for songs to use, & I for one would LOVE to mix this.

[Styles Bitchley]

I would be honored to have you mix anything I cooked up. I read your tutorials, and I was very impressed. I'm an old analog guy, and it used to be very difficult to find people who could combine engineering skills with production sensibilities. You have a great grasp of both, and you're able to define the meaning and intent of the song and use your engineering skill to evoke that from the song. The hardest part for me is to get it to sound like what I "heard" in the first place. That is an art in and of itself. Wow, getting compared to Paul Rodgers or Ian Gillan in any stretch of the imagination is incredible to me. I don't consider myself a singer at all, but thanks either way. (I'm sure the real singers on here are getting a laugh at that one).

[deanushka]

Styles,

Man that is such a great track, vocals are mind blowing.
Might be my headphones as i am listening at work, <dean looks over shoulder to make sure boss is not looking>
but i really want to hear some bass in the mix.

Cheers,
Dean

[garageband]

There's some midrange stuffiness. Did someone mention Paul Rogers? Yes!!!! I always thought Bad Company was a rubbish band but he was a great singer. There's some ringy 2k action in the guitars that hurts during the solo. I had to turn it down. That's bad, and not in a "Bad Co. " kinda way. Woah. Why isn't there more?!?!?

If my singing was a quarter that good, I'd be sing all the damn time.

[Styles Bitchley]

Thanks for the compliments. You are right about the bass. I finally mixed it again through my monitors, and basically started over. I thought I was getting better at translating through the headphones, but I'm not. The kick needed a lot of help. If I can get it right through the monitors I'll throw it back up here over the weekend.

[Styles Bitchley]

There's some midrange stuffiness. Did someone mention Paul Rogers? Yes!!!! I always thought Bad Company was a rubbish band but he was a great singer. There's some ringy 2k action in the guitars that hurts during the solo. I had to turn it down. That's bad, and not in a "Bad Co. " kinda way. Woah. Why isn't there more?!?!?

If my singing was a quarter that good, I'd be sing all the damn time.

Thanks GB. You're right about the 2k ring, again, it was a headphone translation error. You really need to hear that range in the phones to have anything through the speakers, but I over cooked it. I'm not quite sure about the midrange stuffiness, but I'll try to figure it out. Bad Company had their moments, but I always liked Free, and thought they were a great example of how simple music could have a lot of soul and impact. I don't hear much of that today. If you have a suggestion on fixing the midrange let me know. I struggle with getting enough low mid energy or punch, and it's not just an eq issue. I need better ways of cleaning things up that are outside of my current skill set.

[garageband]

For the stuffiness: It seems relatively slight but noticeable. I think a small EQ correction over the 2-bus would probably fix it.

I do like the tune "Bad Company" but that's about it for me.

[fHumble fHingaz]

Bad Company had their moments, but I always liked Free, and thought they were a great example of how simple music could have a lot of soul and impact.

amen to that bro!... exhibit 1:

[garageband]

That, my friends, is rock and roll.

[dudermn]

I never knew the mad-hatter played bass.

Nice to see mix-matched amps and cabs.. changing wall colors and a "ok pretend the camera is not there" kinda attitude.

[Styles Bitchley]

Okay, I messed around with it through my "monitor system", and tried to fix some of the obvious problems. There are some obvious plosives on the vocal track that I don't know how to fix yet, but through my speakers it has better kick and a little better balance. I tend to fix one thing and screw up the other, so if I botched it, I apologize, but thanks for all the help from everyone.