Cover of Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

[jsd1982]

Hello. This is my first non-introductory post on these forums. Brandon requested that I post a mix of mine to demonstrate the sound of my guitar gear.

Without further ado, here is the MP3 mix of Muse's Supermassive Black Hole, from Black Holes And Revelations.

I performed and recorded the guitars and bass myself. The drums and background synthesizers were MIDI programmed and I just synthesized them with EZDrummer and Cakewalk TTS-1.

The vocals were performed by a friend of mine in New Zealand. I sent him a time-accurate instrumental unmastered mix down and he laid the vocals on top and "mastered" it himself. I have no idea what he did to the mix, but it sounds like a lot of compression and EQing. A bit too much in my opinion, but I have no control over it since he has the vocal tracks and I do not.

[gutterboy]

man that sounded killer!

[magno]

Everything sounds very extremely awesome...except the drums are a total letdown.
The tic tick tickity of the closed high hat way loud and way over <<<<<<<there drove me kinda nuts.
The song sounds killer and well produced, where the drums sound kinda rushed.

[jsd1982]

Originally Posted by magno

Everything sounds very extremely awesome...except the drums are a total letdown.
The tic tick tickity of the closed high hat way loud and way over <<<<<<<there drove me kinda nuts.
The song sounds killer and well produced, where the drums sound kinda rushed.

Hahaha yeah I totally agree. I hear the exact same problems with the mix as you do. Also, as I said before, too much compression overall for my tastes Thanks for the kind and honest review! Very helpful.

Another Muse fan friend of mine said he'd like more low end out of it since when they play live their sound packed full of low end punch. Sounds like a good idea; one can never get enough tight bottom :-P

[brandondrury]

Sounds pretty damn good to me! Great job!

I do think the recording sound a bit "safe" if that makes any sense to anyone other than me, but there is no doubts that it is well recorded.

Maybe that hi-hat does get a little fatiguing.

Brandon

[jsd1982]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Sounds pretty damn good to me! Great job!

I do think the recording sound a bit "safe" if that makes any sense to anyone other than me, but there is no doubts that it is well recorded.

Maybe that hi-hat does get a little fatiguing.

Brandon

That doesn't make sense to me lol Can you clarify?

It's probably due to the drum track, since that was synthesized. I can tweak and replace samples and such.

[brandondrury]

I assume we are talking about "safe".

Safe recordings sound very nice and well balanced.

Un-safe records sound more intense and maybe a little out of control and maybe a little over the top.

I think this concept can best be illustrated with rock guitar sounds. Some guitars sound nice. Other guitars sound like a locomotive hitting a nuclear warhead head on. There are many many times where the "safe" sound is actually preferred, but it really just depends on the music.

Does that make sense?

No, it's not the drums. It's the overall "pleasant" vibe of the engineering.

Brandon

[jsd1982]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I assume we are talking about "safe".

Safe recordings sound very nice and well balanced.

Un-safe records sound more intense and maybe a little out of control and maybe a little over the top.

I think this concept can best be illustrated with rock guitar sounds. Some guitars sound nice. Other guitars sound like a locomotive hitting a nuclear warhead head on. There are many many times where the "safe" sound is actually preferred, but it really just depends on the music.

Does that make sense?

No, it's not the drums. It's the overall "pleasant" vibe of the engineering.

Brandon

Understood completely. I wasn't sure if "safe" was meant in a positive connotation or not. I initially thought safe meant I wasn't pushing the envelope with the mix or something. Safe = good. Gotcha Thanks!

[brandondrury]

Safe = good.

Sometimes. Other times safe is bad.

[roger49]

Wow! If I could only do something like that!