remixed instrumental

[jdaug]

this is a remix of an instrumental I recorded a year ago. finally got around to revisiting it after the initial shitty mixes. have at it

[richiebee]

I think most of the stuff I hear on this forum in this kind of heavy guitar genre has the guitars placed so far forward in the mix that the drums have zero impact. I think this is the case here too. Maybe that's the way its supposed to be, but doesn't sound balanced to me.

The drums sound really mechanical.

It's an interesting journey with lots of variety. Once the really heavy guitars are out of the mix, things sound much better balanced to my ears.

[Vulconizer]

First off: That is very well written. Very tasteful and it takes you right along on a journey.

I like the sounds for the heavy guitars and drums. In my opinion, the drums do have the needed impact and clarity. You might want to think about dropping the volumes of the heavy guitars when some of the other instruments appear though. Keeps the feel that the guitars are still kicking ass, but allows for the lead lines to be heard a bit more distinctly. Bring the guitars back up to the original level when appropriate to reinforce the riff.

The synth stuff is all played really well, but seems to sit in an entirely different room than the drums and guitars. They have a much different reverb and presence. The levels all seem to be in the right spot to me, just feels like the synth parts are all in my face compared to the guitars and drums.

All in all, I really like it. The writing is awesome and with just a few minor things mix-wise, this will be a super cool song.

[whiterabbit_the]

I'm with Vulconizer, I think the levels are pretty well balanced overall. Maybe cutting the guitars about .5 - 1 db when other instruments are present, then bringing then back up to normal would add a little clarity and impact for the other instruments, as well it will not give the feeling that something is missing when the instruments drop out.

The only other thing that I hear is at 00:55 when the lead guitar riff comes in, it's really buried and some what inaudible. It somewhat sounds like the guitars are doubled tracked to the left only, maybe pan the lead track back to more center, drop the rhythm guitars 1 db, then bring them back up immediately.

Other than that, it sounds really good! A great composition indeed! I'm looking forward to rocking more of your tunes!

--Aaron

[Necromancer]

It's funny because as soon as I heard this song it sounded to me like it was done by the same artist of a song I heard before and liked a lot.
Turns out the same artist was you:
metal instrumental

Good job once again. Awsome arrangement!

[lolgreg]

The softsynths occupy a little to much of the mix. I would bring them down a tad.

It's really not that your guitars are even too loud. They're just taking up too much of the frequency spectrum. Boost around 240hz and 5khz with a tight q on the drum bus. Cut 240 k with a slightly less tight q on your guitar/bass track. Leave a hole for the drums to poke out. You could raise the drums a little bit as well.

With some vocals this could be a real nice metal piece. What are you using for the guitars?

-Greg

[jdaug]

hey all--thanks for the feedback. I probably should have retracked all the rhythmn guitars, but didnt have the time, energy or interest, plus I didnt want to relearn how to play them (this was tracked about a year ago). this was the first recording I did using my iso box and microphones instead of DI, and in retrospect I am not stoked about the guitar tone. I used a 7 string ibanez UV777, and thought at the time that the fat guitar tone would mix well. So I am working with rhythmn guitar tracks that were not ideal to begin with.

I had the drum bus higher, but lowered it just before mixdown because they seemd a little too loud. you guys had mixed reactions to the drum volume. I probably wont mess with the volume but maybe do some more EQ. I dont like the snare sound, but this is the best sample in EZDFH. Ive tried everything I know to band-aid the snare sound, but still not satisfied. I may need to invest in some Slate samples. I really like what i hear there.

synths are a mixed bag also. what I have found on garageband is that people either love or hate synths in this style of music. the ones that hate it say remove it all together. the ones that like it say if you are going to use it, make sure it can be fully heard. I did use a fair amount of verb/delay/stereo enhancer on the synths, and nothing on the rhythmn guitars, so that may be why they seem "off" in comparison. I'll mess with that some more. I rendered them into stereo tracks and kep them panned dead center at mixdown. Is this how you guys do synths??

I will definitely automate the guitar volume during the synth and solo parts. I usually do that, but got lazy here.

[lolgreg]

Take the snare track in EZDFH and put a compressor on it. Add a bright hall reverb with a good predelay, a nice decay and make sure you dampen the reverb in the low frequencies (roll off after 250hz).

-Greg

[jdaug]

1. cut 240 hz by 2-3 on all rhythmn guitars and bass. this seemed to make a pretty big difference to my ears. good call greg

2. brought the drums up a bit by bringing up the room mic, and boosted around 240 and 5K on the bus. greg, the snare settings you recommended were almost identical to what I already had on them, so I guess we are thinking the same. unfortunately, the snare still sounds kinda lame to me. I have DFHS (as well as EZDFH), but I gave up on it because it required too much work to get a usable drum sound right out of the box. I may have to revisit it and see if I can get some better results.

3. brought the synths down a bit and killed some of the reverb on them

4. automated the rhythmn gtr volume during synth and solos

5. fixed the issue at 0:55

great tips you guys. thanks.

[gradgt]

Rhythm guitars could use more upper mids. 1k-3k. Also I would say to cut some highs on the bass drum, it has a little too much pop too it in my opinion.

Good song though! I don't know if you remember me but I sent you a message on garageband a while ago, for that song "a dwarf among midgets". My name was "Ultranomicon".

About the synth thing, I like it in this kind of music, some people don't but a lot of people are just jerks, and you are never going to make everyone happy. I think the synths are mixed fine. I was going to say to use stereo widener on them but you said you already did that . I think they sound good to be honest. I like this genre of music and I like how your songs are coming along. The composition is great and has improved a lot over the last song of yours I heard.