Teach me to mix!!

[mrelusive]

http://www.tonefinder.com/index.php?section=id&value=14475


Here's my first attempt at mixing a full-band piece. I have no clue what i'm doing. I put intentional flubs in there so i/you can tell where each instrument is sitting in the mix.

Drums are Acoustica BeatCraft and there's absolutely no variation in the beat.
Bass is an Ibanez SR300 through a Sansamp Bass Driver DI
Lead and rhythm guitars are my Yamaha SG700S through my Kustom Double Cross
Lead / harmony vocals were recorded with an AudioTechnica ATM41HE

There are parts where frequencies or instruments "go missing" (clipping? phase?) and some stuff sounds WAY too compressed. I've never mixed anything with bass in it. Bass has some weird EQ curve because i got sick of messing with it and said fuck it. Both guitars had a 120 hz lowpass filter on em. Vocals have no EQ, just a tad of compression.

What am i doing wrong here?

[Ostinato Rubato]

evret-evret... wiki-wiki-wiki


I honestly know dick about mixing too.

[gb74]

I would start by changing the drum tracks altogether as they are the weakest I've heard in a long time and they are ruining the track completely. Get something like Slate or EZ Drummer and work on a drum track that actually sounds like drums.

That's the main issue.

That aside, you need the vocals and drums to be more upfront, lower the guitar and bass a bit.

However, don't do anything until you fix that drum track first.

The song actually has potential but right now it's being killed by poor production.

[ComOp]

[mrelusive]

That aside, you need the vocals and drums to be more upfront, lower the guitar and bass a bit.

However, don't do anything until you fix that drum track first.

The song actually has potential but right now it's being killed by poor production.

I agree with this. And i always forget that the concept of 'tone' extends further than just stringed instruments. I also always feel like i mix my vocals too loud because that's the part i feel most insecure about. So i overcompensate by bringing em way down. Having said that, i do probably sing better than half you fuckers on GAB. So what do i have to worry about?

[Cirrus]

I can't listen at the mo but...

Cirrus's Guide to Mixing;

1. Have a great song and production vision
2. Make a great arrangement of it
3. Perform it really well
4. Record the performance as best as you can

And that's it. Mixing is easy if you do that. The mix will do itself. If you fuck up any of the above though, you're in for a world of hurt and you'll bitch and scream about how the mix isn't right. But it's not the mix. It's something else. These days people get so hung up on the process of mixing that they forget the other much more important stuff.




Edit; had a listen. You've got a cool song, but it doesn't have any drums. Sure, there are drum sounds there... But the song doesn't have any drum part. That's your first hurdle. Also bass hint; sansamps can have weird scooped midrange that doesn't always sit right in mixes without some dry blending.

[rear naked]

Cool song. The good news is that your playing is tight enough to sound good and your singing is good.

Bring those vocals up! Throw on some verb and maybe high pass them some.

Bass tone is pretty cool. Bring it up in the mix too.

The lead guitar needs some verb or delay. Its maybe a hair too loud.

[Loins of Fire]

The best advice I can give someone new to mixing is to learn how to use compression and high pass filters. Those are the two main things professional engineers use heavily in their mixes.

[mrelusive]

I was actually thinking of getting a different program to record with. I can't upgrade n-track for free anymore since my license was only for versions of 6.0. I tried using EZdrummer years ago (back in my piracy days) but it doesn't work right with n-track. Not that a new DAW will automatically make my mixes better, but yeah.

New drum program is step one, I guess. Does anything decent have a free trial or whatever?

[sled]

The first and most important step is to create a listening environment that you can trust.

[NinjaRaf]

Actually, Nakedzen just posted a free drum VST....try that out. Itd definitely be better than beatcraft...that shit is so outdated. Ive been using Slate and its pretty fantastic.

I agree with Billy. The drums are too far back. One thing I heard from some one a while back was to mix the guitars and snare to the same volume. Vocals are too far back as well. The guitars and bass sound fantastic, but they are killing your mix.

If youre looking for new stuff...reaper is incredible for 60 bucks (or free if you dont wanna pay). Kontakt 5 is a free player that you can load drum samples on to (I use this with Slate, but Im pretty sure you can use it with other samples). That VST Nakedzen posted seems cool, too. I might check that out this weekend. You can do everything you want for little to no cost...no sense in using outdated software.

[Loins of Fire]

A new DAW will not change the sound quality at all, they all perform the same in that regard. Some may be more user friendly and improve workflow though. For that I recommend pro tools. It's extremely easy to work with and it is a brilliant program.

The most important piece of gear you can buy for recording Is YOUR MONITORS.

You could have the best gear in the world but if you can't hear an accurate representation of what is actually happening in the sound field it's completely useless.

Get good monitors/headphones and yes I would recommend ez drummer or superior.

[fretless]

check out the DIY "how to mix midrange using your neighbors as Acoustic reflectors " books on tape

[mrelusive]

check out the DIY "how to mix midrange using your neighbors as Acoustic reflectors " books on tape

lol.

I don't always listen to my mixes, but when i do...

SO DO MY FUCKING NEIGHBORS!

[Loins of Fire]

Read through this thread man. There is some brilliant information here

[url]forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283[/url]

[NinjaRaf]

Read through this thread man. There is some brilliant information here

[url]forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283[/url]

NICE!!! I need to spend more time over on that forum. Thanks for this. Im gonna keep reading through it while I eat lunch!!

[Loins of Fire]

Read through this thread man. There is some brilliant information here

[url]forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283[/url]

NICE!!! I need to spend more time over on that forum. Thanks for this. Im gonna keep reading through it while I eat lunch!!

No problem dude. Another good place to get recording info is the Andy sneap F.O.H forums. The past couple weeks I've read pretty much every thread pertaining to my needs and I feel now that I am at the point where I have learned everything I possibly can about mixing and mastering. So much good info there from both professionals and beginners. It's all up to my ears now.

[Pepi]

Teach me to play!!

[Placemat Jackson]

The key to mixing is smoking a bunch of ganja beforehand.

Srsly.

[mrelusive]

The key to listening to mrelusive's mixing is smoking a bunch of ganja beforehand.

Srsly.

ftfy