Megaman Battle Network Cybeast theme mix

[Vidilian]

Up until now I've only made music using a keyboard but this is my first mix using a DAW. Its an idea I had a while ago but I think I can do a lot more justice to it using a DAW.

Comments greatly appreciated since this is my first shot doing things in this (hopefully better) way.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RTKGq6kL0

Mix: https://sites.google.com/site/vspaine/wips/Cybeat.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

[Rozovian]

Time to learn to mix in a DAW, Vid. Without listen too close, all I hear is a lead and a snare.

Can't say the guitar in the intro is any good. bass drum needs to break through the other tracks more. The choir, if a little loud in the intro, sounds like the best mixed thing here, tho it could use some EQ cuts to leave more room for lead and stuff.

I like the bass rhythm, the little I hear of it. It should follow the melody/chords more when it comes to the key. Groovy, nice start. For a first with a new tool, this ain't so bad. Keep it up.

[redtails]

The snare is a bit too dominant in here, guitar quite frankly does not sound like a guitar. I think the idea to start with one channel is original (don't hear it too much in songs)

Bass that starts at 37sec is cool. Strings/pads are poor quality though

Oh yeah, and abrupt ending

[Vidilian]

Thanks for the help.

Update:

I definitely went overboard with the EQ mixing because I was afraid of the song being muddy, but that made somethings sound too thin, especially the main synth. I'm pretty sure I've sorted that out now. Toned down the higher frequencies of the snare aswell.

The "guitar" you guys are talkin about is actually a synth but I've tweaked it so theres no confusion about that.

Changed the bass sample and pumped it up slightly so it can be heard more.

Changed the arrangement quite a lot, added tempo changes and experimented with a few effects. Still an abrupt ending since I still need to extend the song.

Mix in first post

[Rozovian]

Clipping! Way too loud bass.

Your guitar synth is terrible. An obvious synth patch run through an amp sim might work better. Actually, just run a clean guitar sample through an amp sim and you should already have a better sound. Getting a fake guitar to sound like a real one is pretty hard and/or expensive. You could try replacing the guitar with a sampled instrument that isn't as terrible, eg a single piano sample.

Do some velocity edits on your off-beat snares (snares could use a bit more highs). Give the kick more click, I can barely hear it. Your delayed metal percussion rhythm is cool, if a bit too loud and the stereo effects are a bit excessive.

With a flanger/phaser and a reverb on your strings/pad you can mask some of the poor quality, don't don't overdo it. If you have some tempo-synced filter effects, those are great of pad-like sounds.

Guitar sound, snare sound&sequencing, lack of a traditional high-rich hihat/shaker/noise rhythm, and the lack of a kick are the biggest problems here, the rest is ok. You've got a lot of stuff going on in there that sounds pretty good, and some which isn't terrible. And then the aforementioned tracks with issues.

Nice improvement.

[Vidilian]

Thanks again for the help Roz.

Updated. Tried to do pretty much everything you've said. Its still short and arranagements the same, just wanted to get things sounding better.

Also I tried getting a tempo synced filter but most external plugins I download seem to crash for some reason. Got to find one that doesn't.

[Vidilian]

After gaining some experience I've given this another go so it sucks less.

Completely re-done the mixing, used some new sounds, changed the arrangement a bit and slowed the tempo.