Silly Breadmania Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hey guys, So, last time I came on here, I made a huge mess yelling at judges and blah blah blah. This time I'm going to take the workshop approach before I submit anything in as to avoid any more conflicts and disagreements with the nice people of OCremix. Here's my soundcloud. Hell March is the first one posted. www.soundcloud.com/brian-butts Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I kind of like the raw sound of the drums you have, here, but for this track the open hat is mixed too far to the front. It drowns out the guitar work and the rest of the drums, even. The bass drum could use a little more punch to it, too - if this is live that's often achieved by sticking something like a towel in the bass drum (to absorb the reverb) and hitting it a bit harder. If it's not live then adding compression to it and making the ratio greater (something like 3:1 - 4:1) will help, too. The guitar tone is a bit of a mess. I can't distinguish the plucking very well, and the distortion makes it less 'heavy' and more 'muddy'. I'm no guitarist so I can't get into the specifics on your distortion, but I can tell you're not mixing two guitar tracks for the left and right channel. Play it twice and pan one to the far left and the other to the far right - that'll give it a nice, thick, heavy sound while leaving space for other instruments and avoid clipping. A guitarist commenting on this would be able to go into detail on this - I only know the technique, I've never applied it personally. At 2:49 there's a lot of heavy side chaining that's distracting. Lower the side chain on the bass drum and try using either the levels or some panning to removing clipping. Overall there is a lot of over compression in the track (it's most noticeable at 2:49). If you're using limiters on the master track or on all the individual tracks then I suggest removing them and working with the raw samples/recordings. Get the levels balanced and mixed nicely before using a limiter to boost the level to a comfortable level. The arrangement is pretty conservative. I don't know if you're shooting for OCR, but as according to their rules they don't take conservative covers. If you're not trying to be posted then it's no problem, but it's certainly something to keep in mind. I like the guy talking in the beginning. It's a nice change from what the source has. Hope that helps you out a little bit, there. I can hear this being a decent cover, but not yet. Keep at it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magellanic Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Awesome source choice. Basically, Gario hit the nail on the head with his feedback. The rhythm guitars could definitely be tamed more (filtered). Also, if you're double-tracking the guitars, less distortion can actually give you a clearer sound whilst remaining heavy. Getting the balance of the drums and guitar will sort out the pumping/overcompression. The snare sounds great but is far too isolated and removed from the rest of the track. Getting the guitars under control will really do wonders by being able to have the snare at a lower level but still cutting through. The lead that does play, is far too buried beneath the rhythm guitars. To summarise: Ease up on the distortion a lil bit Tame the guitars more with some EQ and filtering Lower the snare, also perhaps reduce the reverb a bit or shorten the tail Arrangement needs more going on if its not gonna be a cover This is a really great start and really hope to hear you build and improve on this. Even if you completely disregard my feedback, it'll hopefully get you thinkin' about it what you can do to refine the mix/arrangement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Lovin' the threes, dude. CHUNKCHUNKCHUNK CHUNKCHUNKCHUNK CHUNKCHUNKCHUNK \m/-(¯^¯)-\m/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silly Breadmania Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks for listening, guys! I'll definitely work on getting a better guitar tone. I think I see what you mean by the poppy snare. Definitely lower compression on the bass drum, too. I'll see what I can come up with in the next few days. I appreciate all the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hey Bread, welcome to the workshop. Bass sounds really uneven and broken up. While it could just be uneven playing, I think it's from mixing everything else so loud that the compressor on the output is cutting the bass into pieces. Despite the compressor problems, it ends up sounding weak. There's a lot of excess lows and an unhealthy emphasis on the low mids you could get rid of. EQ separation can do a lot to clean up mixes. That should give you more room to mix this aggressive without destroying it in the process. No link to source, and don't remember the source, so idk, idc. Anyone who knows how I feel about voice clips can imagine what I think about the voice in the intro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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