Hello everyone,

I finally set our band EP alive (me playing drums, recording, mixing, mastering at small private home studio),
and I would be grateful to hear what you think about it (in terms of mixing/mastering, composition/arrangement...),

you can listen all the 3 songs at: http://bandzone.cz/nahrani
thanks in advance for your time, any negative or positive feedback is much appreciated

ps: genre is rock-alternative, all played by us, no virtual instruments!

 

I like it.I see an issue with a too boomy bass.
Guitar on the right speaker needs some high/mid taming.
Also 3rd song,push the guitar back also needs mid/high taming.
Decide whats needs to be on top, vocals or drums and push other things back so it all has its own space.
Good stuff.

 

"I see an issue with a too boomy bass."
gotta admit my mixing room acoustics treatment is practically none so far :|
"Decide whats needs to be on top, vocals or drums and push other things back so it all has its own space."
haha, this one's tough, each and every member of the band having different point of view on that xD

 

im workin on a mix right now from someone in this forum... use a compressor on your guitar/keys/stereo information bus and key it with the vocal so wen the vocal sings it backs the guitars or whatever you key off some ;) gives the vocal room to breathe you can do this with drums ,bass or try this on a whole mix too if you have never>>> and if you use any eq >>> eq into the compressor an automate it if needed and or use Dynamic Eq ... somthin else is if you use a bus compressor on the whole mix use one that is clean that has freq detection an you can key with the bass guitar to keep your bass in check my man \m/

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2016

Jaymz to the rescue.
Good advice bro

 

i wanted to pop back in here and say i like the music ! keep it real man !

 

Agreed! I do the same thing with guitars/leads and vox. Use a compressor on the source and sidechain the lead vocals as a trigger to push the guitars or leads out of the way. So they can still be upfront but not step on each other so much.

 

Thanks bro its old tricks i picked up from a friend an mixer back in Bristol Tn that showed me many years ago ;) if done right its the icing on the cake an very musical i use these on most if not almost every rock mix ive ever done

 

You know what your doin then bro \m/ Real Talk

 

Key the whole mix with the bass curve, just a hair. I never thought of that. For when your bass gets too buried in a busy mix. That one I can apply to more than rock mixes Thanks for another great tip.

 

Last edited: Nov 10, 2016

Jaymz thanks for those valuable tips!
ehm, I guess you busted me - if I recall well I did no sidechaining at all on those mixes xD
on the other hand, yes, I use multiband eq+compressor (waves C6 is my fav; also started messing with new izotope neutron, but this gonna be long journey),
"somthin else is if you use a bus compressor on the whole mix use one that is clean that has freq detection an you can key with the bass guitar to keep your bass in check my man" - I don't exactly understand that, you mean having master bus being compressed a little, from bass sidechain upon certain frequency?
"thing with guitars/leads and vox...lead vocals as a trigger to push the guitars or leads out of the way. So they can still be upfront but not step on each other so much" - actually our singer urged me not to make vocals pop forward that much, so I tried slightly different approach purposedly this time

 

Right bro i gotcha>>> i dont detail my words as well as some ;) you dont have to use any compression at all my man ,it was jus a tip for letting the vocal be heard without turn it up most of the time ill mix into my compressor on my master for my mojo then use a 2nd clean compressor after for this task with the bass / sidechain with very mild compressor settings... it can really tightin up the mix using bass to trigger the comp \m/

 

Lol, producer speak. It definitely is its own form of evolving slang, but it is universal.
No matter what origin, race or country you hail from, Mud, honky, rumble, whack, thump, boxy and sizzle etc. are perfect examples. We all know what they mean. An onlooker might think we were watching sesame street.
I never used it but the C6 is good for frequency dependent keying. You could also play with mid/side keying just ducking the middle or sides depending on your material and what you're going for.

 

I need a voice chat lol ... This is Hillbilly Slang Text type >>> at its best for me anyway haha...... It comes from texting short alot some my friends cram a paragraph into one sentence lol

 

HA HA yea man \m/ hitting/triggering the 2bus compressor external sidechain with the bass guitar is one the Big Boy tricks for a Heavy Guitar Bass Rock song i do this on my Buses sends for guitars , sound fx, vocals with delays an reverbs with its on signal pre fader so wen they stop the tails com up ;) >>> i try to set the compressor in time with the beat like if you was to use a a click track to trigger the compressor for EDM or somthin

 

@tzzsmk .. I expect to be in Praha in the Spring to visit my sisterJulia. If you all are playing out when I am there I will definitely come Czech you guys out at your gig. I bet you guys are just killer live.

 

@superliquidsunshine you're welcome pal :D
we have no gigs planned that ahead yet, but I'll let you know!
btw our band is 2 guys and 3 girls ;))

 

Very good! Sounds great.
I would like it even better if the sax would be more aggressive.
Prag is a wonderful city.
Triple XXX.

 

Ive just learned about compressing, sidechaining and eqing my reverbs. Really cool trick to key the vox verbs with the vox as a trigger, I love how I can push the verbs harder in breakdowns and get "that cheezy commercial" sound with lots of early reflections. LoL
Now a days Ill have an eq both in front and after the reverbs

 

yeah thats the trick awsome bro \m/ ive got songs to mix that was impossible to work with because to much reverb on the low end of the drums an other instruments... EQ on the sends is your best friend as long as phase problems dont arise Also alot of mixes ive fixed for low end mud was caused from to much verb in the lows