Pop/Rock Song Mix Critique

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:53 pm

This song is a cover of the Japanese band Do As Infinity's "Gates of Heaven." I recorded it as part of my final project for my recording techniques class over the summer. Over time, I have continuously worked on and remixed it and I want to see what you all think.

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Gates_of_Heaven.mp3

A little bit of information about my hardware/software:
Cubase SX3
Waves Gold Bundle
Sony VAIO 2.6GHz; 1.5MB RAM
E-MU 1820m
Presonus DIGIMAX FS

Drum Overhead: Oktava MK-012-2 spaced pair overhead
Snare: Shure SM57
Toms: Audix f10s
F. Toms: Audix f12s
B. Drum: Audix D6
Guitar: Separately mixed Sterling Audio ST55 and Shure SM57
Bass: XLR-out from Crate 100w 1x18

I am pretty happy with it, however there are some things that still perplex me when I work with it:
1) How can I bring the snare drum more to the front of the mix? I do not want it to sound hot, which happens when I turn it up, just more... up front.
2) Do the drums sound to "dry" for the rest of the music?
3) Is there anything else that you would suggest?

Thanks for the listen guys! Even if you do not have any specific advice, a simple "great mix" should suffice. Wink

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:40 pm

Is the link not working for you guys? I wish I could get SOME kind of feedback...

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:16 pm

OK, I'll be your Huckleberry.

I like the center guitar changing to L/R when the song kicks in (I love doing that).

The snare could really have used a mic underneath, all you're getting there is attack and ring, no sound from the snares themselves.

The Toms, kik, and bass I feel are a bit too boomy, there's really no definition in the kik. Though the toms sound good at the break, decent amount of verb leading into the break.

The guitars are a bit too thin, and there's a touch of distortion on their high end, was that intentional? (Granted, that could be the stream from FileHost).

Overall, it's a good effort.

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:35 pm

At the time I did not have the power to dual mic the snare. I usually do when I mic up smaller kits, which is why I am upgrading my system after I finish recording my current client.

Overall, I really like the sound from the toms, although I agree they could use a low-cut. I will do that tonight probably. The bass, as well, could use some tightening up on the low-end, however the kick.... Well, I loosened the low-cut in hopes to bring it into the mix more, but it just ended up mudding up.

I am trying really hard to use this song to refine my mixing skills because, with the exception of the snare, I am satisfied with the engineering side of things. The thing I need the most work on is making room for the low-end instruments to be heard and defined in the mix. Is there any information that I can give for you to give me some advice for this?

The guitars are meant to sound like that. Being that this was a cover song, I tried to emulate the guitar sound used. In fact, the original guitar is much thinner sounding...

Thanks for the reply bent!

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:09 pm

Anytime.

After a few more listens it sounds like it is indeed distortion from the conversion process that I heard.

Have you tried flipping the phase on the kik?
Another trick that works is to move the kik on the timeline, just a couple of milliseconds can make it stand out.
Try also taking out a deep scoop of frequencies from 200 - 500hz, and boost some 4 - 4.5k on it.
I wouldn't bother with a low pass filter there, or on the bass or toms.

Another cool trick - if you can't mic the bottom of the snare, make your own bottom snare sound with distortion! Run it through an outboard amp on an aux (my preferred method), or use a plugin, whichever you prefer.

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