my first big mix... please give opinions

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:59 pm

since this is my very first big pro tools mix, I need some some criticism and opinions on everything with the mix.

when i bounced this I did so without the vocals as they are not mixed yet, but everything else is completed for the first rough mix so here it is........

things I still plan to do to finish the mix besides the vocals:

sound replace the toms, possibly re-do the bass guitar, try to get a "bigger" sound form the strings in the beginning.

thanks.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=781714

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:26 pm

I thought your music tracks sounded rather good. The strings, a little synthetic sounding which can probably be remedied by some bandwidth limiting i.e., rolling off some of the highs and some of the lows.

Good sounding bass drum & snare drum but those tom rolls, fills & embellishments, those needs some work. Doesn't really sound for real. It sounds like bad cheap samples. You might just want to loose those entirely? I think they detract from the rest of the track.

Now please explain to me, how do you mix the music without the vocals? Just slathering vocals on top of a music mix doesn't usually work well. You have to mix the two together. Like, all at once. You know? But just getting a good rough concept of what you think you'll want down the pike, does help to provide for a better end product. And so you already explained it was a rough mix without the vocals.

I did think the guitars had a tendency to overwhelm the mix. A nice big sound that needs to be better balanced with your base & drums.

The base track wasn't memorable as I really don't recall even noticing it much?

Still learning ProTools myself
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:52 am

Yeah agree much with RemyRad .
I am a drummer and can tell you that the kick has way too much slap on it (hence the mechanical sound) acoustic drums ingeneral have a lot of "wash" both in terms of time (cause most drummers can't play with a click) and next because things like cymbals ring for while.
Most drum sample stuff is crap (sorry) so the best treatment is blur the image a little ,just alittle .
Using certain amounts and types of reverb will help.
using med short reverb 200mS with a fare amount of slapback (reflection images) in shorter delay helps but keeping that clean can be painfull.
Next the keys definately stuck out for me too , too much hard quantitizing does this. Also by changing your key sound from hard release to a slight decay helps , it'll make the piece breath a bit .
I like the general piece , but its got a lot of elements that so many other guys are using these days that it becomes yet another (Sorry).
Don't frown its still a good piece , just needs a lot of TLC , last but not least , always ....always find yourself a good/great mastering engineer , it'll do wonders for the final audio.
Guitars are a little in your face , but being an old rocker I like that , its just to clean for me , it needs more edge , what Im not sure.
Try pairing the lead part with a heavily but short reverbed clone but hang it back in the mix slightly.
Next what key are you in , I find for these types of tunes using a drone note throughout the main phasing parts will build tension and emphasize the root of the key.
Changing amps and effects on guit's is a must when demoing these song's , try as many differnet combo's as possible , but limit listening to a few variations at a time , the ears can get overloaded quickly when performing this kind of operation.
Other wise cheers and keep making great music.
The biggest challenge is challenging yourself to do something really unique.
Regards..ampmaster.

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