i think the compressor on the drums are pumping too much especially on the cymbals . very good start though.

I heard the demo clip you had posted. Overall it was an inspring peace of music, nice drums! I started thinking about how to improve the sound.

I think the compressor effect on the drums is applied too heavily causing pumping delay especially on the cymbal. I would also exchange the cymbal into some other better sounding one, for instance a good Zildjan.

The weak point in this mix I would say is both the bass sound in itself and the low ends of the frequency range. I also think the bass drum is miced wrong. It all sounds muddy. It might help by using cutoff techniques and increasing the distance of the mic/lowering the bass setting for bass drum. The muddyness might partly also be caused by the ADC and DAC quality of the Firepod.

In order to get a pro quality sound from here you need to improve the mixing techniques. The bass drum and the cymbals need to sound better. Also experiment with a pro level reverb when it comes to the overall mix. However, even though you would follow my advice I think some of the muddyness will still be there. So I would recommend you to update the ADC and DAC as soon as possible. Try finding a good Apogee like for instance the Rosetta series.

But you have a good platform to work on! Nice job and thanks for the clip you posted!

Also try using another bass+amp+mic combination.

BTW, I think the Firepod sounds a little better than my RME Fireface...

For starters, your "oopsie" at 9-10 seconds just kills the whole
tune for me!
You really need to FIX THAT! Reversed sample?

In fact, you can do better on the whole intro with a few simple corrections. (left is weaker than right)
If it is YOUR song then remember to make an instantly recognizable intro.
(mistake free ! :) )
A listener will usually recognize great songs within the first 5 seconds.
I would consider eliminating or re-working some of the repetative bulk
of the tune as well.

Try muting the first fraction of a second of the song to eliminate
the hi mid noise from the gain boosting before the count-in.
However, some creative EQ work at 1.5KHz - 6.5KHz and gain reduction
could make it an interesting way to start.

When you were recording into the Firepod it also sounds like you
had some clips! You've really got to watch on a Firepod that
you DON'T get any red LEDs with even a quick or slight glow.
Instant artifact & distortion!
You'll need to clean up the clicks.

A little creative panning (filling in the void between center and
hard left and right) will smooth out some of the "L-R channel pumping",
which will be quite irritating to any listeners using headphones (think iPOD!).

The cymbal sound and technique don;t do it for me. Try getting the drummer
to play cymbals softer, rather that smashing them and carving drumsticks
to toothpicks. They record better that way too!

The OH's are being overcompressed & they're breaking up in
the original recording a little too much for my liking.
Try a decent tube-based mic pre and condensers.

Vocals are a touch off center with a slight favor to the right.

Other than that quick review and my fatigue-eared 2 cents, I'd say you're
off to a very decent start.

KJ
------------
Kyro Studios

thanks...

Thank you all for your replies!

I'm the drummer myself, so I can ask myself if I could smash the cymbals a bit softer ! ;) The cymbals áre good cymbals, actually good Ziljdians, AC 14" and 15"... I think the whole cymbal thing is caused by bad overhead micing... (the OH's where just above both cymbals..)

KyroJoe, I'm totally aware of the many guitar mistakes.. man, did I really miss to tell you that ?! :O sorry... That's gonna be fixed ! The vocal track needs a re-recording also...

But OK, I'll try to eliminate the pumping effect from the compressor, reduce the crash-cymbal sound, and play around with the EQ on the bass and maybe some panning effects !

It was really helpful guys !

Thanks again all !

marsvolta

MV,

No problem! Happy to help.
Post again when you've got things as you want them.
I'd love to hear it!

KJ
---------------
Kyro Studios

Usually the sound of the cymbals depends on the room. Cymbals always seem to sound so much better in a live room rather then a dead room. Yeah probably the only thing with this mix is the compressor on the drums. cut that. I would've also like to have heard a more upfront snare sound. I doubt you had the mic very close to the snare.

the room, the snare...

The room was dead as hell, but the mic was close to the drum !

I've now eliminated the use of compressor on drums, and in fact it sounds good !
But I'm still missing the PRO audio... the depth, clarity and power of the individual instruments and their relationship with each other in the mix.

Maybe I can accentuate my point by another observation I've made.
When I listen to electro rock or just anything electronic music, the synthetic/computer made sounds/audio still have the PRO sound. But even when I use computer-generated samples and audio I'm not getting the sound I want, the sound that pro's make. In that case the recording is not the problem, because the samples are of like 100% good quality... Hope you understand my issue ! :)