Added track

Hey Ben, welcome to RO!

Nice work, great instrumentation and very impressive for being new at this!

Have you checked out the Transient Designer? The SPL analog version is the best I've used but the plugin versions are close and well worth their price. Transient Designers are awesome for rock tracks like this. Dial in the freq and control compression with the compressed Thwack you want.

Sounds good to me overall. Perhaps a bit more top end on the snare and/or a bit of cut in the 200-500hz range.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and warm welcome! I've attempted another mix based on some feedback from elsewhere. I'm not convinced this one is any better? I've brought the drums up slightly and pushed the rhythm guitar down a little. Is this any better or worse I'm wondering. Thanks also Audio Kid for the heads-up on the Transient Designer -- going to be checking it out shortly. Ben.

Hi Ben, good to see you back.

Your first version sounds much better, it’s more balanced. 
The second track snare is overpowering the mix now. 

Thanks Audiokid, that was my feeling too. Think I need to trust my ears a bit more as well as investing in some better monitoring. I'm currently having to mix on headphones unfortunately. Anyway, I've reverted to something a bit closer to the original mix and added a bit of cut in the 200-500Hz range as suggested. I've also aimed to bring a bit more punch to the kick. Hopefully this is more in line with the suggestions? I'm still thinking about looking at that Transient Designer plugin. The SPL pro version looks really nice, but I might try the demo first as it seems a bit pricey. Thanks, Ben.

I've experiemnted here with a tube EQ eumlation plugin in logic pro on the master bus to try and add some warmth. Wondering if it works?

I like both of these but possibly the first of the last two sounds a bit tighter. Easier to master.

To my ears, it sounds like you have it close enough. A second set of ears (Mastering Engineer) would take it to the next level.

Most pro engineers use a mastering engineer to finish (master) their work for good reasons.

Why to have it professionally mastered

 

Again, good work.

benhj wrote: Thanks Audiokid, that was my feeling too. Think I need to trust my ears a bit more as well as investing in some better monitoring. I'm currently having to mix on headphones unfortunately. Anyway, I've reverted to something a bit closer to the original mix and added a bit of cut in the 200-500Hz range as suggested. I've also aimed to bring a bit more punch to the kick. Hopefully this is more in lin

Pluggin alliance makes an spl transient designer thats usually about $30 on sale. Soundspot makes one called Orbit, which i love, its very simple, and clean. Its usually anywhere from 1$ to 5$ at pluggin boutique. There are alot of other transient designer type plugins out there. I own the two above, as well as several others. Some get very complex others are dead simple.

wrote: Pluggin alliance makes an spl transient designer thats usually about $30 on sale.

Yup, have this one and it sounds very close to the hardware version.