Recording/Mixing Heavymusic.

[JBassist]

i just called it heavy music for confenience (my english gets worse by the day..).

anyhoo,

i didn't realy come to the mixing part yet, but here's a 10 minute made premix of the recording till now:

http://home.hccnet.nl/jj.driesprong/asunder/asunder-to_ashes_and_dust.mp3

guitar is V amp

these guys allready want me to do their demo hehhe.. i still think its shit, but hell i'm seventeen.. tons of time to get better!!

i'm to tired to ask mixing questions now but some feedback on it would rule..

[F0RBIDDEN]

Hey bro that actually sounds pretty good all things considered! Everything is clear in the mix and it's meant to be a demo anyways right?

[vile_ator]

Does sound good man. All I can say is go in there and change the volume of every vocal clip to make sure they are all even. Run all vox through a comp and smash lightly. 3 to 1 or so. Use a Waves l1 or L2 on them afterwards lightly.

Also you will need to get familliar with compression. Its youre best friend but takes a log time to hear it right.

Also cut some 250- 500 in the toms and boost at 3-4 k for attack

Colin

[JBassist]

i didn't read this post before i got the chance to change some stuff you suggested, but i bet i came out a bit better anyway... considering i had only 3 hours off mixing/editing and not quit alot of "hands on"experience... which i know see is veeeerry important its like the key to realy "getting" all the stuff you read..

anyways: here's a slighty altered mix.

http://dirksierd.sohosted.com/To%20ashes%20and%20dust.mp3

still haven't got those damn toms right... fuggin hell....

and yeah, your right... i should reaaaaaly get to knowe the compressor more, i'm working on it between band practice and working for my home studio ;)

any usefull tips on the subject?

[vile_ator]

There is probably a lot of info out there on the internet about using a compressor. I dont know if I should go into it all here. Theres so much to say and so many variables. Do some searches and if you find a comprehensive paper, link it here.

Colin

[JBassist]

i found some cool stuff on drum micing/mixing.

http://www.drumdojo.com/tech/mikingstudio.htm

[Trauma]

Hi mates,
we're currently recording Suffereign's new 5 songs demo. I've recorded the guitar tracks (i'm the guitarist).
I used:
guitar: Vigier Marilyn std with EMG 81 pickups
amp: Engl E570 preamp, with VHT 2/50/2 as PA and a Peavey 5150 cabinet

We put 2 mics: a Sure SM57 in front of the cone and a Rhode Nt5 for ambiance, 50cm from the cabinet.
We used some M audio tube preamp too for the mics, direct plugged into a Motu soundcard

I'm not a sound tech, nor a great guitarist, but the guy who's going to mix us (http://www.conkrete.com ) is satisfied for the moment, and find him able to do something heavy and brutal.

If you want to check the raw sound of the tracks:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arnaud.daval/Guitare1SM57.wav
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arnaud.daval/Guitare1NT5.wav
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arnaud.daval/Guitare2SM57.wav
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arnaud.daval/Guitare2NT5.wav

Just give me your opinion, but it's too late to make any change ah ah !!! hope it's going to sound

[vile_ator]

Just checked out 2 of those WAV's. The 57 in front of the cone is perfect. I can only see you using the ambient mic as about 10 - 20 percent of the final tone. Ambient mics for this kind of music never work out. They just make the tone phasey. But sometimes you can use one slightly in the mix to add a little bit of depth. If the ambient mic is not working out in the mix, dont worry about it.

Colin

[Trauma]

THANKS! That's a very good new!!

We just worry for the drums now :)
But that's not the sound the worriest thing, that's the drummer abilities to be tight ah ah !!!

[xididthisforyoux]

Jbassits, those sound good. i own a project studio myself. I havent gotten the chance to get any heavy music in tho, just some shitty bands that play like pop stuff ( god ten hours of mixing their shit can really give u a headache). i dont feel like posting any of it here because seriosuly these kids are the worst, but you gotta start somewhere, its good u got to get a good band, nice job

What do u use? Interfaces and stuff, I have a presonus firepod that i use with cubase and a bunch of mics and stuff (beta 52 my fav. amazing kick sounds)

[JBassist]

hey man,

thanks, i actually haven't listened to this recording in a while know (i thought/think it was/is crap..) but i'm happely suprised after months of not listening it!! its not even that bad... hahahaha..

And good news!! this band got ALOT.. and i mean ALOT better and i'm doing their next demo to!!

this time i'm doing the drums/vocals in a dedicated studio (me recording/enginering it obviously..) and the guitars/Bass at my homestudio (Pentium 4 PC with 2 gig off kingston Ram a EMU 1212m and a pair of M-audio monitors.. for know) prolly gonna be a sm57 with a studio projects VTB1 preamp and we got a nice selection of amps and cabs to work with (Koch/5150/Framus). so thats a nice step up from the V amp. :Mrt:

bass will probibly be Sans Amp and a bass collection bassguitar (realy good bass thats sadly not made anymore...) with bartollini's. (maybe i'll use Amplitube on bass since its also getting me some pretty good results lately......)

vocals will be Rode NTK (just like last time.)

and i'm just fucking stoked on getting this shit done... i'm doing some pre production with them now and the demo's are allready realy fine!!

btw, colin... what do think of this setup and could you post some Pics of the way you mic amps? would awesome.. allready read the recording guitars the right way stuff... THANKS!!

JB.

oh and i used a DIGI 001 and a mackie table on that demo i posted.
i used a d112 on it.. i has better lows then the 52 IMO.

[vile_ator]

Hey JB. Just point a 57 right at the edge of the dustcap in the center of the speaker. That glue that holds the dust cap over the voice coil, you know? And then try it directly into the centor of the dustcap. And then try tilting it up a few degrees. Between these 3 positions, you find a good one. Then for the second mic, find an in phase position between the sdge of the dustcap and the outer edge of the speaker. Somewhere in there you find a good complementary position that mixes with the center placed mic. Or forget the second mic alltogether.

Colin

[vile_ator]

Thanks for posting that JB! Now I dont have to do it myself! I cant agree with him more. I do just about everything he does and I agree with him on almost everything. The only thing I do differently is the electric guitar micing technique. He gave good advise on frequency ranges and everything.

Colin

[JBassist]

tottaly... i know to get a snare get a nice "stick-hit" but cutting around 300-700 realy helps alot in general.. stuff like that realy helps you out in the beginning.. and allthough your mearly copieng EQ settings it does help you train your ears to were the cause of something sounding bad might be, and were certain things happen in a mix in general. :emot-boun

do you check gearslutz btw, colin? i don't realy post there but its great to check out from time to time..

realy good stuff like this:
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php3?t=19294&page=1&highlight=Led+Zeppelin

and there's tons of info on how they recorded john bonham.. i can't find the best thread right know.. (one that featured some AWESOME only drums Wav's. :emot-wors and a guy posting who worked on that session!!)

but this one is pretty good too... i'm still intriqued by how they recorded this guy.. awesome!!
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php3?t=27236&highlight=John+Bonham

i'll go look for the ones with the wav's now.. its great!!

[vile_ator]

Keep in mind that a lot of these forums are visited by old engineers that dont record the same way we do. If you recorded drums like they recorded Bonham, you would not be able to mix it properly.

Also you cant just copy eq settings. This guy is just showing you where to start looking. Ill check out those links.

Colin

[JBassist]

the EQ settings for this song:

http://www.toontrack.com/demos/Session%20-%20The%20SUPERIOR%20Licking%20What%20You%27ve%20Bl ed.mp3

EQ settings:

http://www.toontrack.com/user/free/SUPERIOR/Toontrack%20Demos/

mout licking..... . zip

gives you a nice insight in a mix!!! i lke this kinda stuff :emot-head