Just recorded a really good local Melodic Hardcore band - Listen and critique!

[Marmaduke]

It was good fun recording these guys, it's their first demo and they're just getting started. I acted as a producer of sorts, and did all the editing/mixing/mastering.

Please give me some feedback, thanks!

Forever Grace - A Second Chance by forevergrace on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[Marmaduke]

Bump, would love some opinions on the track!

 

[AxelvonKreon]

nice work with the snare! Don't really like the kick though, maybe a little to bright? Other than that you've done a great job! Fucking great song for a first demo I must say.

 

[DGKarehere]

Wow that was a brilliant recording ! How did you proceed to do the gang vocals?

 

[shumitribe]

everything sounds great! i like the sound of the kick, but i think the drums could be thicker. did you parallel compress them?

 

[Marmaduke]

DGKarehere - Thanks man, the gang vocals were just two takes of me and two guys from the band shouting at a mic about a metre away - one take panned left and one panned right with heavy compression and a bit of reverb. Don't think I even used any EQ on the gang vox!

shumitribe - Yeah having listened to it a few times the drums aren't quite glued together, I did some parallel compression but maybe didn't get the settings right or the verbs weren't working together or something. Thanks for the feedback man!

 

[Sean Conklin]

I dig it! Sounds great. I do think the drums sound a little thin though, especially the kick. Needs more beef.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Pretty awesome mix dude even though the drums are a bit thin.

 

[ThisWorldIsOurs]

The last melodic part is so awesome, I dig this!

 

[Larcher]

man how did you mix these vocals so well? (single and sing-alongs) when I mix vocals it clips like a motherfuck. also how did you record them? (the vocals)

 

[Marmaduke]

Drums are definitely my weak point, typical guitarist haha.

Larcher - I recorded the vocals at my college using an Elecrovoice RE20 which is sorta like an SM7B I suppose, it's a large diaphragm dynamic mic designed for broadcast and I've found it works really well with screaming/shouty hardcore kinda vocals. I used an SE Reflexion filter as well and the direct signal came in sounding pretty dry. The preamp was a TLA 5051 or something but the metering was dodgy and I think I was hitting the input a bit hard or there was some internal problem with the circuitry/gain structure because all the vocals sounded sorta heavily compressed and distorted/limited straight out of the preamp. It sounded pretty sweet though so I kept those takes and then some parallel distortion, more compression and a bit of light EQ/verb finished it off, as well as a bit of limiting. They seemed to sit well in the mix even with minimal processing, I think that was because of his vocal delivery (very loud and powerful) as well as the RE20.

 

[KarlMagnusRobin]

Aah, this sounds awesome.. takes me back to the time when I played this kind of stuff!
And great song for being their first!!

 

[Marmaduke]

Thanks so much man!
Yeah I was pretty impressed with the songwriting and stuff for it being their first song.
I feel quite excited to see what they're gonna do next actually!

 

[newamerikangospel]

I think the only thing that is keeping the kick from being absolutely outstanding is where you did your cuts. It seems like you killed some of the overtones of the "fundamental" punch. Its clear and articulate, but seems too clinical (in my opinion). Did you cut around 200-250hz on it?

 

[The Reverend]

The only problem I had with this was the vocals feeling too up front in the mix. It's an outstanding track, though, I didn't know people still made melodic hardcore. Takes me back to when I was a kid.

 

[Marmaduke]

newamerikangospel - You have good ears, I think I did a couple of cuts in that area. I'm still learning a lot of about mixing so it's great to get feedback, have you got any particular mixes you would use for referencing the kick tone?