Mix Critique: 7 string Instrumental metal, ffo Keith Merrow

[Sumsar]

Hi, I have written a solo album and I am working on the mix for release of the first single.

Please have a listen an provide some constructive feedback .. or just hate on it, if that is what you need on a monday

https://on.soundcloud.com/cmtJnMK9SdpKQxkg9

Guitar is an old mid 2000's Schecter Blackjack with a Seymour Duncan Black Winter 7 in the neck, through an Axe-fx 2 XL+, Engl Savage model, no boost, and then york audio IRs, DV77 sm57 on one side and Mesa boogie sm57 on the other side
Bass is a Warwick double buck into the axe fx with compressor and then the darkglass model, no IR used, mixed with the clean DI for the low end
Drums are Superior Drummer 3, just the vanilla drumset with my own mix.

Thanks

 

[MaxAidingAres]

Its sounds good, great composition. Reminds me of the Faceless.
The mix is pretty good Id say makes the drums a tiiiiiiiny bit louder or at least the kick drum punchier, up the snare a tiny bit.

Is there bass in the mix (I'm so bad when it comes to noticing the bass in mix) if there isnt bass then that will probably help fill out the kick drum. In that case add the bass track see what it does to the drums and guitar and tweak the snare accordingly.

 

[Sumsar]

Its sounds good, great composition. Reminds me of the Faceless.
The mix is pretty good Id say makes the drums a tiiiiiiiny bit louder or at least the kick drum punchier, up the snare a tiny bit.

Is there bass in the mix (I'm so bad when it comes to noticing the bass in mix) if there isnt bass then that will probably help fill out the kick drum. In that case add the bass track see what it does to the drums and guitar and tweak the snare accordingly.

Thanks!

Yeah I have been listening on different speakers now, and the guitars do seem a bit too loud compared to the guitar and bass, so I will dial them down and then bring up the overall volume to compensate which should make drum and bass more pronounced.

There is bass in the mix, I always find it easier to tell the bass apart when I have recorded it myself, else it can take a while to pick out from mixes, so I do get your point.

The bass does seem to disappear on laptop and phone speakers, more so than some reference songs, so I guess I need to figure out how to make the bass feel like it is still there on speakers without any lowend

 

[Sumsar]

Did a revision of the mix - less guitar, more bass adjust masterbus compression and do a little more compression of the low end on the multiband to make it more consistent

 

[LeftOurEyes]

I'm still learning mixing but with Bass it seems that saturation really helps it be more audible along with using 2 versions of the same bass track (one clean and one dirty) and blended them together then giving them a little bump somewhere near the 1-2khz range if it needs it. Sidechaining and using dynamic compression to duck out frequencies that clash really helps with mix clarity a lot as well.

You're mix is pretty good. Mixes are kind of personal choices but I still think the guitars are a little too loud compared to the drums for my taste. Bass needs to be just a little more audible, not necessarily louder, but should be more audible. The mix is missing a little "punch" to it, seems like the mix is a little heavy on the highs so it comes across a little "harsh". Over all though it is not a bad mix.

 

[Sumsar]

I'm still learning mixing but with Bass it seems that saturation really helps it be more audible along with using 2 versions of the same bass track (one clean and one dirty) and blended them together then giving them a little bump somewhere near the 1-2khz range if it needs it. Sidechaining and using dynamic compression to duck out frequencies that clash really helps with mix clarity a lot as well.

You're mix is pretty good. Mixes are kind of personal choices but I still think the guitars are a little too loud compared to the drums for my taste. Bass needs to be just a little more audible, not necessarily louder, but should be more audible. The mix is missing a little "punch" to it, seems like the mix is a little heavy on the highs so it comes across a little "harsh". Over all though it is not a bad mix.

Thanks for the feedback!

So I did yet another revision and I think it is still improving

So turned down the guitar bus another -1 db and cut out a bit of harshness around 1.5khz, widened a boost in the bass and changed it from 1khz to 1.3khz. On the master bus I had a bit of a smiley EQ so turned down the treble boost part to make it a bit less brigth and harsh, because I do recognize what you mean by that. Regained master comp etc for target output volume.

 

[Sylim]

something is up with your rhythm guitars. it sounds like you recorded only one track and processed them slightly differently for left and right. did you record two separate takes on two tracks and pan them hard left and right? before you do anything special, get those basics down first. mastering the basics will get you 90% there.