HeartsMindsEars
New Member
I have a progressive/experimental/crazy metal solo project Peculate. I just released an album last month, Fiscal Cliffs. I release new material every month, so I'll be releasing an 11-minute EP here in the upcoming week.
Here's the first track from the album. You can basically get the idea of the mix for the whole album from this.
I was very happy with the mix overall on Fiscal Cliffs, but, the more I A/B it with mixes I really like (Periphery's Periphery II has, in my opinion, one of the best prog metal mixes ever; I A/B my mixes with that constantly), I think it has a serious flaw: It doesn't sound "big" enough. There just isn't enough "space" in the mix, if that makes sense.
I'm not talking about "big" as in, heavy. I'm talking about big as in having a lot of space. When I listen to one of the more "professional" band's mixes, it sounds as though the stereo width is wider than mine. Yet I know it's not a panning issue; I pan like crazy.
The more I think about it (and listen), I think it might be a mastering issue. I don't really use a mastering plugin. I use a limiter (maximizer) to pump the volume up (oh, Loudness Wars *sigh*); I use a slight low pass filter; and I use a somewhat aggressive low cut filter (even after low-cutting every instrument), just to get rid of everything below 60 Hz, to create more headroom for the maximizing.
Is it mastering? Is it mixing? How can I get that "bigger," more spacious mix?
Maybe there's just another problem, or two... or three. What am I missing here?
Thanks!
Ben
Here's the first track from the album. You can basically get the idea of the mix for the whole album from this.
I was very happy with the mix overall on Fiscal Cliffs, but, the more I A/B it with mixes I really like (Periphery's Periphery II has, in my opinion, one of the best prog metal mixes ever; I A/B my mixes with that constantly), I think it has a serious flaw: It doesn't sound "big" enough. There just isn't enough "space" in the mix, if that makes sense.
I'm not talking about "big" as in, heavy. I'm talking about big as in having a lot of space. When I listen to one of the more "professional" band's mixes, it sounds as though the stereo width is wider than mine. Yet I know it's not a panning issue; I pan like crazy.
The more I think about it (and listen), I think it might be a mastering issue. I don't really use a mastering plugin. I use a limiter (maximizer) to pump the volume up (oh, Loudness Wars *sigh*); I use a slight low pass filter; and I use a somewhat aggressive low cut filter (even after low-cutting every instrument), just to get rid of everything below 60 Hz, to create more headroom for the maximizing.
Is it mastering? Is it mixing? How can I get that "bigger," more spacious mix?
Maybe there's just another problem, or two... or three. What am I missing here?
Thanks!
Ben
