Original piece: "Marv" (Fender Strat, POD HD, SD 2.0, a little Alchemy)

[porchy]

How do I mix bass?!

Hi everybody,

I wrote a 311/Modest Mouse-ish piece over the past month..

Like many others, I've been trying to learn a lot about mixing on this forum and ended up with my serious attempt below. Without too many caveats, please let me know what needs work!

https://soundcloud.com/arporcelli/marv

Really appreciate it!

Thanks,
Anthony

P.S. I realize I made a little mistake and sounded a little too much like Bulb's "Breeze" in the pre-chorus. My b.

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

Hey man I really dug that tune! I'm new to recording myself and really don't know where to start, but I'd say you've got it down pretty solid. Tempos sound just a hair off in a few places, but overall very nice indeed.

 

[porchy]

Hey man I really dug that tune! I'm new to recording myself and really don't know where to start, but I'd say you've got it down pretty solid. Tempos sound just a hair off in a few places, but overall very nice indeed.

Thanks so much for listening! I don't know.. I just don't understand how to make bass sit directly next to the guitars to really complement them.

Honestly, just start hear. Read the "newbie" posts and become accustomed to all the types of plugins, etc. Lots of smart people on here.

 

[flyboy463]

It's very nice! Love the cleans. As for the bass, sounds alright to me, maybe turn it up just a hair. It already complements the guitar musically.

 

[porchy]

It's very nice! Love the cleans. As for the bass, sounds alright to me, maybe turn it up just a hair. It already complements the guitar musically.

Thanks for listening, man.

Something just doesn't seem right to me. It almost sounds floppy, but I'm not sure if it's the dialed-in tone or the actual mixing!

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

Sounds like there's reverb on it.

 

[Gresh]

I really dig this as well. There are some great, tasty tones in there, old school tones and that's a good thing. I do find some timing issues, and that's why maybe the bass doesn't feel locked in. Part of it could be the delays on the guitars, if the main impulse is off the beat slightly, then every delay is as well. I think it's throwing everything off, but just a tiny bit. Spend some time locking everything down rhythmically and then re-evaluate. Definitely pull the bass up a bit as well.

Great stuff, keep going!

 

[porchy]

Sounds like there's reverb on it.

No reverb, though it may be the cab in the POD HD I was using. Would that be a result of mic distance, perhaps?

I really dig this as well. There are some great, tasty tones in there, old school tones and that's a good thing. I do find some timing issues, and that's why maybe the bass doesn't feel locked in. Part of it could be the delays on the guitars, if the main impulse is off the beat slightly, then every delay is as well. I think it's throwing everything off, but just a tiny bit. Spend some time locking everything down rhythmically and then re-evaluate. Definitely pull the bass up a bit as well.

Great stuff, keep going!

Thanks very much, man. I appreciate you (and Narrillnezzurh, for that matter) taking the time to listen! That's a good point -- I did sort of get into a bad habit of subconsciously using the delay as my metronome once the first few notes were played.

Thanks for the input, guys.

I'm wondering why Nolly's BKP test is a related sound. I suppose it's a nice way to wake up after the mini-piano outro, though. Hah.