The WIP Thread

[Shammas]

It's been so long since I posted in here!

Gashzilla- That's a killer story and a killer mix. I love your clean tone, the only suggestion I can make would be to try and make your distorted tones sit a little better in the mix.

Tallest- To answer a couple of your questions, I usually use basically the same patch for rhythms and leads, but with some reverb and delay on my leads. EQ-wise the only thing I do differently most of the time if I'm using the same patch is high pass the leads a bit more. But it's still necessary to find the problem areas and boost the right areas as with any other track. Your track sounds cool btw, I would just focus on getting the drums to sound more real and more full. Try experimenting with different types of compression and reverb.

Deepcut- Cool track man! I'd say to try and adjust the velocities on your kick drum if possible to make it sound more lifelike.

Here's my latest song that's a currently a WIP for my second album. I have the guitars mixed a bit loud intentionally for the purposes of the video, but feel free to critique away!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD98E6Br5_I

I can't get the video to embed.

 

[Saieph]

You don't think they sit right in the mix...what would you suggest? I think I may agree with you, I'm just not sure how to proceed! Thanks man!

And...SH*$BALLS, I LOVE your new riff...that thing glides like...well...you know. Fantastic and I can't WAIT to hear that all in context!!!

 

[TallestFiddle]

Thanks shammas, I think I've also decided to use the same amp settings for lead and rhythm. I tried making some more lead tones using different amps or cabs and it just sounds a bit off compared to the rest of the song, I like the way it sounds having the same amp. I then use EQ on both the lead bus and the rhythm bus, I'll make a few cuts in each at different spots to give each more room for itself. Then I automate the EQ to remove the cuts on the rhythm when there are no leads playing. This way I don't lose out on those frequencies.

One of the problems I realized is with the leads that are in a lower register, they overlap with the rhythm part, theres just not a good way around this, I try to use some automation to raise the volume of the leads when they play lower notes, and it seems to work okay. In the future I'll try to play more of the leads higher up.

And cool riff too! should be interesting to hear that in a song

 

[Shammas]

Thought I'd bump this thread up with some new tones!
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/michaelaverymusic/guitar-and-drum-tones[/SC]

 

[QuantumCybin]

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/quantummottle/omnisphere-test-wip-april[/SC]

A test clip I made for Omnisphere and my new PRS SE 7. Not sure what will come of this but it lays a decent groundwork for something cooler.

 

[JEngelking]

Thought I'd bump this thread up with some new tones!
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/michaelaverymusic/guitar-and-drum-tones[/SC]

Sounds great to my ears! Now I wanna hear it with bass too. (Not a jab, I'm not one to talk; I really need to get a bass soon )

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/quantummottle/omnisphere-test-wip-april[/SC]

A test clip I made for Omnisphere and my new PRS SE 7. Not sure what will come of this but it lays a decent groundwork for something cooler.

The guitar tone could use some more clarity and less harshness/fuzziness, and I think the levels on the guitars could come down a little, they seem a little overpowering right now. The synths sound cool and I think could stay where they're at, but the drums definitely need to come out more and cut through.

Cool sounding, good start though.

Cool chord choices I also like the mix. I hope you're making that into a full song!

It has been done! I've made a bunch of progress on this the past couple days, and here's where it's at:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/oceansbuiltonsinkingships/golem-wip[/SC]

Let me know what you guys think; I think it flows pretty well, but it doesn't repeat itself very much and whenever I write a song that doesn't repeat itself very much I get paranoid that it sounds like a jumbled riff salad to a new listener. So let me know what you think of it in that regard!

 

[Shammas]

Nice work JEngelking! I really dig that opening riff and the lead around 1:48. The drums could use more punch in my opinion and it sounds like the guitars are a bit fuzzy, maybe it's the 200-400 and 1k hz area?

 

[JEngelking]

Nice work JEngelking! I really dig that opening riff and the lead around 1:48. The drums could use more punch in my opinion and it sounds like the guitars are a bit fuzzy, maybe it's the 200-400 and 1k hz area?

Thanks! Yeah, I think the drums could use a bit of compression to be a little punchier. The guitar tone is intentionally a fair bit fuzzy, going along with the style of the other songs that are gonna be on an album with this one (stuff inspired by bands like Mastodon, Baroness, and Red Fang: Sauronkraut, Stone Chicken and Rotting Frame on my SoundCloud), although with the style of this song I think I agree that it might be a little much. I'll have to try some EQ edits as you suggest.

 

[QuantumCybin]

The guitar tone could use some more clarity and less harshness/fuzziness, and I think the levels on the guitars could come down a little, they seem a little overpowering right now. The synths sound cool and I think could stay where they're at, but the drums definitely need to come out more and cut through.

Cool sounding, good start though.

Appreciate the feedback man; you know, it's funny, I was thinking the guitars were almost too buried in the mix. But all I have to mix on at the moment is my set of Turtle Beaches So I often struggle with levelling things out. You have any ideas to improve the clarity of the guitars? I'm using JamUp on my iPad for the tones, and Zombass 4 for the bass.

 

[JEngelking]

Appreciate the feedback man; you know, it's funny, I was thinking the guitars were almost too buried in the mix. But all I have to mix on at the moment is my set of Turtle Beaches So I often struggle with levelling things out. You have any ideas to improve the clarity of the guitars? I'm using JamUp on my iPad for the tones, and Zombass 4 for the bass.

Hm, I'm not familiar with how to use JamUp, but based on what I hear I'd say perhaps a little less gain on either you're overdrive or amp sim, and maybe try experimenting with cab sims? I'd basically aim to dial in the tone so it's got a less harsh mid-range, and has more attack. Then again, that's open to interpretation depending on what you're going for with a given song, but hopefully that helps a little bit!

 

[QuantumCybin]

Hm, I'm not familiar with how to use JamUp, but based on what I hear I'd say perhaps a little less gain on either you're overdrive or amp sim, and maybe try experimenting with cab sims? I'd basically aim to dial in the tone so it's got a less harsh mid-range, and has more attack. Then again, that's open to interpretation depending on what you're going for with a given song, but hopefully that helps a little bit!

You know, I had an idea after reading your post. I decided to open up LeCab and run a Mesa Rectifier impulse I have from Redwirez on top of the source signal from JamUp. It instantly helped tame that fizziness and made the guitars sit better in the mix.

 

[JEngelking]

You know, I had an idea after reading your post. I decided to open up LeCab and run a Mesa Rectifier impulse I have from Redwirez on top of the source signal from JamUp. It instantly helped tame that fizziness and made the guitars sit better in the mix.

Good to hear, man! Definitely post up a revised clip to show the improvement.

 

[rahul_mukerji]

Coming back to the forum after a little bit of a hiatus and got to see this thread and am totally blown away by stuff here !! The pieces here are more worthy on CD's that some of the stuff that on the market now !

This thread reminds me of the Petrucci Forum monthly jams where we would critique each others playing and most of us became better players as a result. So I'm guessing it will do the same for all of us "home mix / master engineers".

TallestFiddle: Really great Song !! The mix is clear and not saturated ! This might be on repeat for a while on my headphones ! Great groove !!

Shammas: I got to listen to Album teaser. I headed over to your bandcamp site to check out your Album. Love the Bass and Drum mix in Fossils ! The clarity is amazing and the song is very sweet. Love the initial fusion soloing that was happening before the heavy guitars came in ! I liked Static Interchange too ! Your clean guitars are nicely recorded / mixed. Loved the Youtube Riff as well. Nice spider finger work and its played very clean. Would love to hear how it turns out !

IJewBear: Woah !! This Piece sounds like something that should be featured in the Progstravaganza CD !! And its barely 2 mins long !! Where's the other 12 mins of this masterpiece !! Really looking forward to hearing the completed piece !

Will listen to the others in a bit !!

 

[R-Savage]

I started working on a cover and wanted critique on the mix

I haven't finished it yet but here are the specs

Amp Used Randall RG100ES
Mic Used Shure SM57
Board Used Carvin S16
DAW Used Logic Pro X (Still Finding my Way Around it)
Guitar Used Carvin DC127T with Carvin M22SD Bridge Pickup

Bass Traynor T10 (Line out to board was Used)

Focus
For Levels What stands out the most to be adjusted?
Im Looking for a Heavy Deep Punk Sound for the bass

Thoughts???

http://members.shaw.ca/rob.savage/hellion_prefinal.mp3

enjoy
This is the first mix I have done on Logic Pro X

 

[QuantumCybin]

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/quantummottle/ascendance[/SC]


Having too much fun with Omnisphere I'll be expanding this idea further when I have more time.

 

[rahul_mukerji]

QuantumCybin, that sounds great. Are you using different synth patches on a single track[I know Omni allows 6 patches or so at a time] and playing it or are you layering using different tracks each time ?

 

[QuantumCybin]

QuantumCybin, that sounds great. Are you using different synth patches on a single track[I know Omni allows 6 patches or so at a time] and playing it or are you layering using different tracks each time ?

I'm just using one patch per track, mostly because I'm still in the honeymoon phase with Omnisphere so I have a ton to figure out. I've got a track for the main riff, a track for the kick, a track for the closed hi-hat, a track for the open hi-hat, etc.

I'm most comfortable with doing it that way, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a way to have multiple different rhythms and patterns happening all within one instance of Omni. Thanks for the kind words

 

[Daniel13]

JEngelking honestly compared to a lot of new music this is a lot less jumbled lol it does flow quite nicely and really taps into different moods which i dig a lot. only thing i would change would be to add some low end to the guitars, sounds a bit too mid driven for me but then again mids are what everyone is into these days.

Shammas i really dig that, i would say the bass drum is way overpowering but i like it way too much lol (i was listening to your newest post didn't realize you had one above it)

TallestFiddle i think you should try different amps for lead and rhythm or at least different eq. maybe scoop the mids on rhythm and boost them for lead.
that's usually what i do or leave the lead unpanned and pan the rhythm. i also mix my lead at about 2db louder which is subtle but seems to work for me.

and here's my garbage to critique, i know there is a lot wrong with it but if there's anything that i might easily overlook that might make a huge difference let me know. or just critique the songs in general.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-colvin-13/72a

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-colvin-13/1374-bc

 

[mbise1993]

@R-Savage I really like the feel of that. Good guitar tones in the beginning. There's not too much to say about the mixing since the majority of it is bass and drums, but I might suggest a low pass on the bass to eliminate some of the higher pitch clicks in there. Unless you like the way the sound of course

@QuantumCybin Not much to say about that track, it sounds great! I'm really loving the ambient feel to it. Works nicely with the melody to create that certain mood.

@Daniel13 I'm by no means an expert on this stuff, but I'll try to give some helpful advice based on my experience. First, your guitars and bass are really clashing in the lower frequencies, causing it to sound muddy. I would try putting a high pass on the guitars at around 100Hz and maybe boosting the high mids a little at around 1100-1400Hz to clear that up. Also, try rolling back on the gain some and boosting the highs and mids on your amp a shade. I think you'll find that lowering the gain when you double track gives a MUCH clearer tone.

Here's a song that my friend and I have been working on in goals of (hopefully) getting a full band together. Guitars are recorded with a Pod HD500X into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Same for the bass (which I tracked with a guitar for now, but we have a bassist redoing it). The drums are EZdrummer. Whole thing was recorded and mixed in Reaper. I'm not super happy with the guitar tones cause I think they sound a little fizzy and "loose", so I think next time I'm gonna try running a pre from the POD into an impulse cab and see how that works. We're also working on double tracking some of the guitars because we didn't have time to the first go around. All critiques and comments are welcome.

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/insertcoolbandnamehere/first-song-re-mixed[/SC]

 

[Daniel13]

@Daniel13 I'm by no means an expert on this stuff, but I'll try to give some helpful advice based on my experience. First, your guitars and bass are really clashing in the lower frequencies, causing it to sound muddy. I would try putting a high pass on the guitars at around 100Hz and maybe boosting the high mids a little at around 1100-1400Hz to clear that up. Also, try rolling back on the gain some and boosting the highs and mids on your amp a shade. I think you'll find that lowering the gain when you double track gives a MUCH clearer tone.

oh yes, been working on that quite a bit, trying to keep my guitar sounding heavy and not djenty. it's a bass vi in drop d1 so most of the bass is in unison. as far as gain goes there is nothing i can do about that at the moment, using a digitech metal master and there is no gain, it's balls to the wall no matter what. been working a bit with a new technique of cutting different frequencies on guitar bass and drums. will repost when i get that figured out better lol

thanks for the feedback will try your advice and see how it improves