The WIP Thread

[Daniel13]

i think the issue is i'm rendering to .wav before uploading to soundcloud. they convert it to 128kbps mp3 so i'm guessing that messes something up. been doing it that way cause uploading mp3's causes everything to shift 2 seconds and cuts off the end

 

[theo]

Just render to 320kbps mp3 in your DAW instead? Any feedback on my last post fellas?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pmbsxuckvj2zspq/The Endless Nothing Dream 24-APRIL-2015.mp3?dl=0

 

[rohan daniel]

Just render to 320kbps mp3 in your DAW instead? Any feedback on my last post fellas?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pmbsxuckvj2zspq/The Endless Nothing Dream 24-APRIL-2015.mp3?dl=0

Everything is too big on the track to make it sound loud, leaving no headroom you are getting there theo very close enuf for a best mix i might consider looking from another angle to achieve this

 

[JEngelking]

Just render to 320kbps mp3 in your DAW instead? Any feedback on my last post fellas?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pmbsxuckvj2zspq/The Endless Nothing Dream 24-APRIL-2015.mp3?dl=0

Only thing I would change is to make the drums have more of a snappy attack to them, particularly the toms. I'm also not huge on the snare sound, but that could be down to personal preference. It also sounds a little "in your face" to me, maybe it could use a touch of reverb?

Otherwise than the little things with the drums I think it sounds pretty good!

 

[theo]

Cheers guys, this has been such a difficult track to process. I was given a stereo mixdown of a VERY sloppy drum track. So I had to get particularly creative with manipulating them without ruining the sound.

The Toms are bugging me too JEngelking, I'll have a play with them.

Bass is unfortunately midi too.

 

[Saieph]

Hey all. Just wanted to drop and see how everyone was doing. I took some time away from concept EP 2 to do a cover of a song by The Animals called "House of the Rising Sun". I have yet to add the solo or vox, but everything else is tracked and mixed. Let me know what you think of my interpretation:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/saieph/house-of-the-rising-sun[/sc]

 

[theo]

I haven't had my good quality headphones at work for a while. Need to bring them back so I can check out submissions here more often.

 

[QuantumCybin]

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/quantummottle/a-hidden-world[/SC]

I finished this track a couple of weeks ago; I've been using Omnisphere a ton lately, especially now that 2.0 is out. I love this thing!

 

[rohan daniel]

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/rohdan/athena[/SC]

Hi guys.
This track is done through various processing of compression and chorusing for the lead Grand tune, same goes for guitars as well. For percussion i used kontakt samples. let me know what you think.

Softs & Gear used:
Cubase
uad - apollo twin
Simpleton
P&M
Kontakt
line6 pod

 

[mbise1993]

@QuantumCybin Sounds awesome to me. I really love that part that kicks in around 2:50. Mix is spot on too.

@rohan_daniel I can't really think of critique of provide on that one. I think the mix is great, you really captured the ambient feel. I think it would be interesting to see how it would sound if the drums sat back in the mix a little more instead of being at the front, but that's just personal preference really.

Here's one that I just finished up yesterday. I made a thread for it, but I haven't gotten any feedback so I though I'd post it here too I was going for a massive sounding mix (since I finally got an actual bass guitar), and I think it sounds alright. I feel like I may have put a little too much mid range in the initial guitar tone making it overly "crunchy" (even though the amp's gain is on 1 lol), so I may try dialing some of that out with EQ. Anyways, all advice/critiques are welcomed, both based on composition and mix

Gear: POD HD500X for guitars and bass, EZDrummer, Reaper

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/insertcoolbandnamehere/darker-song[/SC]

 

[rohan daniel]

@QuantumCybin Sounds awesome to me. I really love that part that kicks in around 2:50. Mix is spot on too.

@rohan_daniel I can't really think of critique of provide on that one. I think the mix is great, you really captured the ambient feel. I think it would be interesting to see how it would sound if the drums sat back in the mix a little more instead of being at the front, but that's just personal preference really.

Here's one that I just finished up yesterday. I made a thread for it, but I haven't gotten any feedback so I though I'd post it here too I was going for a massive sounding mix (since I finally got an actual bass guitar), and I think it sounds alright. I feel like I may have put a little too much mid range in the initial guitar tone making it overly "crunchy" (even though the amp's gain is on 1 lol), so I may try dialing some of that out with EQ. Anyways, all advice/critiques are welcomed, both based on composition and mix

Gear: POD HD500X for guitars and bass, EZDrummer, Reaper

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/insertcoolbandnamehere/darker-song[/SC]

Its best you post your mixes here i used to do that too cuz everbody posted here for critiques which i never knew.
Bring down your OH/cymbals or eq it in such a way it sounds huge
preferably as per your taste. it would just make your guitar stand out a little bit.

 

[Saieph]

@QuantumCybin That's some really fantastic stuff. I'm really intrigued to hear much more!!!

@rohan_daniel I love it. Really, I do. I am in agreement a bit with mbise1993...I'm wondering how it would sound if you pushed the drums back a bit, dunno...just a thought.

@mbise1993 I totally dig this, very solid composition and mix. I would also like to hear the guitars up a bit more and cymbals backgrounded a tad.

I did a final mix of my cover of "House of the Rising Sun"...waiting for a solo, and then adding 3 part harmony vox and a choir of 6 of my friend Wayne. LOL:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/saieph/house-of-the-rising-sun[/SC]

Also working on a new one...stretching my creative composition skills. *shrug* I need to figure out adding effects on MIDI tracks in Cubase 7:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/saieph/0010-saieph-anschluss[/SC]

 

[jasonsansburn]

@Gashzilla First off those synths sound awesome, what are using?!?!!? I've had lots of trouble with synths and only a little luck with a free Grand Piano VST. The mix itself to my ears sounds like it could have some more low end to the bass. I can hear the midrange/highrange (grit) but not so much the punch. Or maybe I'm talking about the guitars. It's getting late for me -.- sorry. Other than that, solid.

@mbise1993 This is pretty frickin sweet. Guitars are pretty awesome but like the other guy said bring down the cymbals just a tad or maybe highpass a little? Not sure but either way it's a good idea.

Periphery's Heavy Heart is a pretty cool song, not into the song as whole as much as I am this section. I've been messing around a lot with a heavier kick presence so let me know how you guys feel about that. Cheers.
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/zyrilic/heavy-heart-mixtest[/SC]

I also added the same kick idea to a mix i posted not to long ago, it's the same thing as "bucknorth" on my page. Compare the two and tell me if it sounds better? Thanks!

Bucknorth - [SC]https://soundcloud.com/zyrilic/bow-da-bow-dow[/SC]

Bucknorth 2 - [SC]https://soundcloud.com/zyrilic/nostalgia-2[/SC]

don't ask why they have different names I'm terrible at titling stuff.

 

[Saieph]

I am using some stuff in Cubase 7, but also any of these I can grab: DSK Music - Best Free VST instruments / plugins and sampled instruments : DSK Music

 

[Shammas]

@Gashzilla - Digging the cover man! I really love those evil synths towards the middle!

@Jasonsansburn - Sounds killer! The only thing I think that really needs improvement is the cymbals. Maybe experiment with bringing them down a tad, adding some more room reverb, etc.

Here's a teaser I just posted for my upcoming release. Hope you guys like it!
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/michaelaverymusic/the-scientist-teaser-1[/SC]

 

[DamienE7]

Periphery's Heavy Heart is a pretty cool song, not into the song as whole as much as I am this section. I've been messing around a lot with a heavier kick presence so let me know how you guys feel about that. Cheers.
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/zyrilic/heavy-heart-mixtest[/SC]

That was awesome! totally agree with bringing the cymbals down though... very good work!


[SC]https://soundcloud.com/shalashaska-4/chicken-sandwich-explicit[/SC]

I bought a scarlett solo and Behringer C1 condenser mic over the weekend and recorded this to test it out and delve into the world of making music with actual words to it... any tips, tricks etc are welcomed! thanks for your time.

 

[Deception]

@Jasonsansburn - That all sounds amazing! I think I prefer the first of those two clips, with the lighter kick presence personally. It works really well in the Heavy Heart clip though

@Shammas - really good, would definitely like to hear more!

@DamienE7 - I feel like the vocals could be a bit louder and more at the forefront. Love the lyrics

Here's a prog-death-y song I've been working on:
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/exmersionmusic/actuality[/SC]
I definitely intend for it to have vocals. The ending bit from 4:25 onwards will also have a solo. Any feedback is appreciated, thanks

 

[AugmentedFourth]

@Shammas: While I think the mix sounds fine overall, it seems like a weird clip to use as a teaser for an album. I didn't really get anything out of it... It's just the same power chord being chunked along.

@DamienE7: This sound pretty set for me, with two exceptions: The bass could have a bit of a fuller sound; it fills some narrow bass frequencies but leaves the mix as a whole too focused on those powerful mids from the guitars (and drums to a certain extent). And 2, while I don't have any experience with doing vocals, I think that it could benefit from a bit of extra processing. Instead of just putting it up in the mix by bringing up the slider, try making two copies of the vocal track, pan them L/R (at whatever % sounds right to you in the end) and try toying with each one using EQ and more intensive effects like chorus, saturation, or whatever you hear your favorite vocalists do. Then run them through the same reverb, and make the reverb a bit wetter.

@Deception: Your drums need humanization. Make sure that what you write is playable by a human drummer. The part starting @0:15 sounds like it has cymbal choking, but it doesn't make sense with the rest of the stuff being played. Humanize your velocities and some of your timings. The drums and guitar don't seem to mesh, like in the sense that they should sound like they are being played in the same acoustic environment to some extent. Maybe applying more reverb to the guitars will help.

Here is a bit I've been working on a while, the part I'm worried about starts around 2:10:

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/augmentedfourth/riff-worn-parts-i-ii[/sc]

Any feedback, including on the composition itself, is much appreciated.

 

[Warlus_Of_Doom]

@Augmentedfourth:

Cute sounds haha, reminds me of playing pokemon as a kid. I like that the melodies and chord progressions are unconventional. I thought the chorus and the part that starts on 5:04 really clever and awesome!

I feel like theres missing an essential stem at 1:25. Maybe a bass melody with long notes i.e.

Arrangement- and mixingwise, it should be more dynamic. For example, the part starting from 2:11 could have a more full sounding lead tone. Also the bass sounds too muffled and low-end heavy. I'd carve out a lot of stuff with a HPF.

@mbise1993:

I anticipated the guitars' tone to switch to hi-gain after the drums first come in. It would definitely get you closer to the massive sound you're going for.

The bass sounds pretty good, but the hi-mids should stick out more. I'd use distortion/saturation and stereo imaging for this.

In the clean part the drums are way too pounding. I'd loosen the velocities and the kick's side-chain a lot. Overheads could use a cut around 3-7khz to lose that sharpness.

I like that I can hear everything very clearly though!

@Jasonsansburn:

I'm commenting on the Heavy Heart mix.

- The mix sounds too squashed to me. I'd loosen up the master-limiter.
- The snare has a good tone, but it's too up-front. Also the kick is a bit too loud and could lose some lo-mids, as it's currently too dominating imo.
- The bass instead, could use some lo-mids. Maybe achieve this with saturation? I like how its lows sound currently though, makes the mix big.
- The guitars have a good tone, but sound a bit pointy around 2-5khz.

----

After working on this for around 20 hours during three days, I finally got it done. This is my second go at these stems, the first time being approximately a year ago. Having bought new plugins and developed as a mixer, it felt meaningful redoing this. It's definitely my best metal mix to date Feel free to tell me what you think, and any criticism you come up with.

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/onni-korhonen/architects-broken-cross-second-mixing-practice[/SC]

the stuff I used:

- Guitars: Peavey Revalver MK.III V
- Drums: EZdrummer 1
- Synths: Omnisphere 2
- DAW: Logic Pro 9
- Extra Plugins: C6 multi-band compressor, Vitamin Sonic Enhancer, Rbass, Native Instruments Supercharger GT compressor, Stillwell Event Horizon Limiter

If you want to have a go at the song, you can find the stems here: Architects - Broken Cross Cover + Multis - Ultimate Metal Forum

 

[Saieph]

@DamienE7 - I dig the test! Overall the vox are resting where they should, and it's a great start to some vox-laden stuff. Can't wait to hear more!

@Deception - I agree with the humanization of the drums. The song is good...not my favorite guitar tone in the world, but you have some neat hooks and tricks going on that keep me listening! I'm excited to hear more of what you have going on.

@Walrus_Of-Doom - This is awesome, without being cliche at all...everything meshes nicely. The vocal track seems like it's a bit "in a box" and would probably benefit from being spread out a bit and included more in the ambience of the greater track. That would be my only "thing"...

I just started the intro to my next EP (even though technically the first isn't "done" yet)...the theme that starts it off is the same as the last theme of the first song on the previous EP...so they can technically be played back to back. The build up at the end needs fixed (I am playing 3/8 but should be playing 3/4...at least I think that's what it would be)...and the piano is merely there as a placeholder for the next part.

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/saieph/0006-saieph/s-uyJM5[/SC]