How's my attempt at mixing here? Feedback/Criticism welcome

[John]

So......... I decided to whip up a (mostly) pointless instrumental just for gits and shiggles using a CE 24, a Schecter because it was down tuned to B flat at the time, a MESA head, and a potato.
Any sort of feedback or suggestions to make it better are welcome and appreciated

 

[László]

Actually, this is a fun track, and the video's great with it!

I think the snare is a little hot relative to the other drums; if you take the snare down a bit you can bring up the kick, hat and other percussion elements. The bass can come up a bit, too. The drums could use a little reverb. Wouldn't hurt to give the guitars more room tone, too. Might want to spread them a bit more in the stereo field, and give the solo guitar more space sonically in the mix.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Nice work John! I could use a little more potato if it were my mix but .....

 

[clcwarlock]

I like it John, and the fits great.

 

[John]

Actually, this is a fun track, and the video's great with it!

I think the snare is a little hot relative to the other drums; if you take the snare down a bit you can bring up the kick, hat and other percussion elements. The bass can come up a bit, too. The drums could use a little reverb. Wouldn't hurt to give the guitars more room tone, too. Might want to spread them a bit more in the stereo field, and give the solo guitar more space sonically in the mix.

Thank you kindly, Schef
Just a couple questions on that note,
Not too sure what you meant by room tone for the guitar, is that just dumping a bit of reverb or is there something I'm missing? Also, any other advice for spreading the guitars out a bit more? I did pan them out as far as I can (except for the pushed/raw guitar tone I used for the less heavy parts, since I tried to go a la Van Halen on that part of that mix by having a single guitar track, lol), and I used some stereo spreading but I guess I can be a bit more bold with that effect/plugin?

 

[John]

Nice work John! I could use a little more potato if it were my mix but .....

Thanks Sergio, and I suppose tracking with a potato does indeed have its merits..? lol

I like it John, and the fits great.

Thank you kindly, clcwarlock

 

[László]

Not too sure what you meant by room tone for the guitar, is that just dumping a bit of reverb or is there something I'm missing? Also, any other advice for spreading the guitars out a bit more? I did pan them out as far as I can (except for the pushed/raw guitar tone I used for the less heavy parts, since I tried to go a la Van Halen on that part of that mix by having a single guitar track, lol), and I used some stereo spreading but I guess I can be a bit more bold with that effect/plugin?

It's hard for me to know based on the link and not listening to each track you had. I would have actually liked to hear more reverb (that's what I meant by room tone, wasn't sure if you had ambient mics or not to blend in). If there are the raw rhythm tracks that could be panned a little more or EQ'd to make more room for the lead part, that might be worth exploring just a little.

I try to strike a balance between up-front presence and a sense of space. But each track is different when you're mixing, and that's part of the fun and the art of it, getting what you have in your mind into a mix.

So take my comments as maybe things to play around with, but they're not carved in stone.

 

[John]

It's hard for me to know based on the link and not listening to each track you had. I would have actually liked to hear more reverb (that's what I meant by room tone, wasn't sure if you had ambient mics or not to blend in). If there are the raw rhythm tracks that could be panned a little more or EQ'd to make more room for the lead part, that might be worth exploring just a little.

I try to strike a balance between up-front presence and a sense of space. But each track is different when you're mixing, and that's part of the fun and the art of it, getting what you have in your mind into a mix.

So take my comments as maybe things to play around with, but they're not carved in stone.

I understand, thanks for clearing that up- and the rhythm tones had several impulses blended together, one of them based on an ambient.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

A mix is nothing more than an opinion, so how do YOU like it?

 

[John]

A mix is nothing more than an opinion, so how do YOU like it?

Good point, it's just that for me I'm occasionally fine with letting a second pair of ears weigh in with an opinion. Part of it's from my lack of experience in this regard (I consider myself to be very much of a noob even at this point regard the whole recording process) and some folks can hear stuff that maybe I may not have the ear just yet to pick up.

Anyways, back to the question at hand- I'm happy with the results, but I know that this (like anything else in life) always has room for improvement.

 

[gush]

I wont comment on the mix because when I have mixed music and then hear it on a computer its never the same. Your recording probably sounds better on a real system. I also tend to let the mixing process take a few days unless im under the gun that way I can hear it with fresh ears more than once.

 

[John]

I wont comment on the mix because when I have mixed music and then hear it on a computer its never the same. Your recording probably sounds better on a real system. I also tend to let the mixing process take a few days unless im under the gun that way I can hear it with fresh ears more than once.

Ahh, I hear you loud an clear on this first part, gush. For me, I've noticed that as well, hence I listen to my mixed and mastered projects on different audio sources outside of computer speakers and monitors- i.e.- car speakers, headphones, even crappy sound-systems. This way, not only do I get a different perspective on how well (or poorly!) my tracks translate over to those, but I also know all too well that not everybody listens to music on studio monitors or other top notch sound-systems. Rather, there are those who listen on headphones with spammed bass all the way to phones with built in speakers that might as well be potatoes because of how awful they sound. lol