Mix critique: getting low end right, mixers get in here.

dainbramage0 said:
Mixing is so subjective it is hard to say if there is too much or too little of something unless its clipping obscenely.

If you can hear all the elements of the mix on a variety of listening devices (headphones, car stereo, computer speakers, home stereo, your mix monitors) then I'd say it really is just a matter of taste from there.

Your mixes are pretty awesome as they are and the min/maxing you're looking for might require the new treated room you mentioned.

I've released material that wasn't mixed as nicely as your stuff here. If anything from the clip in the OP the kick drum sounds a bit high in the mix for my liking, more so than the bass guitar. But then I like to hear the bass guitar in a mix, the upper mid djangle and the low thunder. I like to hear the kick but not have it too up front for faster kick runs
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thanks for the info man, and I appreciate the input. I like hearing the bass too which is why I always like to try and crank it, but it’s difficult. If you crank it too high, then there is too much interference with the kick, so you drop the low end down and now it’s not as thick. I like the high mids of the bass to cut through as well, but pushing that too far caused too much interference with the guitars 2k range and that pick attack, and cloudy’s up the middle spectrum it seems. It’s just difficult to get it to sit right, be present, support the fundamentals of the track, but also be distinguished enough as it’s own instrument. Sure I can cut the 1.6k area and cut the lows a bit, but then it just doesn’t really sound present, just “low end on the track”. This is what I struggle with. But then again, the mixers I know are never fully satisfied no matter what they do, or very infrequently, because they always feel they can do better. Knowing when to stop is just as difficult too I think, if not more so.
 
Hey,

I think it sounds very good. As for low end, I think I'd turn up the bass guitar a bit. I had to check your thread and noticed you actually had recorded bass guitar. The guitars and drums sound bad ass.
 
Vrad said:
Hey,

I think it sounds very good. As for low end, I think I'd turn up the bass guitar a bit. I had to check your thread and noticed you actually had recorded bass guitar. The guitars and drums sound bad ass.
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What are you listening on? To me the bass is almost overpowering the mix!
 
ZEN Amps said:
I think it was Bob Clearmountain that said 'you never finish a mix, you just give up'. He speaks the truth.
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200 percent… not that I know what it’s like at that level, but I could never handle the stress I don’t think of calling a mix “done”… like imagine bob rock doing the black album, and knowing when to stop and say “it’s done”…. Nutso.
 
VESmedic said:
200 percent… not that I know what it’s like at that level, but I could never handle the stress I don’t think of calling a mix “done”… like imagine bob rock doing the black album, and knowing when to stop and say “it’s done”…. Nutso.
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Ever read the story about Jimmy Page and Presence?

The rushed recording sessions were in part a result of Led Zeppelin having booked the studio immediately prior to the Rolling Stones, who were shortly to record songs for their album Black and Blue (released, like Presence, in the spring of 1976). Page negotiated with the Stones to borrow two days from their recording session time, during which he completed all the guitar overdubs in one lengthy session. Page and Harwood then worked on the mixes virtually non-stop until they fell asleep; whoever woke up first went back to the desk to carry on. Page later stated he worked around 18–20 hours every day during the sessions.
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All the overdubs for Achilles Last Stand were done in one session? :oops:
 
VES the new mix is punchy. I'd say the bass is right at the upper range for level and clang - it absolutely doesn't need to come up.

Interested to hear it tucked in a bit more, the guitars and snare are suffering a little.
 
One thing I do in Reaper is add an eq peak, then raise it way up and try to find areas that hurt my ears. If you move it to the right and left, these irritating frequencies will come out thst sound boom, annoying, etc. So I do a dip there.

As far as low end, agree with others. The key is to help the bass sit in the mix right by taking low end frequencies out of the guitars. The bass itself can still overpower though. I mute it and then turn it back on and see what it adds.

Always good to listen to a song in the car
 
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