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Originally Posted by tpmiller08  Try it out now, we mixed it a bit. Far from done, but definatly closer =) |
I'm not sure what it sounded like before, but now the vocals are way too quiet, there's no bass guitar, cymbals or hats, and the kick is overpowering.
This is a pretty good little song, and would sound 100 times better with better mixing, better EQing and some production. Really, you'd be surprised how much better it could sound.
It'll take more knowledge then you can glean from just this post. There's a crapload of "How to" videos on youtube.com. Start watching! You have a lot of work to do on this song.
you'll have to compromise a handful of the track's tones for the best overall sound for the band. Remember that the vocals are generally what make or break a song, so don't compromise the tone on the vocals, though, and work on those first. With this song, I think the kick will really drive it, so try not to compromise the kick tone, either. Get that kick dialed in after the vocals, then work on everything else.
The biggest problem is EQing. I don't know what you're using, but you'll really need to dive into each track and EQ them separately.
EQing the kick is tricky - First off, it's loud in the mix, so bring it down. Next, you'll want to put a boost at 60 hz or so (whatever sounds good), and another one at somewhere between 200 and 1000 hz (again at what sounds good). Bring down everything else quite a bit, and the kick will really pop out without being too loud. Run some compression on it (after the EQ in the chain of effects), with a sidechain out to your bass guitar's compression. I'm guessing you don't know what that is, so look it up on youtube.com.
For the vocals, get some compression on them, but I don't think you'll need a heck of a lot. You'll certainly need reverb on this track, and almost all the tracks, except the bass and kick.
If you put reverb on the kick or bass, be sure to have a low frequency cutoff in the reverb so only the higher overtones above about 1000 hz or more get reverb on them, otherwise your kick will sound super muddy. Also, learn to use the "predelay" on the kick and the snare
Then EQ the bass, and bring up a good boost at a
different frequency then the kick. That'll make the bass stand out without cluttering up with the kick, which it's doing right now. This will compromise the tone of your bass, most likely. You'll have to do this for the better sound of the band.
The hats/overheads/cymbols are non existent. Separate those out, and put a low pass filter on them to cut out any excess noise from the snare or kick, and bring them up in the mix.
put EQ on all of the rest of your tracks. Find out what frequency ranges the vocals are in, and cut out those frequencies in the other tracks. The vocals will stand out a whole lot more. This can be tricky on the snare and the guitars, as they can overlap each other and really make a cluster.
Experiment. Try it, toss it out for third party perspective, and keep working at it. This is stuff that people spend a lifetime learning so it will take some time, but it can be a whole lot of fun, too.
Good luck!
For the vocals, get some compression on them, but I don't think you'll need a heck of a lot. You'll certainly need reverb on almost all the tracks, except the bass and kick. If you put reverb on the kick, be sure to have a low frequency cutoff in the reverb so only the higher overtones above about 1000 hz or more get reverb on them, otherwise your kick will sound super muddy.
Ug. I've spent more on this post then I anticipated.
As you can gather, there's a lot you can do with this song. I hope my crazed post helps you...
