Check out this mix I'm working on... (BACKMASK)

[Kazrog]

My band BACKMASK is in the process of remixing our 5-song promo, and things are going pretty well so far, but as always, everyone's comments here are much appreciated. Here's an mp3 of tonight's mix of one of the songs "Feed The Enemy"

http://www.backmask.com/preproduction/01 Feed The Enemy (Remix 042005).mp3

We just started mixing this one tonight so I'm aware of a few issues, but I'd like to see what you guys think before I say what I think.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

So is this just remixing? Or have you re-recorded some/all guitar with the POD Xt?

 

[Nitronium Blood]

-I'm listening on a flat eq setting in Winamp 5.08d, and I'm getting minor 'speaker crackles' (clipping) here and there even while listening on Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones. The mix seems a tad bass heavy.

-The drums sound wicked, but it seems that the kick could be causing part of the aforementioned clipping effect.

-The vocals are just too dry for my taste, and too in-your-face for my liking. Having said that... why the hell do the growls seem lower in volume? [seems that way for me]

Other than that it rules.

 

[unsilpauly]

hey man, i think it sounds really good. i think on the speakers im listening on(my laptop ) the vocals sound a tad loud, other than that it fucking rocks man. i like the somg as well, good song for sure. ill listen later in my studio maybe the vocals will sound different. i mean they are way up front which is bad, i was just trying alittle hard to listen to everything else when there were vocals. sounds really good though, great work.

 

[Impy]

Is it just me or does it sound like it's clipping all over the place? The drums especially...
Other than that (which is a pretty big problem tho unless there's something wrong with my headphones) it's really good.

 

[kaomao]

My band BACKMASK is in the process of remixing our 5-song promo, and things are going pretty well so far, but as always, everyone's comments here are much appreciated. Here's an mp3 of tonight's mix of one of the songs "Feed The Enemy"

http://www.backmask.com/preproduction/01%20Feed%20The%20Enemy%20(Remix%20042005).mp3

We just started mixing this one tonight so I'm aware of a few issues, but I'd like to see what you guys think before I say what I think.

I really like the song!!!!
Great melodies!
guitars seem come from pod 2.0! Am I wrong? I know that you've got XT version, so try with that.
I think that all the pops we can hear are from toms' clipping!

Maurizio

 

[NathanSoulfracture]

the snare doesnt seem to sit right for me, the mix is a bit bass heavy and the vocals could do with being turned down a little bit, apart from that it sounds good.

 

[Kazrog]

I agree with all of your comments above, so here's some background...

1) Guitars have been re-tracked and what you're hearing is my ESP LTD MH-400 NT with EMG 85 bridge pickup into the POD XT (two different sounds used across the 4 guitar tracks, using the Big Bottom and Criminal amps.) We are still messing around with re-amping these through various sounds on the POD XT and also Guitar Rig. I don't think we're quite there yet tone-wise... Oh yeah, and we're using Andy's C4 settings.

2) In addition to guitar being re-tracked, I also re-tracked all the bass and background vocals.

3) I'm hearing all the clipping you guys you are, and I saw it last night in a few places. Rest assured, it's not in the actual audio files themselves, it's just too hot of a mix, which sounded ok at 24 bit/48khz but not at 16 bit/44.1khz. I definitely want to pull everything down so we are clear of ALL clipping... I hate clipping!!

I will post another mix a little later on!

Thanks for the comments so far!

 

[Kazrog]

UPDATE: I'm beginning to realize that amp modeling technology isn't quite there yet. James has been telling me this for a long time, but since I've sworn by Line 6 for so long, I wasn't ready to hear this from anyone, even him.

Something is seriously wrong with my tone, and no matter how many hours I spend tweaking my settings, A/B'ing stuff, it doesn't have the punch and immediacy of most of the high-gain amps on the market, including/espcially the real-life amps it's supposedly modeling! I don't feel it in the chest the same way...

Today I came to an interesting realization while browsing Peavey's site. Check out the "Channel: Ultra / Damping: Tight" video clip on this page"

http://www.peavey.com/products/brow...0456390/cat/68/begin/1/Triple+XXX%AE+Head.cfm

I ran this movie through my studio reference monitors, and as cheesy as this video is (god knows what mic setup, audio compression rate, etc. is being represented here), I can't get this good of a sound through my POD XT (with or without TS 808 pedal) or NI Guitar Rig.

I tried out the Peavey Triple XXX at my local music store a few minutes ago, and I loved it instantly. I have tried Krank, Mesa, Randall, 5150, etc. and I like this amp even more! I don't have to spend hours tweaking, it just sounds great!

So I'm selling my old Line 6 Flextone II-HD head, keeping my Vetta 4x12 cab (since it's got great sounding Celestions in it) and upgrading to the Peavey Triple XXX head. I'm getting it for $850 out the door with slip cover and foot switch. I bought a brand new SM57 mic today and I'm going to see if I can borrow a nice mic pre. I'll reamp all my guitars through this rig and post samples here soon!

 

[Nitronium Blood]

The mix you had on 'Trancemaster Funkify' was pretty damn good. I don't know what you are doing wrong in your new clip.

Amp modeling indeed does a way to go. But that does not mean you cannot get superb tones/mixes from them right now. I'm sure you know this and are just simply dis-heartened for the time being.

As for someone who absolutely kills with a Pod Xt, have you not heard of Misha Mansoor? Aka Thisfilter/bulb? The proof:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/bulbmusic.htm

I recommend you check out 'NTL' at least.

You may want to get in touch with him.

 

[Kazrog]

Listening to NTL...

Yeah, my tone on "Trancemaster Funkify" (the actual title will be "Transmission") was good - we tried this tone at first with "Feed The Enemy" but it wasn't working well in the mix, no matter what we did.

Similarly, this tone on NTL is too scooped and I can barely hear notes. It sounds almost exactly like my tone... good in some ways but not really usable in a final mix situation. The drums sound awesome though on this track! Some great programming!

I hate to have to jump to tubes, amp modeling is very convenient, but it just doesn't make sense to cut any corners with my sound. I'm tired of spending hours tweaking with amp models... I just want a good rhythm guitar sound! LOL

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Well... ok then.

 

[Kazrog]

Update - we are preparing to finish mixing up on Sunday. Here's a mix from today that I am pretty stoked on:

http://www.backmask.com/preproduction/FeedThe Enemy Mix 042805a_03.mp3

The distortion is gone!

 

[commandante]

I kind of like the song and I like the guitar tone too. I just have a small complaint, which you will probably ignore. I think the guitar-playing is amazing, especially leads. I wish you concentrated more on guitars in your song-writing instead of vocals. The vocals bore the shit out of me in this song, I don't think they fit the guitars playing behind at all.

 

[daemon097]

hey Shane...so, here are my thoughts...

Vocals - they are a little loud in the mix. Also - a little too dry for my tastes. Also - when you hit certain notes...well, after listening, I think you're hitting the notes fine, but they sound kind of wierd..to me atleast. like the word "reason" at 56 seconds in...1:46 sec in....I dunno..maybe it's just the delivery....probably just me...

The harmonies are fuckin' sick.

The snare - I dunno what's going on with it. It doesn't sound bad, but maybe doesn't fit everything else going on. It kind of has a Down sort of vibe to it....maybe a little too airy. did you put any reverb on it?

also - the snare seems to get lost every so often.

The solo - I think it needs to be a bit louder in the mix...from what I can tell, it sounds pretty good...

The overheads - I think the overheads could be a little bit louder

As for the bass - it's one of those bass tones where it's more felt than understood....but it seems fine...

I can't tell you if the entire mix is bass heavy as i'm listening on these shitty headphones..so, I'll havta to check the bass at home for ya..

but - it's definitely a pretty cool song! the structure/playing....it's all bad ass..

also - if you don't mind me asking - what mastering plugins did you use?

 

[Kazrog]

commandante - I appreciate your brutal honesty and your praise on the guitar work. Perhaps this is a taste issue. This isn't supposed to be death/black metal, or any other subcategory for that matter. I am the singer and the guitarist, so I really focus on the totality of the song. Also, I feel that the vocals are too loud in this particular mix... and if they sound "out of place" I think it's largely a mix thing.

That being said, I am writing some new material at the moment that I think is better than these promo songs, where I am able to be bit freer vocally, but that's just how it goes! I still stand behind this material, even though I know some of my fellow extreme metallers won't necesarilly dig my vocal style.

 

[commandante]

It is just a taste issue and I am sure you will also find a lot people liking this. I just don't like that kind of vocals through a whole song with heavy guitars. But as you said maybe it will sound better to me with the new mix because I honestly think vocals are too up front. At least for my taste. I am looking forward to the new mix.

To be honest I wasn't expecting you to change your musical direction, was just making a random comment really.

 

[Kazrog]

hey Shane...so, here are my thoughts...

Vocals - they are a little loud in the mix. Also - a little too dry for my tastes. Also - when you hit certain notes...well, after listening, I think you're hitting the notes fine, but they sound kind of wierd..to me atleast. like the word "reason" at 56 seconds in...1:46 sec in....I dunno..maybe it's just the delivery....probably just me...

The harmonies are fuckin' sick.

I agree about how the vocals are mixed, this will be fixed. As for my notes sounding "weird" to you, I don't know what to do about that.

The snare - I dunno what's going on with it. It doesn't sound bad, but maybe doesn't fit everything else going on. It kind of has a Down sort of vibe to it....maybe a little too airy. did you put any reverb on it?

also - the snare seems to get lost every so often.

Yes, I agree. I wish we had triggered the drums. We are sound replacing but have yet to find a sample that gets the right snare sound. The last thing on earth I want the snare to sound like is Down. LOL...

The solo - I think it needs to be a bit louder in the mix...from what I can tell, it sounds pretty good...

Thanks, I am not sure if it needs to be louder, I'll try it.

The overheads - I think the overheads could be a little bit louder

I agree, although I'm not happy with how the overheads came out, bringing them up introduces other issues in the mix. It's a balancing act really.

As for the bass - it's one of those bass tones where it's more felt than understood....but it seems fine...

That's how it's intended.

I can't tell you if the entire mix is bass heavy as i'm listening on these shitty headphones..so, I'll havta to check the bass at home for ya..

It might be, I am still deciding how I feel about that.

but - it's definitely a pretty cool song! the structure/playing....it's all bad ass..

also - if you don't mind me asking - what mastering plugins did you use?

Thanks! Waves L2. Kurt Howell is my producer and mix engineer, and the mixes are done in his studio. Most of the tracking was done in my home studio, with the exception of drums which we cut in my dad's studio. I wish we had used triggers though... and I wish I had used a real amp and not a POD XT.. but live and learn.

 

[daemon097]

no D.I.'s??

 

[Kazrog]

no D.I.'s??

For what? I did DI my guitars so I can re-amp them at some point, still waiting on my 6505+ so I will not have a chance to do this before we finish the mixes.