New Song (prog metal) Some Feedback please!

[ascard]

Hi everyone!!

Well is me again, here's a new song that I recorded, again same project and again still looking for drummer, singer and another guitar player hahahaha.

I would really like your feedback, Do you like the song of not? And feedback for the mix, I'm still learning and wanting to get better and really appreciate every feedback you guys give. Thank you!!!

Equipment: Musicman JP 13, seymour duncan 805, Protone Dead Horse Overdrive Deluxe, Mesa Boogie Mark V and Dual Rectifier, and Two Notes Torpedo Live.

Hope you like it guys! Thank you!

https://soundcloud.com/garitos-e-thulu/stormy-days-mix-ver1

https://soundcloud.com/garitos-e-thulu/ ... s-mix-ver1

[ajaxlepinski]

That was pretty cool!

I like the lead at 8:27....
This lead seemed like an all too short highlight in an otherwise long song.
Nevertheless... great job!!!

[VTM]

What happened at 1:58? Is that a little drum fill?

I like the Iron Maiden meets Dream Theater vibe. The song's arrangement kept my interest all the way through.

As much as I like the bass playing I would mix the bass lines a little lower, but that's just my personal preference. Obviously the bass line is extremely import here and I can understand why you mixed it that way.

What kind of bass did you use and how did you record it?

[ascard]

Hi guys!

Ajaxlepinski Thank you bro!! Glad you like the song!! About what you said yea, before that part comes a solo but I haven't had the time to record it and wanted to get the song out so I can keep looking for musicians and to see how I'm doing at the mix xD Is like my 4th mix but really want to get it right! Did you like the guitar tones?

Slobber Rod, Thank you man!! It make me feel good that you like it and that you think is a nice song!!, Loool I just heard the min 1:58 I don't know what happened that's so weird maybe It happened when the file was being converted to mp3 and the drum sampler went weird don't know why but I'll fix it Thank you for notice!!. About the bass, to be honest I really don't know how loud It is cause I did a initial mix before the one I upload to soundcloud and went I went to the car and test it it was awful no bottom no bass so I though that maybe my speakers have to much bass so I eq some stuff and raise the bass volume again hahaha.

For bass I use vst trillian from spectrasonics, the bass I know couldn't come and record the parts and I don't have any bass so I had to do it that way I hope is not that bad haha.

[ajaxlepinski]

The guitar tones were spot on.
Thi mix was fine but, I agree with Rob about the bass being loud the whole time. I like how it is up front but, I thinh the song will benefit if it is backed off during some parts where it doesn't need to be prominent. It will make the song more interesting if instruments get louder (when needed) and then fall to the back.

[nightflameauto]

Great playing and tones. I dig the tune, though it's a bit long for my tastes these days. Though to be completely honest it did hold my attention the entire time so maybe the length is just fine.

Really dig the bass lines. Great job.

[VTM]

The guitar tones were spot on.
Thi mix was fine but, I agree with Rob about the bass being loud the whole time. I like how it is up front but, I thinh the song will benefit if it is backed off during some parts where it doesn't need to be prominent. It will make the song more interesting if instruments get louder (when needed) and then fall to the back.

[ascard]

Ajaxlepinski Thank you bro!!!. Oh yeah I'll do that with the bass, it seems that my speaker have too little bass I believe Lol!!!

Nightflameauto Thank you!!!! I'm really happy you like it even though it was a little long

Thank you guys!

[ajaxlepinski]

The guitar tones were spot on.
Thi mix was fine but, I agree with Rob about the bass being loud the whole time. I like how it is up front but, I thinh the song will benefit if it is backed off during some parts where it doesn't need to be prominent. It will make the song more interesting if instruments get louder (when needed) and then fall to the back.

Pardon me sir! Rod it is!

[RIFF]

I liked it! Kinda skipped thru it a bit cuz im watching a cheap horror flick. My only critique is that the drums are obviously fake, but I see youre looking for a drummer, so I guess you gotta do what u gotta do till then!

[VTM]

The guitar tones were spot on.
Thi mix was fine but, I agree with Rob about the bass being loud the whole time. I like how it is up front but, I thinh the song will benefit if it is backed off during some parts where it doesn't need to be prominent. It will make the song more interesting if instruments get louder (when needed) and then fall to the back.

Pardon me sir! Rod it is!

[ascard]

Hey guys!

RIFF You like it! That meant a lot to me guys. Well the drums... yeah I'm still struggling with that really want then to sound better lol. I really wish I could get a drummer hahaha.

[VTM]

Hey guys!

RIFF You like it! That meant a lot to me guys.

Sure beats rig talk, doesn't it?

[ascard]

Hahahaha Slobber Rod, yeaaa Nobody comment or gave me a feedback over there, I think nobody like it there lol

[nakedzen]

Clip sounds great! I agree on the bass, maybe automate the volume on it for parts that don't need it to be so up front.

Only thing I'd change is add some 2-3dB 50-60Hz on the kick to make it thump. But I like big sounding kicks and this song doesn't necessarily need those.

[RIFF]

Hey guys!

RIFF You like it! That meant a lot to me guys. Well the drums... yeah I'm still struggling with that really want then to sound better lol. I really wish I could get a drummer hahaha.

What program are you using for drums?

[ascard]

Hi guys!

nakedzen Yea I'm doing that on the bass right now. Ok I'll do that too hahahaa I just notice too that the snare is to quiet right now.

RIFF I'm using Superior Drummer I've seen people do a lot of really nice things with it but somehow I haven't been able to do something good lol

[RIFF]

Sounds like youve got a clear idea for your drums & are programming them yourself, rather than using any of the drummer-played midis? If so thats great.. the creativity & time spent is more respectable!

Im just using EZ Drummer 2. I poke out a pattern & find a midi file that matches it close, because I dont wanna wait for a real drummer...

[ascard]

Yea when I'm writing the songs I just imagine how would the drums be and them I program the drums, but I supposed that a drummer would do better hahahaha, I dont like to use pre played midis because I don't seen to find what I want.

I had EZDrummer 2 but somehow I got even poorest result :/

Hahaha i can't wait for a real drummer either I'm still looking for one hahaha, and a singer too lol sadly I can't sing anything hahaha.

[nakedzen]

How are you treating the drums? Here's my free plugin list that are great for drums:

Snare - Stillwell Rocket, Flux Bittersweet, Dreampoint Freeverb (use the low pass function on it)
Kick - Gvst GClip, GComp

[DNW]

One of the biggest problems with your drum sequencing is the dynamics. Or more, the complete lack of it. It just sounds like everything is at 127 velocity all the time. It sounds very mechanical, and as a result I find it both distracting and rather uninteresting. Plus. you throw a lot of potential groove out the window when you don't use any dynamics.

Also, your hi-hats are annoyingly loud. This might somewhat solve itself though if you sequenced some dynamics into it. But keep in mind, the hats and other cymbals are sitting up high in the mix (in terms of frequencies). The only thing they're really going to be competing with for space in your mix really is the real upper end of the guitar sound. So you can get away with dropping them down a bit without them disappearing into the mix, seeing as there's bugger all competition up there. Usually if I solo my drums, it sounds like I've completely knobbed it up and made the drums way louder than the cymbals. Un-solo it though and it makes sense.

Yeah there are some times when you actually want the hats to be at the same constant level for a certain groove, but even then I wouldn't just crank it all to 127 flat. Actually, I don't think I ever really use 127 for the hats in S2.0 even for a hard hit. A drummer doesn't hit with the exact same force hit after hit, even if that's what they're trying to do. So sequence a little variation into it to make it sound more natural. And then there's accenting. The bits with the clean guitars 'n' shit, with closed and open hats, I might make the closed hat hits a bit softer so the open hit pop out more. Same with fills on the toms or whatever, accent the first note of the beat, or the first note of a grouping, or whatever.

I kinda stopped paying attention after the first few minutes coz I'm... well, writing this post now. But in the beginning, the lead part sounded too low in the mix. Or if it's supposed to be low in the mix, it didn't sound as though it was intentional. I'd probably maybe add a little ambience to the guitar to make it sound like it's supposed to be a bit further back, maybe pan it a little to one side or something. I think in general your lead parts could do with some ambience to help them sit in the mix a bit better. A little of a warm delay, or reverb, or a bit of both, can go a long way.

Speaking of ambience, assuming when you say Superior you mean S2.0, you also have plenty of ambient mic options available, which it sounds like you're just not really using. The kit basically sounds like every part of it has been close mic'd and for minimum bleed and that's it. Using the ambient mics can help make the drums sound bigger, while also helping them sit in the mix better. It can really help with getting the cymbals to blend into the mix better and be less right in your face. There are all kinds of whacky things you can do with them, especially with several different ambient channels available to play with.

I'd probably also want to beef the low end of the kick a bit, which in S2.0 is delightfully easy to cheat your way into. Layer on a separate kick x-drum and mix it in purely for low end thump. Or just use the separate mic channels to do a similar thing. Use the front mic ("KD In" I think they call it) for the attack, and then the other mic purely for the thump. Filter the shit out of it, compress it to death, whatever. The stock Avatar kicks are even easier coz the KD Sub channel is half way there already, and then you've still got I think another two channels to shape the rest of the kick sound.

If you have any of the Toontrack MIDI stuff, maybe open a few of them up and take a look at in detail. They're played by actual drummers, so maybe you can get some ideas on how drummers accent or pull back on different things.

[ascard]

Thank you nakedzen I'm going to try those!!

BNW Ohhh thank you bro! thank you very for taking the time for the feedback, I really appreciated. I'll apply your advice and try a new mix and see how it goes!! Thank you!!!!

[DNW]

Thank you nakedzen I'm going to try those!!

BNW Ohhh thank you bro! thank you very for taking the time for the feedback, I really appreciated. I'll apply your advice and try a new mix and see how it goes!! Thank you!!!!

No problem.
To give you a bit of an idea, I put together a comparison of two versions of the same bit of drums. The first pass is how it was actually done, and the 2nd is the same thing snapped to the grid and all at 127 velocity.
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13141940

Also, there's no reverb on those drums, that's all the ambient mics in S2.0. It also only uses the FX within the plugin, nothing external. It's not quite how I'd have my own drums sounding, but this was someone else's project that I did the drums for. It might sound a bit ridiculous on its own, but actually in the mix it doesn't sound so absurd.

If you want to hear a comparison of the same part with and without the ambient mics, here's a clip I did ages ago. Note, this one's a fair bit louder as I'm guessing I smashed the buggery out of it with a limiter. But you'll notice it's more than about just adding some nice reverby trails, it adds a lot to the sound. The snare sounds beefier, the cymbals fill the space more rather than just sounding thin and dead, the toms sound a lot bigger. The only thing that isn't in any of the ambient channels is the kick drum. It might work for other things, but where there's lots of blast beats and flat out double kick, a kick drum with a huge roomy sound isn't a great idea.
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7891782

[colejustesen]

The song seems pretty cool... I am only partly through it right now. The rhythm guitar at 3:44 sounds great! I kind of feel like the guitars are overwhelming the drums just a bit, and at moments it feels like all the parts are struggling against one another to come through. However there are parts that sound incredibly clear. I think the bass sounds good, but it seems a bit boomy in a way that kind of takes from the drums. I think with some proper eq this could really come together. Are you using any kind of spectrum analyzer to see where the frequencies are fighting against each other? That might help find areas to adjust the eq.

That is a great sounding clip though! Keep up the good work

Cole

[ascard]

Woooooow

Guys sorry for the late reply!!!

DNW That was awesome Thank you!!!

Colejustesen Thank you!!! I'm really happy you like it. And you are right, I'm fixing that issue now hahaha Thank you!.