Recording 'Horizons' with a powerball and pitbull CL at the same time

[MDV]

Already posted this in players, but it seems that I hadnt twigged that players is more or less dead and I'd like to hear what people think - Ben if you want to delete the other thats cool.

This is a track I recorded and mixed for some mates.

Its not my song or me playing. Not that the playing needs any excuses or anything, the lad did well. Just making that clear.

I engineered it, though, and it was all on my gear

SLSMG + C-Bomb (all parts) -> Powerball -> V30/SM57 + Swamp thang/MD421
Reamped and blended with Pitbull CL -> Swamp thang/MD421

The two amps are roughly equal, all told.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3702469/Compass.mp3

Here is the myspace of the chaps in question. The track should be on there soon.

http://www.myspace.com/horizonshardcoreband

I'm gonna have to get a soundcloud account or something as well; it seems people dont like to download a song to hear it now. Ah well. I'm just a bit paranoid about the fine print of the EULAs of those things (gonna have to read them one day!). Anyone know of anything dastardly, like facebook-esque site having ownership and copyright for everything that you put on there?

[Roobubba]

Having a listen now. Sounding really nice.

By way of constructive criticism about the mix:
I'm just A/Bing this against some other hardcore I have, and some metal. Is the guitar a touch high in the mix compared to vocals? Also I'm having trouble focussing on the bass - there is a bass I assume?

Aside from that, it really does sound superb. I love the character of the amps, nice and aggressive!

Cheers,

Roo

[Roobubba]

PS I hope that's not unfair. Be aware that our bassist as a 12-valve mesa 400+ monster, so I'm used to LOUD bass!

[MDV]

Thanks for the comments (including the constructive ones)

The vocals are a little low, yes. Thats a taste thing, for me and for the vocalist actually - we like upfront guitars, and I tried to blend his voice with them rather than have it sit on top. I did that with Hadleys hope (the song on the myspace) and I didnt like the results that much (and maxwell wasnt happy with his performance either), so I tried nestling it within the mix this time. I took my que for that from Origin Antithesis (one of my favourite albums), where Lee adds a lot of aggression to the tracks and is rhythmically locked in well (aggression and good rhythm are parts of maxwells style too) but hes just under the guitars, while still being intelligable and obvious.

There is bass. Rather a lot of it actually, but again, I took steps to blend it; in this case EQing and putting in a C&P of it with a fuzz VST, to give it some dirt and mix it with the guitars, and help confer a raw, aggressive vibe to the sound.

I'm not totally happy with the guitar tones, and in the drums the snare, and toms especially stand out as being non-optimal and rubbish, respectively, but time was a factor. Thems some gay toms. I have a few things I can try to bring out some nice rolling thunder tone in them though. I'm recording these fellas properly (these are demos/practice runs) in a month or two at a local studio so I'll sort that then/by then.

[Twinfan]

I'm with Roo, I think the guitar is way too high up in the mix.  There's no thudding drums or bass, it's all guitar.  As result it loses all the low end 'punch' to my ears.

Personally, I'd back the guitars down and bring the bass drum, bass guitar and vocals up.

[Roobubba]

I'm with Roo, I think the guitar is way too high up in the mix.  There's no thudding drums or bass, it's all guitar.  As result it loses all the low end 'punch' to my ears.

Personally, I'd back the guitars down and bring the bass drum, bass guitar and vocals up.

Except I didn't say it in such a direct way :D

Fair enough, Mark - for a demo/trial run, that's sounding really good indeed! You've obviously got your eye (ears) on the bits you want to tinker with. I'm sure they'll be happy with the final result.

Roo

[MDV]

Thanks for the input fellas. I shall consider your comments.

I can hear all the above just fine on what I'm mixing and referencing on, as it happens. Which gives me other ideas - I may not be referencing very sensibly (mixing on adams, with a sub, the bass and kick are loud, and referencing on my B&Ws they are clear and present).

Now, if I can figure out how to make one, I'm gonna post a poll!

[Roobubba]

FWIW I'm listening on a pair of Shure SE-420s (the dual driver in-ear phones). On these 'phones, the bass is usually moderate (in absolute terms: not strong like a quality set of cans or moderate-to-high-end amp and speakers), but usually there in good quantity and quality. That's why I mentioned it above, if I was listening on my old headphones I wouldn't have expected to hear much bass!

[Twinfan]

Earplugs into my work laptop this end.

And Mark did ask for comments  ;)

[MDV]

I did, and they're welcome

[MDV]

The bassist just told me he 'Really liked how you mixed the bass'

I suppose you cant please everyone.

I'm still going to see if I can improve matters though.

[adamj]

sounds like the band parkway drive? (im listening on laptop speakers btw) sounds well good!!

[MDV]

Ah, yes, I think they like them. Not really my thing.

Anyway, cheers!

[Roobubba]

Oh dear, look what I started :(

[Dr. Stein]

The guitars definitely sound great on this, really professional sounding.

Vocals is a tricky one, in parts it works really well having them in the mix rather than on top of it, if you get me, but there are a few parts where they're just too quiet. Not my type of vocalist at all though, so my opinion there is definitely biased.

The drums are a bit sketchy, as you say, but in my (limited) experience drums are a really, really tough thing to get right unless you're on a blank cheque budget.

I found the bass end a bit low too, cranked my sub up a notch though and it worked really well - sometimes I find it's a compromise between how much booming I can live with and how much bass I want to hear. On this though, the bass was perfectly clear, just a bit quiet.