[w00dy]

all the instruments are on different tracks except the bass and verse vocals. (so if im to change them it would mean re recording it (but thats no biggie)

could it be as simple a case of eq tweeqing? or is there something more fundamentally wrong?

w.d.y.l.

cheers

[zooloo]

The mix in general needs working on...

EQ, compression and ducking for the vocals for a start...

What did you use to record this and how?

This post has been edited by zooloo: 03 February 2008 - 07:57 PM

[igorski]

The kick drum does a fine job at covering the low end. The guitar could do with more sparkle to shine through though as it battles with the vocals, which indeed makes it hard to discern anything.

And there lies the problem, it's better to record everything with a general idea of the frequency range it has to occupy, as it's fine to CUT eq afterwards, but not to BOOST it (amplifying what's hardly there will kill the sound). I'd say turn the kick drum down a tad in volume and cut a bit around 900 Hz-ish so it loses a bit of it's "upper body". The guitar should have a slight dip in the lower frequencies, and ideally have a lot of sparkle at above 8 kHz (just re-record it with a lot of treble on the amp). The vocals should fill in nicely afterwards, just boost their volume, but ideally you'll want to have it sit in the range of 3 kHz.

Hope that helps. Go on and post the results in the songwriting forum.

[rasav]

Are your vocal centered? (I'm working with e-machine speakers here.)
Not to be banal but part placement in the stero listneing feild has just as much to do with sound as EQ.

This post has been edited by rasav: 04 February 2008 - 12:04 PM

[bobbyjoe]

Are your vocal centered? (I'm working with e-machine speakers here.)
Not to be banal but part placement in the stero listneing feild has just as much to do with sound as EQ.

Sorry this is so late
AND try and use a few different types of speakers, such as: your moniters, your PA, your Boom Box, your car stereo, headphones and your computer speakers. It has to sound good on pretty much everything. Mastering is as important as a good mix.
Start here: http://www.tweakhead...erfect_mix.html
Lots of great stuff on this site

[w00dy]

yeah it is badly mixed. but it has helped to give me and idea of why i desparately need some space in my music, everything is all bunched up giving the listener an assulted feel (but tbh i just wanted to get something done). ive started to now give my instruments room to breath (in my little personal jams) rather that just everything at once. as captian correlli said the 'rest' is the most important part of the music

[ninjato]

Are you recording this thru a mic? or straight in.

I think it's a combination of equipment, space. Musically it's OK. Not my kind of tune but I saw nothing wrong w/ the tune. Playing w/ more "space" isn't going to make the recording sound any cleaner.

basically it comes down to getting more/better/expensive mics, and/or record plugging straight in and bypass mics.

This post has been edited by ninjato: 04 April 2008 - 11:14 AM

[scania26]

drums quieter

move main vocal to the centre and compress it

move other vocal slightly to the right

double the guitar

add a bass if you can

less reverb on the vocal

[luckystrike]

Its something i have difficulty with as well all my tracks end up fighting eachother rather than mixing together. I.e i get the guitars sounding beautifull but the vocals sound like gash. Or visa versa. A lot can be achived with EQ that is to rather drop frequencies than boost them i.e a drop in 100 hz can bring out the guitar rather than rising a higher frequency which can result in a harsher sound. i found my three fav tools are izotope ozone, a 32 band eq called karma, and a compressor called gold. My mixes still stink mind you but i get the general demonstration across which is what im actually after

Ideally having great equipment to start off with is a big pluss but not all of us can do that.

[noodle69]

i got the feeling you need to add compression to the guitars and vox , move them both forward in the mix , on different speakers , the drums move back , and the bass in the opposite speaker to guitar. the main vox could remain centred so that they will cut thru more.

reminded me of the manchester indie dance scene from the hacienda days. very happy mondays , inspiral carpetesque !

[grungepuppy88]

Try using LPFs and HPFs on the eqs and cut as much as you possibly can get away with. Compression is the next step. If you do both of these and still have mud theres always key-in compression techniques that you can use to back off one track a little to allow another to come to the forefront. Higher frequencies give the mix life and maneuverability, while the lower ones give it a solid foundation and groove. Theres also a good compression technique for acoustic guitars that gives it a great deal of sparkle and cuts back the drone in the mid frequencies that you might want to save for other tracks. Fast attack, slow release, keep the hard knee at 0, ratio at 1:8, adjust threshold to taste and give it a lot of make-up gain. I generally like to compress the hell out of any backup vocals and then give it some makeup gain. Good compression of the drums will clear a ton of mud. Getting the kick and bass to live in peace with each other clears a ton of confusion out of any mix.