Motorcrashes - New studio recordings

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:04 pm

Okay, so ordre du jour will be getting the drums more balanced.
Try not to fuck with LIBI too much, though I still think the vocals are too loud.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:06 pm

Mages wrote:the snare is kinda there, it's a bit thin though, all top end. needs more mid-range punch. I actually don't mind the drums in most of the tracks but isn't there a kick somewhere? it sounds like maybe the whole kit has been mid-scooped and the low end is totally lost on my little speakers. you can create a mix that will work across a wider range of playback environments by leaving in some low-mids.

I'm just knit picking though really because mostly it sounds really great. oh, and the first track sounds great all around.

Knit pick all you like dude, tear it appart, if you feel you need to, that's why I'm putting this up there.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:33 pm

laterallateral wrote:Try not to fuck with LIBI too much, though I still think the vocals are too loud.

this was my impression when listened to it on the laptop first. but on iPod headphones it sounded more balanced. something you may want to try is having the vocals come in at the same level as the other instruments but having the other instruments dip down a bit in level at the same time.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:35 pm

like dip down dynamically with the vocals?

I mean, dip down in volume in reverse relation to the vocals peaking

Edit: Shit ok, I get what you're saying now.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:30 pm

serfx wrote:gonna give it the drive around town test a little later today
will report back

HOLY SHIT! Don't you drive some kind of 80's Trans-Am/Firebird/Camaro? Cause that's pretty much our self-imposed yardstick. If it sounds good driving a bad-ass car, anything else is extra. That's the bar, basically.

Do report experience.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:11 am

laterallateral wrote:like dip down dynamically with the vocals?

I mean, dip down in volume in reverse relation to the vocals peaking

I think he means in reverse.

Just keep in mind, part of what gives it that gun club feel is the over powering presence of the vocals. It's not a bad thing.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:30 am

Totally. Not looking to bring them down too, too much. I think they could be a teensy bit lower in the mix but still very much on top of everything. I think Mages might have the right idea. I'll get the engineer to give it a try for sure before we resort to lowering the gain.

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:55 am

laterallateral wrote:
serfx wrote:gonna give it the drive around town test a little later today
will report back
HOLY SHIT! Don't you drive some kind of 80's Trans-Am/Firebird/Camaro? Cause that's pretty much our self-imposed yardstick. If it sounds good driving a bad-ass car, anything else is extra. That's the bar, basically.

Do report experience.

87 camaro
i need to toss it onto cassette to do the field test in my car..

field tested in my bass players 06 charger though, songs all sound killer
needs more kick drum MOAR!
cymbols still a bit loud
vox at a good level, solo's could be bumped up a bit more..

also ran it through a jeep that the other guitarist drives, pretty much his comments reflect mine, but he wants it spaced out moar, like pan guitars 50L and 50R have the drums in the 20L - 20R with the kick and bass right down the middle, hard pan the snare to one side and the hat just left of it (or right i suppose on how yoru drummers setup is..)

these are obviously just thoughts..

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:50 am

would you say it's a.... bitchin' camaro?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:19 pm

serfx wrote:also ran it through a jeep that the other guitarist drives, pretty much his comments reflect mine, but he wants it spaced out moar, like pan guitars 50L and 50R have the drums in the 20L - 20R with the kick and bass right down the middle, hard pan the snare to one side and the hat just left of it (or right i suppose on how yoru drummers setup is..)

these are obviously just thoughts..

All very interesting ideas. It's never occured to me to space out a drum kit in a mix, to reflect the way it's physically setup.
Extend my thanks to your bandmates for the feedback. Feel free to hook them up with some copies, too. Hit me up for DL codes or you know, dub them some tapes.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 6:34 am

ok, I am at home now and can listen to it on a couple different "Hi-Fi" setups and tell you what I think.

but first, I am going to make a sandwich....

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 9:04 am

okay, yeah so I listened to it on some computer speakers with a sub and then a stereo system with some big speakers. even with the big speakers it's still hard to make out the kick. and when I can hear it it's just like sub bass. in rock music the kick and snare are like the most essential parts of the drum kit.

what does your drummer say about this mix? does he like how he sounds?

and yes, it is the norm to pan the kit accordingly with how it is layed out IRL. it sounds like the overheads are panned (I can hear a bit more ride on one side).

also, may I suggest that each instrument be nudged a bit with EQ into their respective frequency ranges. it's like the guitars, bass and the kick are all right on top of each other, making it a bit hard to make out what they're doing. in some ways this is actually pretty cool but I think with some careful EQ work you could make each instrument pop out just a little a bit more. this might have been done a little already... and thinking about it, it might be the reason the drums sound like they do, he might have cut out a huge chunk of the frequency range because there was guitar leakage all over it..