Wimpy drums in a big mix

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drumsound
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Post by drumsound » Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:00 pm

jhcore wrote:Infinite thanks for everyone's advice! I tried pretty much every suggestion and now feel like I'm in the right ballpark. Ultimately, it was a combo of parallel compression, samples snuck in well beneath, reverb tweaking, and some eq. I still feel like the snare is too loud/too trebly, but well beyond what I was working with just a few days ago.

https://soundcloud.com/jhcore/ever-fell-iv-1
This is pretty cool. I like drums up front, but I think they could come down a tad. I like the cross stick snare, but the BD is a little much, and the tom sticks out a bit too far for something that isn't a "big tom event."

jhcore
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Post by jhcore » Sun Nov 30, 2014 5:48 am

Thanks! I appreciate the comments. This is still definitely a work in progress, and I'm waiting on the artist's feedback on this initial mix. But in the interim, I can address these concerns that you mentioned.

Edit: newer version:
https://soundcloud.com/jhcore/ever-fell-v

(Early morning mix...might the white noise in my head making me do wacky things!)

drumsound
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Post by drumsound » Sun Nov 30, 2014 1:26 pm

I think the toms sit a lot better now. I'd like the hear more bass and less bass drum still.

Also, if you're in the midst of mixing, why is there still talking in the vocal? You are in a DAW, right? I'd have the stuff gone very early on so I could concentrate on things that are supposed to be there.

jhcore
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Post by jhcore » Sun Nov 30, 2014 3:34 pm

You're right. I was so caught up in the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic that I lost track of those details. But here's a version with the on-mic mention of a fadeout.

My monitors (D5s) don't have a huge low-end imprint, so I had to strap on some on cans to hear how that kick was rattling my jaw. I'm still not crazy how it plays in the wall of guitar parts.

https://soundcloud.com/jhcore/ever-fell-fadeout

drumsound
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Post by drumsound » Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:47 pm

jhcore wrote:You're right. I was so caught up in the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic that I lost track of those details. But here's a version with the on-mic mention of a fadeout.

My monitors (D5s) don't have a huge low-end imprint, so I had to strap on some on cans to hear how that kick was rattling my jaw. I'm still not crazy how it plays in the wall of guitar parts.

https://soundcloud.com/jhcore/ever-fell-fadeout
The mix is pretty good. I love the singer's voice, and the guitar tones/bits. I still feel like the BD is mixed at "rock club" level, meaning that it's the loudest or second loudest thing. I never understood that mix philosophy.

jhcore
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Post by jhcore » Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:45 am

Thanks. The singer/songwriter is really in to having the drums as smacking and larger than life as can be. We got together this weekend to listen to some mixes on my monitors. My thinking was that having him hear the songs in a higher-fidelity environment might show him how exaggerated the kick is. However, it seemed to do the opposite and now he wants more!

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Post by drumsound » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:07 am

The customer is always right!

:lol:

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