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[SanctusAudio]

Ok so you guys may remember a few months ago I posted a thread on mixing metal guitars. I am currently working on an album and took the advice to use double tracking with the guitars....and I couldn't believe the difference in clarity. Just wanted to thank all who helped out with this. Bellow is the newest track going on the album which will also be the opener

https://soundcloud.com/jacob-kauble/daddy-dearest

[ArnoldSavary]

That's not bad but I think your mix could still be improved. Your snare sounds really cheap, drums as a whole are rather thin, your guitars are too scooped in the mids and there's a bit too much bass on your bass/guitar combo.

I'm being really negative here and really it doesn't sound bad, but the whole just sounds kinda compressed and thin, it gets tiring on the ears after some time.

[mscottweber]

Jacob, HUGE improvements since the initial track you posted.  Its starting to sound really good!

I don't think the guitars are too scooped in the mids, it sounds more like a stylistic choice.  I, personally, prefer more mids in my guitars but what you have there isn't out of line with the metal genre.  Plus, keeping them thin and scooped certainly makes room for the vocals, which are VERY mid-heavy and prominent (again, a personal preference).

The drums do leave something to be desired.  In my opinion, drum sounds are much more important than guitar sounds in heavier music like this.  Which samples are you using?

Also, the mix sounds too compressed and is pumping A LOT!  This could be playing a role in why the drums don't sound right.  I would use a much less heavy hand on the master bus compressor if you are using one, and certainly go a bit easier on the brickwall limiter.  Sure, music needs to be loud to compete with everything else out there, but its better to be a little on the softer side than to ruin it with over-compression/limiting.

[SanctusAudio]

Thank you both for the guidance as well as the compliments. I was wondering though what you mean by "The drums don't sound right". Are you talking dynamics, the mix ect.? As it stands right now what I plan on doing is writing the full album, shopping it around various places to get some views on the mix and then making a list of things I need to change before I throw it up on bandcamp.

[Aamp]

Really enjoyed this track.  Instrument selection and compositions make me envious!  I'm not in a place to offer much advise, like I listen to on just generic headphones on the PC at werk, but I noticed the ceiling of the track seems almost limited low-ish or something?  I just mean in the volume control mixer in Win7, it shows the peaks just by looking hovering on average around 75%.  I guess ordinarily, I would, just myself, personally, limit my peaks to -0.5db, pretty close to 100% only as a choosing of my own (my mixes are still meh); but it seemed almost like yours is "squished down" a bit more (?)  It's like there's maybe more breathing room (in the height of the waveform) available for dynamics to your overall mix is all I'm trying to say Cheers, .

[Aamp]

Scratch the whole comment above about the limiting, it might be something SoundCloud is doing in the conversion, my latest upload does the same as commented, but not on another music hosting site, and my volume is full on SoundCloud, and my other older songs uploaded on SoundCloud don't do this, only the most recent upload, and and.. okay, bye 

[Jasmine]

First, let me say: awesome! The increase in power is enough alone to make me want to headbang into a brick wall (figuratively speaking).

I was wondering though what you mean by "The drums don't sound right". Are you talking dynamics, the mix ect.?

What I hear, when the drums come in, is a very thin, centered sound. The snare as well, has a very thin, almost midi like quality to it.

I want to compare it to the double/bass and snare timbre in Animals as Leaders:




The bass drum is heavy and works as a powerhouse with the bass guitar. Also, the snare is more to the forefront, and, though it is crisp, it has... resonance! Rather than, "Ta" for a hit, it kind of has a "Ta -ah" aura, or a tapering of sorts.

I'm probably talking out my aftend, and you know a HECK OF A LOT MORE about writing prog metal than me, but that's what I hear. I think it goes back to your samples.

If you found yourself a real powerful set of Bass Drum samples, it would help fill in some of the bottom that I believe the piece is lacking.

[ZackParrish]

The guitar on the right sounds like it has more presence than the one on the left. Seems unbalanced. The compression is way too much, or limiter, or both.  It's so overcompressed at this point it's hard to tell. If you are trying to boost the volume of the overall mix, use the compressor on the individual tracks, otherwise other parts that are already loud will start bleeding through the mix and make the full mix pretty muddy.

The kick seems okay in terms of tone but with the compression it is a bit overbearing. The snare sounds like a toy. It lacks a lot of the punch you'd normally hear in a metal/rock track. The cymbals are dying underneath the overcompression and the majority of the time I can barely tell they are even doing anything. The reverb on the vocals make them sound a bit too separate from the main mix... since the verb on the rest is very subtle in comparison to it's native volume.

The synth parts seem okay but with the compression it's a little hard to tell. The bass sounds a bit robotic at times... is it a sample? All the guitars(left right and bass) are pretty bass heavy, and really if you are going to have a bass part your guitars can really ease off on the bass range to round things out better. I would suggest also on the snare to panning it slightly left or right. If the kick is consistently hitting on the same beats as the bass/guitars, then you should bring it's presence/bass down a bit as well. The bass guitar and kick will reinforce each other naturally if you mix them right, and the guitars will round out the mix by adding in the low and high mids. This should open up more room for your synth parts in the treble frequencies.

You kind of have to mix individual parts with the intention of them working with the other parts, and expect one part to fill in the hole the others leave. You're going in the right direction, you just might have missed a few turns here and there...

[SanctusAudio]

The guitar on the right sounds like it has more presence than the one on the left. Seems unbalanced. The compression is way too much, or limiter, or both.  It's so overcompressed at this point it's hard to tell. If you are trying to boost the volume of the overall mix, use the compressor on the individual tracks, otherwise other parts that are already loud will start bleeding through the mix and make the full mix pretty muddy.

The kick seems okay in terms of tone but with the compression it is a bit overbearing. The snare sounds like a toy. It lacks a lot of the punch you'd normally hear in a metal/rock track. The cymbals are dying underneath the overcompression and the majority of the time I can barely tell they are even doing anything. The reverb on the vocals make them sound a bit too separate from the main mix... since the verb on the rest is very subtle in comparison to it's native volume.

The synth parts seem okay but with the compression it's a little hard to tell. The bass sounds a bit robotic at times... is it a sample? All the guitars(left right and bass) are pretty bass heavy, and really if you are going to have a bass part your guitars can really ease off on the bass range to round things out better. I would suggest also on the snare to panning it slightly left or right. If the kick is consistently hitting on the same beats as the bass/guitars, then you should bring it's presence/bass down a bit as well. The bass guitar and kick will reinforce each other naturally if you mix them right, and the guitars will round out the mix by adding in the low and high mids. This should open up more room for your synth parts in the treble frequencies.

You kind of have to mix individual parts with the intention of them working with the other parts, and expect one part to fill in the hole the others leave. You're going in the right direction, you just might have missed a few turns here and there...

Thank you Zack for the guidance here. The problem is undoubtedly to much compression. I use it like toilet paper. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance compression and keep the composition as loud as I want it. Its a hurdle I'm attempting to get over at the moment.