Hi! Here’s the first song I’m working on for a new metal project. Aiming for a modern hi fi aesthetic. I “finished” it yesterday but this morning I decided to try re-EQing the guitars from scratch. I thought the old tone was a little harsh when I cranked it in the car. However, I’ve uploaded both files to see in case anyone prefers the old one All feedback, first impressions, notes would be appreciated!
Besides mix notes - looking for some opinions - do you think this song is compelling as an instrumental or does it sound like it’s missing vocals?
Edit: tips on how to get upload to show in the nice embedded player?
This is really cool! Mix-wise I prefer the second one. Guitars sound great. Watch for low-mid buildup on the double-kick parts. I’d love to hear a more angry bass tone, like distorted mids/upper mids that help it poke out of the mix a bit more. Maybe snare could be beefed up a bit… that’s a personal preference thing though. I’m assuming it’s sampled drums? Forgive me if it’s not!! Only reason I say that is, most drummers can’t sustain hitting the snare that hard and consistent during blast beats (like the intro). Something you might consider is bringing down the velocity some on the snare hits during that passage. Still sounds good though, so take all these with the requisite grains o’ salt.
The vocals thing is tricky for me… I like the song as-is, especially at this length as an instrumental. BUT I think it would sound killer with vocals… the mix and some arrangement points I think would have to change a bit though. If you were keeping it as an instrumental, maybe add some kinda melodic element… something to serve as a “hook” for the listener beyond the great riffs.
Thanks for checking it out and the detailed feedback! Glad you’re digging it! Some good points to think about.
I do have a bass tone from another project that is more fuzz sounding on the highs, I might pull that in and see what it sounds like. I agree with the double bass building up the low frequencies. That is something I was fighting with, trying to balance the bass and kick. I wonder about automating it in the double bass tremolo picking part which is where it seems the heaviest.
Generally what I’ll do for this is automate a small cut on the low end on the kick, like maybe a couple of dB on a low shelf or maybe identify where the buildup is and cut there… so in those parts it reduces the gunk. Check the guitars too, they’re pretty meaty so they may be contributing. Maybe try sidechaining the bass to the kick as well, so when the kick hits it slightly ducks the low end of the bass. That’s generally a good trick for getting the kick to punch through, and controlling the two of them fighting with each other.
It’s a constant battle with this style of music… balancing the kick against the bass but then the bass against the guitars… everything wants to be heavy and powerful.
New version
-Found a really annoying low-mid frequency on the guitars that I think was the main offender making it sound muddy especially in headphones
-Side chained kick and bass
-Bass tone. Added a little more distortion/boost on the highs (I’m processing lows and highs separately)
-Cleaned up tracking on a couple parts
All feedback, first impressions, notes would be appreciated!