Hi all,
This is an instrumental rock/metal song I’ve written and produced. Not my first project, but to be honest, I never really know what I’m doing production-wise. Have a listen and let me know what’s missing. Thanks guys!
Cheers,
Jonni
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The guitars and drums sound good, but I’m not hearing much bass guitar. I think its making the mix sound a bit scooped in some parts. In the middle around 1:20 I think I hear it, but it sounds like a weird rumble. I’d also add some delay/reverb to that lead guitar part. It sounds a bit too dry to me. If think if you fix those issues it will sound great.
Hi Jonni! Great track and welcome to the forum!
I’m listening on laptop speakers at the moment. The bass isn’t coming through at all. I think I hear some in there, but its down real real low.
Here’s a suggestion - Is this mix static? (meaning there wasn’t any track automation)? Places like 0:38 are a great candidate for a subtle fader ride on both the guitar and drums…maybe a gradual increase of 3db…then bring it back down to where you had it or let it play the rest of the song out until 1.5 db higher.
You also have some opportunity to try some more time, modulation, and filter based effects through random portions of this song. For example after 1:05, after the four 16th note hits, the solo lead line could be lo-fi. Or you could throw a rotten eight ping-pong delay on it, just in that one single passage. Do this by putting a delay effect on a bus, then use automation to bring the fader for that bus up just in that one section of the song.
At 2:32, you could throw a subtle chorus, flange, or doubler on the lead guitar. But subtle. Then pull it off. The melody and the natural tone of the guitar is still the star of the performance. Don’t compromise that to the point your salad becomes all about the dressing. And the whole point of this is to diversify the textures, so if you use a delay in one part, pull if off and do something different in the next part.
In my opinion, this whole thing is calling for a little bit more texture. Don’t take as a ‘this sucks’ comment, because it doesn’t, but if there were minor ways you could use effects to diversify the layers of overdriven guitars, I think it would really make some parts of this song shine.
Was that a Mesa Rectifier amp? The tone is excellent! How’d you mic the amp?
Hi @Chandler. Thanks for the feedback! I’ll take note of the bass and the lead guitar part on the next mix.
Cheers,
Jonni
Hi @Jonathan. Wow, did not expect a very detailed suggestion. Thanks man!
Yes, the bass is so quiet because it feels protruding to me, especially during higher notes. I’ll try with a louder bass next time I upload and see what you think.
I did use some automation, for example the subtle delay that kicks in at 1:52. But yeah, I totally get your point about adding textures. Will try to add some effects here and there.
Glad you liked the guitars, but they’re not real amps. I used the Orange AD30 model in Peavey Revalver 4 
Cheers,
Jonni
Here’s an update. A more audible bass and some reverb on the guitar solo.
Jonni
The second one sounds a lot better, but I think you went just a tad too far in bringing up the bass. I would probably bring it down just a hair, or maybe even just eq out the low end of the bass just a little bit.
Oops, I messed up. You can hear some distortion at 0:10. Anyways, thanks for the feedback.
Cheers,
jonni
Hey Jonni - You’ve had some great advice already, and the new mix sounds much better.
It’s a tricky balance to get the bass audible without making the mix sound muddy. I think the bass level is pretty close to right - maybe just tame a little around 250-300hz to clear out the low mids a bit.
Some further production-focussed ideas: The drum programming sounds like it could use some attention. At present it sounds like all the hits are pretty much the same/full-velocity, so the drums sound quite robotic and stiff. Some work adjusting the velocities for a more “realistic” feeling might be in order.
It also sounds to me like the song itself suffers from a lack of focus in terms of structure and motivic/melodic development. There are a ton of great riffs and ideas flying around in all directions, but the song seems to jump from one riff/idea to the other, to the next, without fully developing anything into something memorable.
For example, the lead line you play between 2:31 and 2:36 really caught my ear as a melody that could really be developed further and form a melodic “centre” for the song.
Instrumental music is a challenging genre to work in, but I think if you took a step back from focussing so much on developing complex riffs and took a more “what might catch someone’s ear?” approach, you could find a balance between music that challenges your technical playing skills and that which might appeal to a broader audience.
Hi Andrew – you are right, the drum hits except for the snare ghost notes are more or less at full velocity. I actually activated the “humanize” function in EZdrummer (which should randomize velocities) but it doesn’t seem to work that well. Guess I have to do it manually.
The lack of structure is a conscious choice because I wanted to do something different from the past projects. But then I got too ambitious with the amount of riffs and ideas that I want to cram into a 3 and half minute song. And like you said, none of them develop into something memorable. I will definitely remember this advice for future projects. Thanks man!
Jonni
Hi all,
If anyone’s still interested, here’s my latest attempt. I did as suggested with the bass, but still couldn’t decide if it’s at the right level. Other than that, just minor tweaking in the kick and snare (removed some high freq), and made the mix louder. I appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks!
Jonni
I’m hearing the stereo width going from wide to narrow and back throughout the song. I’m hearing it mostly in the guitars. It’s like all the palm mutes are in the center and the rest of the guitar is wide. It’s almost like when the limiter is clamping down, it’s clamping down on the sides harder than the center channel.
Hi @bozmillar. Yeah I think I went a little too crazy with the limiter last time. I finally have some free time to make some adjustment. Here it is: