Great Playing And Mixing From Our Very Own Timmyb |
|
|
|
|
Jun 16 2014, 10:49 AM
|
|
Hey guys and gals!
I am very proud to present this young man's work: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...st&p=689144 Slash's 'Starlight' - recorded and mixed by the man himself  I think he did an amazing job and I will let him tell us the story of this mix. I must also tell you that he started from scratch, knowing close to nothing about mixing and because he researched and tried hard, he came up with a great result!Another thing - his work is living proof that you don't need uber high end gear to manage to get a good sounding mix at home! I hope he will take a bit of time to tell us exactly what he used so that you guys will be convinced  Let's hear it for Tim! |
 |
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 16 2014, 03:23 PM
|
|
Congratulations Timmy on this great work! I can notice that you could get a very nice sound in the overall mix. At first I didn't remembered the song and I had this first thoughts:
- Everything is played top level! Your guitar playing is excellent on this track. - Nice guitar tone, it's clean an balanced. - That bass sounds very Gun's & Roses. - Drums are ok, but they lack some punch. Then I decided to compare your track with the original one. Comparing is one of the best ways to improve mixes, even more if you are mixing a cover song. However, our ears used to get tired and to response less after many hours and days of practice, so it's good to give them a rest or to ask anybody else for some feedback. When I compare your mix with the original I find these differences: - Slash's guitar sound is a bit dirtier and has a different color compared to your playing. It seems that he is using a very clean Marshal channel with the addition of a tube screamer which gives that high dirty sound that isn't metal distortion, it's more like an overdrive. Also, I think that he is using the central or neck pick up position to get that mid range color. - Drums sound with more compression in the original track and cymbals sound more open. The overall mix includes some more air that could be achieved with some more frequencies over 15 Khz. Also, I note some differences in Kick and Snare Eq. You could experiment a bit more with them. Listen only to the kick on both versions (yours and original) and try to emulate the EQ. I can notice that the original kick has more low end compared to you, experiment increasing some db at 50 HZ and also increase a bit the high kick sound, trying to find where is the high frequency that can be heard in the original (around 2500 and 5000 hz). - Reverb. Your mix sounds dry compared to Slash's track and I think that the difference is mostly on your drums. You should add some reverb to snare, cymbals and room channels, and maybe put room channel a bit louder in the mix. Pay attention to ambiance when you hear both takes and you'll see what I mean. The most difficult thing to get when we work at home with VSTi and programming midi is mixes that sound as big as studio mixes that include real instruments, so that's where we have to put emphasis. Reverb, compression and EQ are the tools we have to emulate it. Keep on the good work! -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 16 2014, 06:47 PM
|
|
that was some damn good playing
I would not have guessed that intro was played on an ibanez. --------------------  You say 'minor pentatonic ' like it's a bad thing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 17 2014, 07:18 AM
|
|
Job well done indeed. Nice overall mix, although I would bring the bassdrum a bit more to the foreground, but that's my personal taste.
One thing is definitely missing: a guitar solo! Now go find a singer and complete the track
-------------------- My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SparrowLesPaul
Download my music for free: http://jeroenvanderput.bandcamp.com/album/...tal-heavy-metal Listen to my first mini album "Victory" on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jeroen-van-der-put/s...tory-mini-album My facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JeroenOnFire |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 19 2014, 02:16 PM
|
|
Yesterday, we have been discussing about this and a new mix at the chat room with Timmy. We had a really cool chat where we talked about how things changed nowadays thanks to technologies and the fact that everybody is able to record and mix at their homes. We listed pros (as being able to produce your own music) and cons (like the fact that musicians aren't as precise as in the past because they know that everything can be edited).
Timmy shared with me that cover he recorded of the song Wheels by Foo Fighters. His guitar sound is amazing on that track, he did a killer job. Everybody should listen to those guitars! We also detected things to improve on drums and bass but he is definitely improving his mixing skills very fast. Congrats Timmy and thanks the the cool talk at the Chat Room.
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 19 2014, 03:20 PM
|
|
Just my opinion on the mix based on the mp3, which of course isn't ideal.
It's a pretty good mix and I've heard a lot worse recently. I'm not going to compare it to the original not least as I haven't got it so just my thoughts on the mix as it is: I agree with much of what Gab said although I'd suggest that he needs to be careful with reverb on the drums as it will push the kit further backwards. I also agree that there is a lack of air and also shimmer. Just my opinion but I'd go a bit further and say that the mix tends to be dominated by the lows and low/mid mid range though to some extent that's probabably more an issue with the original arrangement. I think the bass is fighting the kick at times and so there needs to be a touch more separation between the two. The bass and kick also wallow and ring on a touch. I'd suggest that you look at your times on your compressors. The bass for me is also quite a long way back in the field and i think it needs to come forward. Cymbal hits and snare aren't always tonally consistent. Some of the rythym guitar part are a bit lost in the mix and there's a lack of space, L to R and F to B. I think some of the rythym guitar in the R channel has too much reverb (about 1/3rd through) and ends up being indefinite, washy and pushed too far back. The track for me is a bit too compressed but that is probably more to do with it being an mp3 than the mix. I would say though that the distorted lead intro to me doesn't sound that 'musical' in terms of the distortion/overdrive voicing and it also seems a bit flat. Anyway as i said it's certainly not a bad mix and better than quite a few I've heard recently. So all in all a good job for a first attempt. -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 23 2014, 10:12 PM
|
|
Congrats on all your hard work!! The links don't work for me? Anyone else?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 24 2014, 07:49 PM
|
|
Hi Timmy! Great to hear again from you working on this track. Your new take is much clearer compared with the previous one. The drum samples are not helping, both the snare and kick are a bit weak and sound like samples, not like a real drum. It would be good if you experiment with other drum vsti that will make the job easier. Nowadays I'm using SSD 3.5 with Kontakt and it is really good.
About the overall EQ. I hear it ok but I also feel some lack of bass in my monitors, mostly in the low end of the mix. Adding some frequencies to the bass around 100 HZ could really help. Keep on the good job!
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
 
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
