Production tips

[SamusChief]

I'm currently helping my brother's band produce a small EP which they will self release. They play the Metalcore br00tz stuff, and I've never tried to EQ or mix that before.

The drums have already been programmed, they sound great. Vocals are to be mixed to the taste of the singer. What I need help with is guitar mixing. What kind of Mixing techniques are used in metal for the guitars? Any friendly tips for me?

[El Dunco]

Re: Production tips

Before you mix anything make sure you're in an ideal space, make sure your monitors don't buzz, click or make any sounds. Make sure they have fresh wiring (over time when the copper gets worn out, it kills some high end) and that they don't exceed a 30 degree angle.

If you have to use cans make sure they are reference quality. (Also make sure that by reference quality they mean a flat, realistic representation of the audio, not reference for other headphone companies). But ideally, phones are not the best to mix in.

Now... for that syrupy, produced br00tz guitar...

Make sure the tracks to begin with have good audio quality and are close to the tone the player was aiming for to begin with. No magic here is going to save a compromised guitar track with wrong mic placement. Also make sure it's free from any compromising artifacts (clipping, noise interference... anything other than the guitar).

The playing should be extremely precise. Some bands even resort to sampling guitar phrases over and over. There cannot be a single mistake or timing error, as the mechanization of the playing here has an important role in making it sound produced and tight.

If it doesn't live up to these expectations by this point... it's time to re-record.

The EQ.

You basically suck out all the rumbly lows and hissy highs, leaving behind the important stuff (smooth midrange) while defining it's own space and providing space for other instruments important for making everything sounding heavy! So set up a low pass or hi shelf at about 10khz and in the mix, start bringing the frequency down until it's just right.

Not enough and it won't free up enough room for cymbals and vocals, too much and you lose the bite and grind of the guitar.

Then do the same for the low end with a lo-self/hi-pass. Set that to about 80hz and start coming up in frequency in the mix until the low end of the bass is prominent and you don't sacrifice the punch.

Also in the mix, start to dip the 3khz to make room for snare drums and vocals but don't overdo that or the guitar will sound too 'poppy' and lose it's aggression.

Play around with very subtle reverbs and delays. They should be so subtle that you can't tell they're there, but once removed take 'something' away that you can't quite put your finger on. It's normal for heavy guitars to be somewhat dry, but adding very subtle reverbs and delays gives it a bit of atmosphere and gives a polished sound.

In the mix means "while all the instruments are playing" So you aren't adjusting things blindly and you have a good reference for interaction.

Keep in mind that you should choose which parts of your mix are going to be "big" because the reality is... you can't have all of them. I find things are heavier if the drums are more up front, because it interacts with the primal core of listeners, that being heavy percussion. But your tastes might be different.

If you're stuck on where to begin for mixing balance, select your instrument that you want to base the mix around. Set it's fader about mid way. The mute the rest.

Unmute one instrument and slowly bring it's fader up until it grooves with the first track. There should be a definite moment where it locks in and shouldn't be any louder or softer than that. Keep that fader where it is and mute the track you just adjusted. The unmute the next track and start bringing up it's level. Repeat until the rest of the mix is readjusted and muted again except for your original track. Then unmute everything. This should give you an excellent starting place for your mix.

Ideally, the drums should be a little higher than you'd want them because of what mastering limiters do to their peaks. It's a creative choice on how you want the bass guitar to sound but it's low end should at least be felt.

I like to hi pass some of the low end of the kicks and have it's low end reside in the 100hz, but for br00tz I might turn even that down so it's mostly beater attack and can get turned up and stays clean on the rapid double bass.

Then the bass guitar I'll cut out a notch in the 100hz for the Kick drum and in the mix, adjust at 75-80hz until it rumbles nicely, then give it some 200hz at a narrower notch to give the basslines definition.

Hope that helps so far... that's just the tip of the iceberg if there's anything else you want to know.

[DankStar]

Re: Production tips

I'd just find a compression setting that works with the guitars, pan em hard left and right and set the level of each to match whatever bands they're trying to sound like.

[karpathion]

Re: Production tips

I'd just find a compression setting that works with the guitars, pan em hard left and right and set the level of each to match whatever bands they're trying to sound like.

Works for me!

[SamusChief]

Re: Production tips

Awesome, awesome, awesome advice

I'm saving this to my computer for future reference. While my equipment is very low-tech I can do most of what you said well enough. It certainly won't sound as it would in a professional studio, but it will be the best I can do.

Thanks a ton!

[El Dunco]

Re: Production tips

I'm saving this to my computer for future reference. While my equipment is very low-tech I can do most of what you said well enough. It certainly won't sound as it would in a professional studio, but it will be the best I can do.

Thanks a ton!

You're welcome. You'd be surprised just how much work it takes to get a deceptively simple, clear sound!

[El Dunco]

Re: Production tips

More about reverbs. I always have a predelay of least 25ms. Good reverbs should have adjustable highs and lows which should be trimmed to get rid of nasty hissing treble junk and lows that make everything muddy. Be sure to use the same reverb patch for each track.

Be careful when using EQ. Most software EQs sound terrible if you use them to cut or boost anything beyond 6db.

Even cheap hardware EQs suffer the same problem. It's almost impractical to have an EQ that is a pleasure to listen to so the solution in the software domain is linear phase EQs for anything extreme. This is also why it's better to get as close as possible before any EQ is necessary.

[SamusChief]

Re: Production tips

Yeah. I only use EQ to cut out extreme high and low frequencies, to take out pops and thuds from the background. I NEVER use EQ on a recording to achieve tone. Only to get rid of squashiness and tonal anomalies. Sometimes I use it for a slight presence boost, but that's as far as I go.

I'm working on a cover now, I'll upload it later. I'm using what you said step by step for each track, minus the drums which are programmed.

[RobSoundtrack]

Re: Production tips

Great advice in here! If I can add,
Set your compressors (and limiters) first.
It can alter the way your EQ 'sounds' so it might save ya some mix time

[El Dunco]

Re: Production tips

Here's some tips to add a bit extra "wow" to the mix. For vocals, here's a trick that recreates the effects of a sought after eventide processor. Copy your vocal track twice, set one +12 cents (NOT STEPS! cents...) in pitch and the other -12 cents in pitch. Set them both at about a 25ms delay from the original vocal track and pan them hard left and right. Do not turn them up very loud, they only need to be very low in volume compared to the original vocal track. It will make the vocals sound very rich and 'big' but less is more in this case because it's not particularly mono compatible, so don't crank them. If they're up too loud, it will just sound like a strange chorus effect. If they are 'just' there... it will add an extra dimension to the vocals.

Another little trick is to run everything through a delay. Set a warm sounding delay and start sending everything to it. The drums should be the softest because things will sound weird if you can actually hear the drums delaying... The guitars and vocals will probably end up having the most send. I cannot stress at how long you need to play with this to get it right if you're not sure of what you're doing. The delay shouldn't be immediately audible at all, but you should notice a drop in "air" once you turn it off.

Both these tricks require subtlety and feel and aren't recommended if you're a complete novice because the results can be very messy. In the hands of someone who's confident and has the right feel, it can really add a professional air to a mix.

[StrangeSound]

Re: Production tips

That's a really helpful start. Just find the topics you are interested in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enhcve9Lblc

[El Dunco]

Re: Production tips

Before you start reaching for the EQ in general, have all the tracks pumping at the same level to start with. Yes it might sound muddy and weird, but then you can see exactly which instruments aren't getting along, why and how to fix it.

[uOpt]

Re: Production tips

What setup is this? Just one guitar, bass, drums and vocals? More than one guitar at a time? Any keyboards around?