Surviving rabies

Community Made With Ardour
#1

surviving rabies

Credits;
Everything - me

https://whyp.it/tracks/322538/surviving-rabies?token=frcIM

Thought I’d slowly start sharing some stuff I’ve been working on lately. It’d be great to have an embedded player here like some people post but nothing seems to work for me today :frowning:

But hopefully a direct link like this is OK and won’t deter people from having a wee listen?

analysis
analysis920×700 277 KB

editor 1
editor 11920×1080 214 KB

editor 2
editor 21920×1080 269 KB

editor 3
editor 31920×1080 195 KB

editor 4
editor 41920×1080 142 KB

mixer
mixer3630×965 185 KB

Cheers :slight_smile:

15 Likes
#2

This is dope!
Some really tasty tones. Good mix, nice and heavy :metal:
Especially like the end part, a really nice payoff!

2 Likes
#3

Do I hear some Helmet influences??? Great track!

2 Likes
#4

Sick!
I enjoyed it a lot.
:+1: :+1:

1 Like
#5

Great stuff! Great tones, sounds and the mix is fantastic! Please share more!

3 Likes
#6

Everyone hears something different. For me it is old school BS style.
You could pull up the voice a little bit. don’t hide it.

1 Like
#7

Aw, troops, thank you so much for having a listen :slight_smile: :metal: I really really appreciate it…! Nice one.

No chance :laughing: I hate my voice. Although in other tunes I’ve been doing, vocals are louder because they’re more integral to the composition. I guess :+1:

Thank you Glen, really appreciate the kind words. Plenty more to come soon :metal:

Absolutely you do :upside_down_face: Love Helmet, been listening to Left and Seeing Eye Dog loads lately, plus the classics like Meanwhile and Strap It On. Just been into that noise / metal / rock vibe a lot this year, basically.

But I rediscovered my love for the Afghan Whigs this Autumn and that’s what I’ve been using as a reference for mixing / mastering because their 90s stuff vibed so well and wasn’t bloody stupidly compressed like most modern popular music is or anything like that.

2 Likes
#8

BTW, as someone who also cringe-hates their own voice, I thought the vocal was perfect for the genre and very well done… You holla’d real nice!

2 Likes
#9

Waow! What a sound!!!
Maybe some years ago, you would have had great motion with this!!! Albums, touring and all what comes next.
Reminds me my teenagers years… Sorry sorry.
Sounds great.
Thanks for sharing

1 Like
#10

Thanks Glen :slight_smile: Appreciate it big time :+1: Hating your own voice is just a thing I guess, isn’t it. For what it’s worth, your vocals on the tuned you’ve posted here sounded fantastic and very well-performed.

Thank you Oliv, I appreciate it :slight_smile: I turned 38 three days ago but honestly I still feel like I’m 15… :grimacing: :upside_down_face:

#11

Wow, cool stuff.
Yeah, i also hear some Helmet, some Mastodon and some Nirvana-Bleach era influences, and that’s always a plus in my book :slight_smile: .
Yeah, I would also like some more singing, maybe some straight-up vocal hooks with defined and memorable melodies/licks.
But hey, that’s not really relevant criticism :slight_smile: , your style is your style, and you definitely have one.

Great job!
:+1:

1 Like
#12

Not a genre I’m terribly familiar with, but damn, that kicks ass! And +1 for Peter and Glen’s comments on leaning into your voice. It’s yours, brother, own it!

1 Like
#13

Thank you, Ljuba :slight_smile: Massively appreciated :metal: Bleach is the best Nirvana album, in my opinion, so that’s a real compliment :+1: (although Nevermind and In Utero also have tonnes of bangers on them).

Yeah I’m shit at writing vocal hooks :laughing: A lot of the other stuff I’ve been working on has more singing / vocal melody but hooks and memorable, catchy melodies is something I struggle with massively… I’m more into noise so I always give that (plus the force and aggression) my focus.

1 Like
#14

Thank Manuel :+1: I really appreciate it :slight_smile: As per your, and Peter’s and Glen’s, comment, I’ll be sure to let the vocal take more of a front-seat in the next mixes…! :metal:

1 Like
#15

I’m listening to the mix this morning with my DT 770’s. Pretty good mix, here are some notes (it’s more about production side than mixing itself):

  1. Yes, vocals could be a tad louder, but not too much in this genre. Here’s what i would do. Turn the listening volume all the way down till you can barely hear anything, and if you can understand the lyrics without the snare always cutting you attention - it’s all good, just keep in mind you musn’t overdo this. If you pull the vocals too much upfront, you loose the atmosphere, so even if the listeners say it’s great you as an artist will always be dissatisfied with the mix, but if it stays like this, it sounds demo-ish to other people.
  2. Programmed drums need a touch more realism if you ask me, aldo they are already ok - accent some more specific moments of change in song parts (you can even layer some kick hits under the existing kick hits here and there. Make this intervertion “undetectable”, but so that you can feel the dynamic jumps). Real drummers never keep dynamics the same when they are begining a new part. I can hear you already gave some attenention to this…give it some more :slight_smile: . Also, fast double kicks are somewhat machine-like, smudge 'em a bit more. Same with toms in between parts. That’s what giving you out. Cymbals are always most demanding, just create more dynamics with 'em, you don’t need to hear every hit clearly.
    The main trick if you want programmed drums to sound real, besides drum-hit-realism, is to make dynamics more real and moving than a real record would in the end keep…if that makes any sense :slight_smile: .
    3.) Maybe add some more layers, backing vocals etc, just to build up a track towards the end.
    4.) Also, i’m listening to some references, and while i like midrange-centric mixes(sign of a good mixer), it seems it lacks some bass/sub.
    The thing is, listeners always react positively when carefully compressed and always present bass is smoothly caressing them. In my opinion, this is also what makes the snare seem a little spiky.

Do this and it’s album ready as any other rock track.
Anyways, this mix is already pretty good.
I can understand if you don’t want do anything more to this track, mixing is realy boring stuff once you can hear the initial idea well :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: .

2 Likes
#16

very, very …VERY impressive! congratulation! what a mix!
with plugin airwindows and acmt… full linux.
i’m shocked.

1 Like
#17

Thanks Ljuba :+1: :slight_smile: Solid, useful, practical tips and advice :metal: Very much appreciated. Will deffo keep it all in mind for future mixes.

Editing this post again to add - “it’s impossible to please everyone so don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” is my current attitude and mindset when making music. Otherwise I tend to be too critical of myself and am never happy with anything I create…! :roll_eyes:

I actually do most of my mixing on DT 990s because I can’t trust my untreated room. The approach is usually something like this;

  • slap Airwindows curve pre-fader and Monitoring3 post-fader on the mixbus and switch to mono

  • do a broad-strokes mix using my Rokit monitors, at low-level, without (many) plugins

  • check with Audio Technica M40x and DT 990, switch to stereo, start panning, etc etc

  • I’ll then keep flicking back to mono and monitors or the M40x (or even shitty bluetooth ear buds) and keep attacking the mix

  • LSP Referencer might then make an appearance on the mixbus post-fader and I’ll try stay in the same time-zone as what I’m referencing. For surviving rabies and all these other tunes, I’m using early 90s Afghan Whigs material (hence mid-heavy, not too bassy) because it’s objectively the greatest music on the world and anyone who disagrees with me is objectively wrong

Also worth noting - my new approach is to fuck everything / everyone, ignore any “DO XYZ ON MIX TO REALLY TAKE YOUR MIX TO THE NEXT LEVEL!1!” type advice that influencers dish out and just follow my gut / remember advice my uni lecturers gave me / just use my ears / try keep signal processing minimal / etc etc :grimacing: :upside_down_face: and I’m a lot happier with my mixes nowadays, although they’re far from perfect of course, as you rightly point out.

Sorry for the long reply anyway…! And thanks again for yours - I really do appreciate it, big time :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#18

Thanks nabo nono :+1: :slight_smile:

Aye I’m constantly banging on about these whenever I get a chance to - the ACMT plugs are just the best on the world and, when combined with Airwindows tonal magic, give you everything you need to make gloriously excellent mixes.

You often see people asking “best SSL bus compressor” or “best SSL channel EQ” or “best pultec” etc etc on KVR or gearspace or wherever and I just wanna scream at them that the dude behind the ACMT set literally worked at SSL for much of his life and has already made an unbelievably brilliant full set of plugs that cover all those basses, pretty much. And I’m astonished that they don’t get more attention, really :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

Anyway, thanks again for giving it a listen and for the kind words…!

2 Likes
#19

I think this song is a real standout in its style.

p.s.
You might like Vuke’s really old project. https://youtu.be/9bwVVQipQ6U?si=BTpyZ98qIP4wqGs-

1 Like
#20

Thank you Mika :+1: :slight_smile: I really appreciate that :metal:

Yeah this is cool man, thanks for sharing. Never heard of The Cosmic Goblins before - nice sound. Reminds me of a Danzig song actually (that it’s a long way back from hell one, for better or worse…!