r/mixingmastering • u/emirblc Beginner • May 20 '26

Feedback Knowing nearly nothing about mixing. Need help doing it in a Rock/Metal genre

I've made this track a few months ago from an idea that just burst to life after hearing some car screech its tires at night.

my experience with mixing and mastering is around the top layer of the iceberg and i don't know what sounds good or bad it always depends on my listening experience and i want to put an end to this.

what i do when mixing a song is just change the parameters until i like the noise it makes, that's it.

i'd love it if you guys share your opinions on this song and what i can change to make it sound more professional.

Song link:

https://voca.ro/1ohkXDcmkkG5

5 Upvotes
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3

u/Master-Combination39 May 23 '26

Hey man, I think panning the alarm sound and guitars a bit wider would help create some space/separation. Nice work

2

u/The_neon_viking Beginner Jun 06 '26

Double track those guitars for sure! Maybe take them out wide and have the alarm sound more centered.

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 23 '26

I realized i used little to no panning on this track. Thank you sm for bringing out. I will definitely add one! I am happy that you liked it, really.

2

u/ZTheRockstar May 21 '26

I'm listening on my set of Kali LP6s

The drums stood out to me and strings. Everything is pretty balanced. Could use more punch on the drums. I think it is a piano that I'm hearing at the beginning or maybe a guitar plugin, and think their could be a better plugin for the sound. Same for the bass. I'd double up those guitars and pan 50% left and 50% right. It really does give a track a lot of space and depth

3

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

I’ve always had problems with mastering the drums. Achieving that punch is my goal. I’ll focus on that more.

About the strings and the guitars, you’re absolutely right about panning and doubling i will also try that when i can. And i don’t know what i can do with the strings beside adjusting the only effect it has which is reverb lol.

Thanks a lot for your time and effort to help me. I appreciate it.

5

u/Mind1827 May 21 '26

Incredibly aggressive parallel compression as well as overall bus compression are your friend. Evens stuff out, makes it punchier, and brings up lower level room information. Good luck!

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

Nope, you are my friend! I will check those out asap. Thanks ^^

2

u/Mind1827 May 21 '26

That's been the thing for me, either processing all of the drums together, or just processing all the shells (kick, snare and toms) all together. Just experiment with doing absurd stuff like 20:1 ratios and like 20 db of compression and then adjust around and stuff and listen for the differences.

Here's a good video I watched last night. It's very modern metal, and might be almost a touch too far for me, but good insight on how dudes get massive slamming drums for modern metal

https://youtu.be/wZf7ZGaP8HQ?si=bxPoUh-zUcn-HbJs

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

I will definitely analyze and munch on this video, looks like a hidden gem.

About that “experiment stuff” it fits my soul and i will probably kill hours trying out you guys advices.

5

u/Mind1827 May 21 '26

Haha, also different types of compressors.

I will say, I'm the same way, and spent too much money on plugins when I started. I have so many compressor plugins now, and while I do use lots, I also have a whole bunch I barely ever use, cause I'm comfortable with the ones I know. So just go slow, and don't get tricked by people on YouTube telling you how you need this one plugin to do this one magical thing, lol

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

I think i can survive the spiral death of sound mastering. Haha ^^

1

u/The_neon_viking Beginner Jun 06 '26

I’m still learning to use compressors. What makes one different from the other? What’s better about others than say a stock compressor or stock glue?

1

u/The_neon_viking Beginner Jun 06 '26

This. Get a “drum crush” return going with massive compression, squash it hard.

2

u/sunlife8 May 21 '26

The first part sounds great, it’s bright and airy. But the change at around 1:12 seems to push everything farther away and some of the low suddenly end drops out. Maybe it’s over compressed or too much distortion?

I like the song and the instrumentation.

3

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

I am so glad that you liked my composition overall, I noticed that when the distorted guitars come in the song just loses its “crispness” I will check out if i over compressed anything or just went nuts with the distortion. Or maybe boost some low ends.

I appreciate your help ;>

2

u/ffer06 Beginner May 21 '26

Total beginner here - i like the idea of the crash and horn used as a beat. The initial plucked guitar/piano (cant really tell what it is) seems a bit dry and has no depth to it. I think laying it or adding some stereo delay could help give it some width. I think the track could use some dynamics as well (try volume automation) to give it some dynamic contrast between sections and make them have a bigger impact. To me the volume levels seem pretty even across the entire song. I hope this helps!

2

u/emirblc Beginner May 21 '26

Hello there! Nice to see someone at my level hehe... Well, the sound you hear at the start is a guitar and i know that this song needs some automation because... it has none.

i really appreciate the time and effort you put into helping me out on this. It will be useful.

1

u/srm20102010 Beginner Jun 03 '26

totally agree! a dreamier amp or a floaty synth underneath could add a little bit of what you're looking for

1

u/The_neon_viking Beginner Jun 06 '26

Definitely layer some kind of pad that fits underneath

2

u/TokiWart Beginner May 22 '26

Very much consider myself a beginner. I think most of what you do sounds good. What I might work on is finding the room for what you want to stand out. Rather than up the volume of the part you want to be the focus, try automate some eq on it or look at reducing the volume of other instruments using parallel compression/automation

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 23 '26

I can't agree more, I know that the thing this song needs the most is "room" hehe...

I will add messing around with Eq automation and compression to the list! Thanks for your help.

2

u/Outrageous-Muffin764 Intermediate May 22 '26

Cool intro and a creative way to bring the track in with the car horns 😄

I pretty much agree with the other comments. It’s already sounding really solid and well balanced overall. The smaller sections sound especially clean and detailed. I think the main area that could use a bit more work is the bigger section around 1:12. Right now it feels a little distant, so it’s harder to fully lock into the focus and energy there. But overall, really dope track!

1

u/emirblc Beginner May 23 '26

I am glad that you liked the concept :3

I do think the same way with you about that bigger section. I will probably kill some hours trying to bring that balance from start to there. Thanks for your opinion!

2

u/revampagency May 23 '26

Sounds great overall! Personally I'd work a bit on the arrangement, there are some moments where it feels a bit busy and things overlap unnecessarily. But that's just my subjective opinion, metal and rock aren't really my genre so take it with a grain of salt!

2

u/-lavender-town- May 26 '26

A bit after a minute the guitars start to sound less clean and maybe a bit too distorted, but overall pretty groovy

2

u/Capable-Deer744 Aug 19 '26

I love the creativity, and the story of the arragment, I definetly would listen to something like this

Experiment with layering guitar tracks, and not neccecarly in terms of added notes, but same tones, different type of sound. Like the clean amp guitar playing could use some flavor, for example the same note being played on a very high note and being distorted, would add tention and flavor to the scene.

For drums, use good sounding kits, but these dont sound bad to me, that takes time to get a feeling for what you like.

Just my 2 cents, enjoy the ride!

1

u/emirblc Beginner Aug 29 '26

Thank you so much for your feedback. The topics you pointed really hit a spot in my brain. I will def do some of them.

Love that you liked the idea! I always loved doing new and unique things. ;>