First mixdown with a live drummer

Finally got a live drummer :) - no more messing around with midi!! The drums for this track were recorded on a tiny kit - two toms, snare and kick, hi-hats, ride and splash. The drummer is the sound engineer who was mixing the guitars for me, said he liked my stuff and would like to play drums on my cd. Anyway, the mix is still not there yet drusm need beefing and some guitar parts have too much reverb also keyboards and electronic techno parts will be added next - just started on them today (at long last).
Let me know what you think of it so far.
Thanks!

Track: 'Unleashed'
http://www.soundclick.com/pro/view/01/default.cfm?bandID=285164&content=music

I can't hear ya, the guitar is buried.

Maybe it's my system.

Originally Posted by: EL34XYZI can't hear ya, the guitar is buried.

Maybe it's my system.

Thanks for checking it out. Not sure what you mean though... 'buried' as in the lead parts are buried by drums or rhythm sections or buried as in the tone is too muffled/distorted to be discernable? Mixed it through Genelec and Tannoy Reveal monitors plus Senheisser mixing headphones so the 'sound' should be ok - is it the mix you mean? I know some parts are too low, real tough to get all of the levels right because of the number of tracks and the limited time for EQ... the beginning is supposed to sound weird by the way, used a long flange on one guitar track, flange pan and extreme wah on another and also ran the drums through an overdriven amp sim with flange for the swirly techno effect. Things kick in to normality after about 10 seconds. If you get a chance, let me know if it's an element of the overall mix that sounds wrong to you or if it's the sound quality of the track as a whole. Cheers!

I listened on another system just now.

Your guitar needs to pop out more, seems kind of buried.

At the start, the drums are covering you up.

I love guitar instrumentals and I love to hear guitars out front and loud, just a personal pref.

I suppose I know what you mean having listened back to it again. I listen to instrumentals myself (almost exclusively at this stage!) and I'm also used to have lead parts in your face... I usppose having spent a lot of time on each separate guitar part I ended up wanting to hear everything equally. Point taken and very valid - I'll be beefing the guitars again anyway, that was just mix1 with the drums, which I think are a tad too loud at times (they need more compression I guess). Thanks again for the feedback.

i really like it.

i dont think u need to raise the volume of the guitar any more, maybe a bit on the low runs cos they dont stand out as much.

otherwise the volumes are pretty good. i prefer the guitar part to not stand out as much, at least when i am listenin to music. :D . it makes it more of a piece of music rather than a backin track with a solo.

but yes again very good nice to have proper drums.

Another masterpiece !

I enjoyed it very much!
The main riff is fun to play :)

I am concerned none the least with the coments about the the mixing. I am just listening for innovative new sounds with mind blowing speed, and control. The volume of new, and creative style coming from these posts were very impressive. Keep up the good work, I think your on to something

Superhuman. I havnt listened to your stuff in awhile, I've missed you, man!

haha, anyways.
I loved the flanger effect on the drums in the beginning. Ive been playing with flange and ring mods on drums lately, and you pulled it off nicely. the entire into was appropriate, I enjoyed it. especially the pan from left to right, sort of sets the mood.

more solos would be nice, and the existing ones do need to be brought up more. some EQ will fix that up nicely. but that isnt your concern at the moment, and you already know that. 'nuff said.

hmm, so you're adding keyboards. good. and even a techno vibe, eh? that will be interesting, i'd like to see how that turns out.

good job as always, man. the just plain rhythm guitar line starts to get old after awhile in some parts, as not much else is happening. some keyboards and stuff will fix that right up. I'd actually like to hear more weird kinda effects like the intro. whatever. your call, surprise us. :D

Thanks for the comments guys. I didn't have a huge ammount of time to mix this one down but the flanger on the drums does sound cool. Next thing to be added are some electro drum sounds - techno kick and misc metallic/industrial noises. I'll also be adding a phat techno bass line with plenty of modulation and distortion and some violiins and strings to add atmosphere as well as rhythms. Vocals for this on will be church choirs - I'll be using Voices Of The Apocolypse and Halion3 for that - it's a cool combo that actually allows you to program words so the choir can sing anything I want! i reckon it will sound very heavy when it's done - may have to redo some of the guitars too. I suppose the lead guitars could be raised up about another 5% in volume over the rest of the mix - any louder and I think they will end up sounding overly dominant. Rockonn91, I was thinking of another solo over the rhythm section at the end but I'll see how the midi parts work out first as they may take it off in a different direction all together.
Great to get positive feedback, thanks again!

Great job man!
I liked the opening sequence that goes throughout the first minute, Your sequencing and drums sound tight.
The phrasing from 1:40 to 2:15? is simply amazing.
Good whammy bar control.
I also liked those neoclassical licks around 2:40.
Correct me if I am wrong, but you didn`t sweep as much in this track as you normally do, except for the ending. You have a killer sweeping technique.
IMO. The reverb wasn`t that bad. I actually liked it.

Yep, can't beat the sound of real drums. All your songs are already on my Soundclick radio list, so I occasionally will hear your stuff anyways, and am still awaiting the album release! I don't claim to have any expertise on mixing, so I don't know what to offer there. But your playing is inspiring and positively aggresive (if that makes sense).