All Your Bass Are Belong To Us

1. Love / The Scene Is Dead

2. Hate

3. Life Goes On

Mixing this has been tricky. The songs themselves are from 2006, but I remade them a little.
Originally they were done "fake stereo"; same samples on left and right with bit of delay added to the right channel. But I found a set I could make these songs real stereo.

At first I was happy; I get real stereo samples to the songs, so I get to release this EP. After I made the first version I heard what was wrong with the samples: They don't sound too good together. The right channel was dominant compared to the left.
So I tried another time by making the left channel louder, but that didn't work too good either. The real problem was eventually that the "new" sampleset I used on the right side had way more bass than the left channel, so it was quite dominant no matter what I did.

So what you hear here is the third and last version of the mix. I made the left channel as loud as possible and then turned both (left and right) channels mono. So no more fancy stereo-mix with this one. This is the only way I came up with to make it sound even.

The sound is quite well... Different I would say. Didn't think it would turn out like that. But it works nicely, although the more crispy distortion bass seems to get buried a little. Somehow the sound feels a little "chorused". 80's goddamnit! :D

To the mixing I used the same presets I've used on about every song I've released in Mikseri. The clean bass has a big bass boost, it sounds really metallic without it. And in the original mixes it was dominant. Now it gets buried nicely, but not too much.

The distortion basses have some mid boost in them. Right channel has a bit more than left. Left channel has more like "full range boost with a small bass-cut".

Drums have the same compressor presets I always use.

The master compressor I used had ceiling put to -0.5dB to avoid clipping and then I compressed the shit out of these songs. And you can see that; there has been a lot of cutting. Still the sound is quite good; everything is audible.

The outro in 'Life Goes On' was a bit surprise to me. The part where there is the most going on (the violin, timpani, strings and piano) left channel got cut quite harsh. I didn't think it was so loud.
Though I don't care since my goal was to "push it to the limit". :D

This EP didn't turn out the way I originally planned but then again I hadn't too much plans when I first started to work on the songs, it came along the way while working. The only goal was to get rid of the "fake stereo" and well, I did. :P
The samples are quite lofi and also quite loud themselves so there wouldn't have been too much dynamics anyway.

A bit under nine minutes of bass attack here. Get blasting your speakers and enjoy!

The Seven Deadly Sins... Homunculus!

The Seven Deadly Sins... Homunculus!

This one is different in many ways. Musically, mixing- and trackingwise.
First of all, this is the most complex and technical song I've ever done so far. Most of the riffs I don't even know how I came up with. I don't know how happy I am with this song because this is just so different.
All in all this has been a LONG project for me and I'm extremely happy that I got this done. I got to fulfill my little dream of a longer two-piece song (actually two songs in one, but anyways...).

So musically this is something new, the riffs are so strange for me, despite the fact that the second song is a lot more straightforward than the first. Atleast this shows me that occasionally I can think outside of my own box and come up with something different, even in metal. So, atleast from that perspective I can say that I'm satisfied with this.

Trackingwise this is the first song I used a new method with the drums. I came up with it while doing a backing-track for myself to practice with (Mandatory Suicide, I'm planning a cover of it). The second part of the song was the first I implemented the method and then realized that the cymbals of the first one need to be reworked. So, all-in-all this is the first released song with "new" drums.
So what I'm jabbering here about?
This:

Before I had done the drums (and especially the cymbals) so that the cymbal can ring a little after the hit. But while doing the drums for "Mandatory", I realized that it's not how it goes when playing real drums. So I changed it so that every hit of the same cymbal is on the same channel rather than being on two separate channels. I think it's more realistic like that.
Pretty hard to explain with words, so there's couple of pictures to clear this out. You'll see the change when you compare channels 8 & 9 in the pictures.

Mixingwise this was a bugger, a really big one.
The bassdrum was too soft, some kicks (especially single ones) got buried in the mix and they were buried deep. So I had to mix this a bit differently than usual.
At first I did what I always do; get it "right" in the tracker. But then, instead of exporting the whole thing as wav, I exported every track separately.

After that I got all tracks into Podium and applied some EQ on the bassdrum. After that I reworked the levels and exported the song.

The bass is a bit mystery still: is it ok or is it not? The lower register seems to get buried a bit (atleast to my ears). Maybe some compression might help get it fixed, as now the higher register of the bass is really clear. But then again; if getting the lower register up a bit, what it would do to the bassdrum?
I put a lot of mid and high boost to the bassdrum, so it sounds hard and I'm satisfied with it.

I did keep all the tracks, so I can tinker with this one in Podium still... Might do something to the bass, or not. I don't know yet.

Now I have to say that feedback on the bass-issue is more than welcome. I listened this through my monitors (KRK Rockit 5) and a pair of headphones. I'll give it another shot with couple of more headphones and see does it make too much of a difference.

But in the meantime, listen and enjoy. :)

Thrash Metal Deliverance

Thrash Metal Deliverance

This one is kinda simple and straightforward. Not much to say about the song here, drums could have used a bit more variation though.

The mixing then, well, bassdrum is clearly too soft. It could have used some eq along with the compressor. Some mid- and high-boost to make it sound harder. Or other thing would be using the compressor differently. But well, I'm learning here and trying to improve every time. This blog is also kind of a diary of mistakes for myself. :D
Can read here my own opinions and learn from them.

The bass in this one is kinda soft too, but that hasn't bothered me. It has a quite bass-boost eq-curve. The real annoyance really is the bassdrum. Doublebass parts can be heard, but single kicks gets easily lost. I don't like it because for me it gives the feel when listening that something is missing. I learnt from old Metallca-albums that songs can be mixed so that every instrument (and every part of the instrument as in drums) can be heard. And that's where I always aim when mixing.

Guitars are crispy as always, maybe I should do some other eq-presets for them too to get some different sounds. That remains to be seen.

At this point, just sit back, relax and take a listen to this uptempo thrasherpiece.

Thoughts About Life

Thoughts About Life

As the name implies, I had thought about my life quite much for several days prior to making of this song. My life was quite a mess at the time, so this song turned out well... To be quite a mess. :P
Can't recall anymore how I came up with the riffs for this song, but I believe that it was quite the same way as I always do: some of them comes while I'm playing and some of them comes while I'm already working on the song. So it's quite like 50/50 natural and "artificial".
Propably because of the state of my life and mind at the time, this one has the piano. Somehow I tend to come up with some melodic stuff when I'm having a hard time.

What comes to the mixing, this one was left with alot of dynamics, and I like it. The song came out a bit "soft", mainly because of the bass-elements. The state of mind I was in propably had something to do with it. I might aubconsciously have done it like that, not wanting to do a "hard" song.

The piano went through Guitar Suite's Fender Twin-model, which made it sound quite dry and raw, a bit toy-like. Alone it sounds bit harsh but it comes nicely through in the mix.

Guitars sound quite dry as well, despite that there's nothing that I wouldn't have used before.

What comes to the bass-elements in this song, they sound soft, really soft. Don't know why though. And they are the ones making the whole song sound soft to my ears. Other than that the drums came out really good. All in all I think the mixing is good, despite being a little bit different.

Spark of the Oldschool

Spark of the Oldschool

I have to say that I'm proud of this one. Musically and mixingwise. There isn't too much dynamics, but the sound is the best I've achieved so far.

Bass has one of my "usual" eq-presets; heavy bass-cut and a lot of mid-boost. In this song it fits perfectly to the soundscape and atmosphere. You can hear it, but it's not coming out to your face. Guitars have nothing fancy, just the preset I always use.

Drums utilize the same presets I mostly use, but with these samples the results were astounding. Easily one of the best drumsounds I've got so far. All are crispy'n'clear.

There's no great foundings with this one, just the same stuff I usually use, but this time it really hit the spot. So good that I thought I should make more songs with these sounds. Thrash-disk with these sounds would be awesome!

So, let yourself be caught in the mosh and enjoy this one, I have to say that I do.
That's all folks!

Phil Collins-hangover

Phil Collins-hangover

This one is very natural and pure when it comes to sound. No post-compressing or EQ. And the song itself has only Fender Twin-model from SimulAnalog's Guitarsuite VST-pack. I ran guitars and bass through it.
Drums have absolutely nothing. They are as is. I liked the sound that way, because the song itself is something I don't normally do. The sound turned out to be quite well balanced with these settings. I just got the volume levels right and that's it.

What comes to the making and composing this song, this was different in many ways.
First of all, this doesn't accompany my routines to the full, because I don't have the channels like I usually do. There's only one channel for the toms and one for the bassdrum.

Second is that this has only clean guitar, that's something I have done only once before, if I remember right.

The third and biggest thing was the composing and tuning. This is so far the only song that I've done using a tuning of my own. I came across it by accident and quite instantly saw the benefits. And this whole song is build upon those.
So the whole song is composed on 3 strings and it utilizes the changes between major-, minor-, sus2- and sus4-chords. Because of the tuning those 4 are really simple to achieve and play.

I haven't used that tuning anywhere else yet because it's hard to come up with stuff on that tuning, atleast for me. But it's still a fun tuning to play with.

So, enjoy this depressive piece of music and see you next time.

Oh, and the name for the song comes from a finnish tv-cartoon called Pasila. I took it from there after my girlfriend told me that this song reminds her of the Collins' classic "Another Day In Paradise".

The Modern Sound (of America)

The Modern Sound (of America)

Something quite different again. Tonally (and mixing-wise) this is something I don't normally do, but this time the song "demanded" it and I delivered.
Nu-Metal inspired piece, so the tone is middlescooped and dynamics are non-existent. So all-in-all this one was very easy to record and mix.

I talked earlier how it's easy to record a song when you know exactly what you're after. And this was it. I knew the sound I needed and I knew the way to mix, so there was no quessing games or tryouts. Just got into it and bam; finished.

This was done a little bit differently, guitar was "as is", no post eq. But instead I put it through a compressor. Bass in this one is tracked and put through some mild eq. Drums are done just like I usually do; no eq, just compressor.

After the whole thing was finished I ran it through a compressor once more and put the levels to max. Limiter came in handy and the result is what you see and hear.

I don't like the sound of this, but I just wanted to do one song of my own like this. I've mixed one other song this way too and don't like that either. :D
But I'm always looking ways to experiment and that's why I also do things that are out of my comfort zone.
I've also made one other nu-metal inspired song, but the mixing on that one is whole lot different than what I did here.

So, compressed middlescoop-shit for you. Enjoy! :P