Hi Guys,
Please have a listen to my new tune and let me know what you think.
http://www.atsj97.dsl.pipex.com/Breakpoint_TestMix2.mp3
I play guitars, bass, and vox on this track, my friend did the drums. It’s kind of my tribute to Van Halen, with a little nod to The Darkness along the way. 
Any feedback regarding the music or mix is much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dave
Dave,
I love it. The drums are ALIVE! Wow. Nice job, dude!
Critique-wise, There is some sort of gating or comp on the cymbals, I didn’t notice it during the first half of the tune, but my ear started getting drawn to the ‘cut-off’ thing toward the end.
Love the guit tone, love the mix, really love the drums… Wow, a Sunday morning lovefest…time for more coffee…
Peace,
-Ed
Wow, thanks ed. I was never expecting such a positive reply!
Mike will certainly be pleased that you like his drums. I have mics on the kick, snare, hats, high, low and floor tom, and 2 overheads.
The overheads are clean, but there are compressors on the hats, and all the toms, all using the standard soft-knee compression on the FASoft compressor. I’ll try easing back on the gate a bit to help the “cut-off” you mentioned. I don’t think I noticed it, but no doubt my ears have become tired after hours of mixing this sucker down. 
Thanks for giving it a listen!
Dave
hi there…
i am new to this forum as well as recording…i’m a youngin’(19)
but i listend to ur song…that amazing!!!
i was blown away!!!
i am also blown away that u did all this with the ntrack software(not the free version i suppose?..tell me if thats a retarded question…lmao)
very kick ASS
Yeah, VERY kick-ass…
Dave, I just ran the tune through my PA at high volume…and the whole “gated cymbal” thing was gone…weird.
I have simply GOT to know how you got the guitar tone, dude. The louder I cranked it the better it sounded, of course your chops may have had something to do with it!
Miked cab? Direct? FX? Inquiring minds need to know!
Peace,
-Ed
Hi Perranfulo,
I’m not much older than you… only 4 years in it. I’d never have done all this with the free version - as handy as it is, popups are not that conducive to music production. But it is all FASoft software (N-Track and the compressor & multi-eq plugins).
About the gated cymbal thing - I have a compressor on the master channel, perhaps towards the end of the song (in loud bits) the cymbals are just getting munged out of the mix. If you didn’t notice it loud, does that mean it’s not too bad?
For the guitar tone I simply used my Line 6 POD straight into the Line-in on my soundcard… It’s a tone I’ve been playing around with for a while, basically the “rectified” amp with high drive, channel volume, and treble.
I’ve been working on this album for several years now, on and off, and I’m eager just to get all the tracks mastered so I can move on! Ever get that feeling?
Dave
Morse -
That’s a pretty rockin’ song.
One thing that sticks out to me is the kick has a bit too much of the beater sound in it, so it has this kind of popping sound rather than a lot of thump. You could maybe push the beater back into the mix and make it thicker by adding a short, dense reverb to it (similar to what can be done with snares). Or a gated verb?
What kind of vocal processing are you using? It sounds like the vocal is very dry in the mix… you might want to try to copy Diamond Dave’s vocal processing! Also, the vocal could benefit rom a bit more of a gutsy, shouted kind of performance. That would certainly bring its energy level in line with the instruments.
Overall, I think this is a very good song. The Van Halen feel was unmistakable!
Hi guys,
Thanks for your kind words… here’s another mix of the song:
http://www.atsj97.dsl.pipex.com/Breakpoint_MixDown1.mp3
This has quite a bit more of the bass (eq) in the mix, which should help the kick sound. I’d been rolling off nearly everything below 100Hz, which I think was making it sound tinny in the end.
I’d love to use Diamond Dave’s vocal processing, but what exactly is it? I had a listen to several tracks from VH1 and couldn’t hear anything special except for a slightly longer reverb, but I think that might make my tune sound muddy. Contrasting to Sammy’s production on F.U.C.K (ahem), there’s even more reverb.
Have a listen anyway, I’ll post some more tracks if people are interested.
Cheers,
Dave
If you are having trouble getting the b-drum to thump you might try cloning the drum track, do a low pass, and ad just enough level of that track to enhance that part.
Just a suggestion.
Great song. Makes me realize that I really need to work on my chops in the playing area. You are certainly miles above me there.
Chopper
ROCKIN’ TUNE! Keep up the good work!
good song. Very glam rockish. I love the 80s
This would be an excellent song to mix. Would you post the original tracks? I’d love to give it a try! 
T3K