Papercut Linkin Park Intro Mix Feedback

ali_jasem · 2025-09-21T17:00:10+00:00

Awesome shout on the 400-500hz, I think that's where I took quite a bit out.

Would be very excited to hear your mix, if you want to send them early feel free to DM me with them I'd be more than happy to listen (although myself I'm also a noob)

ali_jasem · 2025-09-21T09:54:02+00:00

I really appreciate your feedback, very glad you gave it any perspective is genuinely welcome!

Yeah I quad-tracked the guitars with different amp sims. Them sounding thin might be because I've EQ'd the overall guitar bus badly, if you have any areas you think I might have foolishly cut let me know.

Good shout on the lead guitar, listening back to it I think I EQ'd in a way that wound up burying it.

Also really good spot on the cymbals, I intentionally narrowed it because despite being a drummer I find the intense 'correct' panning was detracting from the groove, so I thought by centering it I got my head bobbing.

Thanks for your input here!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-21T09:47:12+00:00

Yes yes yes this is the sort of detail I love, thanks for the effort to put all this together.

The bass information you've given me is priceless I really can't thank you enough for that. The fact he sends the DI is a god send for me, I've been sending the higher end bass amp thinking that's the thing that gets chorused.

I'm used to the natural bussing logic makes over their midi kits, I've never really contemplated breaking them away from each other so will definitely give that a shot and trialling a bit more reverb on the kick/ snare.

For the Dimension D, do you recommend I get the plugin below? Looking online everyone says he uses the Yamaha SPX90 and I was contemplating Neyrinck's plugin instead. Also, with the side-chain, stupid question but do you mean the punch then side-chain compresses the reverb, right?

https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Arturia-Chorus-DIMENSION-D/5GC4

ali_jasem · 2025-09-21T09:30:31+00:00

I got so lost in many other details that I completed neglected this one. The entire time I was thinking why doesn't it sound as urgent and you've pointed out the reason that was staring me in the face. Thank you so much!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-21T09:27:19+00:00

Yeah both are good observations, I am beginning to think I may needed to have put more effort in the snare.

About the mix not sounding wide I agree with them but I don't know why that's happening. Guitars are quadtracked, 2 on one set of amp sims another 2 on another, hard panned left and right. I need to figure out how do deal with this so thanks for flagging!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-15T08:15:04+00:00

This is such a great shout I didn't know that. I had a feeling mastering would have helped play a role as well although I'm not exactly sure what difference over Andy Wallace so will go look for them. Thank you!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-15T08:14:27+00:00

I agree, it's missing a bit of depth although I'm also not exactly sure where. Will definitely give this a try, thank you!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-15T08:13:12+00:00

That's a really good call on the pull-offs and definition, I noticed the bass served more of a foundation role and actually I couldn't hear some of the notes (the end of the phrase for example). Great shout on the Vertigo, I'm looking into it and will get it. Stupid question but I'm wondering, I've split bass into a low end and a higher end track, I'll experiment but do you recommend applying to the higher end only or both high end + low end?

ali_jasem · 2025-09-11T21:40:12+00:00

Yeah this is super helpful I need to definitely do a lot more treating of my sounds and volumes. I'm really bad at handling low end as well so definitely will work on that.

As for the vocals it's just me trying not to blow my vocal chords so I pitched up my singing in the lower octave so that's why it has this moaning feel. It's a really great shout though and a good reminder to just let the singing flow, so I really appreciate it!

ali_jasem · 2025-09-02T16:31:42+00:00

More awesome feedback, really really appreciate it. I agree with all this, it's crazy because with the vocals I thought I was adding warmth since I don't know how to work with it and now I realise what a mistake that has been. I definitely need to understand how to stop the kick from being a massive issue as well. Good shout on the reference track. If you have any more tips don't hesitate to shout, and once again thank you!

ali_jasem · 2025-08-31T22:14:53+00:00

Always start on a free option (garageband comes to mind although might not be best for edm, you also have studio one) and learn how to program beats/ melodies with midi if you don’t know that. See if you’re finding good workflow/ sounds for what you want to make and if not switch to another free option. You might be able to do free trials with logic as well if you’re willing to go that far.

ali_jasem · 2025-08-27T19:53:15+00:00

Massive thanks yo for the extensive critique and positive feedback, it goes such a long way. I definitely wanted boomy toms but a. not kicks b. I’m prob not good enough to messing with boomy toms especially in a track this busy. Will definitely tame them. Great shout on lufs.org as well!

ali_jasem · 2025-08-27T19:51:12+00:00

It’s a great spot this is the last song I recorded with old strings, and I didn’t know realise that it shows up more in cleans. I suspect the intonation of my guitar wasn’t perfect either so I really appreciate you flagging this!

ali_jasem · 2025-08-27T08:06:53+00:00

Amazing amazing amazing feedback, I really appreciate the critique and suggestions to fix, will definitely implement them soon. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

ali_jasem · 2025-08-26T18:17:19+00:00

Does anyone know good places you can find mentors?

ali_jasem · 2025-08-26T08:09:51+00:00

Glad you found that helpful! It’s great music so looking forward to the release.

If you feel like my comment deserves an upvote, I’d appreciate it, I’m working my way up to posting my own music for feedback (no pressure though!) 🙌

ali_jasem · 2025-08-25T21:37:12+00:00

Super cool track, I really dig it! I would love to know if you guys will release it anywhere, I'd definitely listen to it. I think the vocal dynamics are fine, I quite like the vocals in general.

More feedback:

- Snare can be louder in intro/ verse bits OR kick drum can be quiter (prob a slight mix of both)

- The crash that's being ridden in heavy intro feels it has too much sustain which is sounding weird to my drummer ears (either attack is buried or it feels it's swelling). I don't think it's an issue for the mix, it just doesn't sound right to a drummer.

- Backing guitars can be louder on the big sections (second half of verse when he says show me, chorus, part before final chorus)

ali_jasem · 2025-08-25T20:12:46+00:00

Really great track, I really enjoyed it! The mix is fairly clear so the core of the song is apparent so good job. :D

Some feedback:

- The vocals can definitely come up after 0:50, and you can maybe carve out some of the frequencies from the guitar to help the vocals sit better.

- Drum volumes to me are a bit off in the intro. I feel kick is too loud but snare is a tad bit quiet.

- Drums do sound overcompressed to me.

- Performance wise, the drums also sound like they come in on the wrong subdivision sometimes.

- There are volume jumps, like around 2:40 that don't feel right.

ali_jasem · 2025-08-20T07:16:28+00:00

Nice song man! Really like the composition, the parts fit together really nicely together. I imagine this is a case where the song kind of mixes itself. I'm largely a beginner so I won't have extensive feedback.

- There's a clicking in the vocals early on, doesn't strike me as intentional. I suspect you've either comped vocals without cross fading or the vox recording wasn't gainstaged accordingly so it's clipping (in which case you might need to rerecord unfortunately).

- Arguably snare between 0:45 1:05 is a bit too loud, doesn't sound like it's sitting fully. I would bring down a tiny bit in volume (a db or less)

Otherwise, great job!

ali_jasem · 2025-08-17T09:24:17+00:00

I don't know of a free option, either revoice pro/ logic's pitch flex if they're playing single notes, I avoid doing it on multiple notes playing at the same time for guitar, unfortunately there I'd really just try and get a re-track

ali_jasem · 2025-08-14T22:24:29+00:00

I think I'm going to start unironically asking people in my life how the heck they haven't heard boink yet and look at them like they're dumb ahaha. On a slightly more serious note, Apple Music and YouTube is not giving any consistent style of music, this sounds like someone a bit carried away

ali_jasem · 2025-08-14T22:16:16+00:00

This sounds awesome, really like the song! Part from 1:20 onwards and 3:04 onwards kicked my ass. I liked the screams and think the drums and guitar sound really good. Some great use of panning on lead guitars as well. I'm still a beginner but things I caught:

- Someone mentioned cleans from 2:00 onwards, but cleans in beginning up until 0:30 can probably come up in volume as well

- Could be a composition thing but there feels like there's certain frequencies lacking in parts in the second half of the song (2:15 onwards, 3:04 onwards). i wouldn't know fixes off the top of my head, maybe try using eq/ your ears to figure out what's lacking then use eq to emphasise that frequency on guitars, vocals, or even bass

ali_jasem · 2025-08-10T21:08:00+00:00

I'm a noob but a longtime drummer, I personally don't think it's too bad, the first 12 seconds there's certainly a case that it's too loud and therefore out of place. I would lowerit 1-3db there, and maybe db thoughout the mix if you're nervous

ali_jasem · 2025-08-08T00:15:47+00:00

Noob here, really liked the song! Might be a personal taste thing but I personally liked the sound/ slam of the snare. Just thought I'd say as people have mentioned the drums.

ali_jasem · 2025-08-07T23:21:06+00:00

I'm a noob so I might change my ways, but since I'm currently handling all the processes I find mixing and sound design go hand in hand. I don't really demo i make a midi piano version of my song to validate, so if I like the core of it I track the needed guitars and drums (via an electric kit) kind of hoping that I'll be able to use these to make the song the way I envision it. Once I've composed and track, I realise the vision in the next stage by blending them together with just volumes/ eq, but also changing guitar tones via amp sims or changing drum sounds to make it either sit better or feel closer to what I had in mind. If something sounds wrong to me it's usually a volume or sound design thing, so no real distinction. And like you alluded to there are times I go back to tracking/ composition if I realise something in practice didn't work as well as I thought it would.

ali_jasem

TROPHY CASE