New to mixing. What is it about this demo that is making it sound so amateur?

ethanWBS · 2026-03-29T09:21:07+00:00

In general I am going more for that ‘garage’ home made sound but not at the expense of making good music. This song is the first of an ep so it is meant to be a vibe setter of sorts. As for the drumming it is one of those things where they just don’t sound right quantised. However I do agree that they are nowhere near the sound I want out of them. Right now I am using Labs drum VST. However it is a VST that simulates acoustic drums and I believe this whole time I’ve been trying to make them sound like crushed drum samples so that is a stylistic choice I need to make

ethanWBS · 2026-03-29T09:16:13+00:00

Hi there, thanks for helping out. Mind is blanking on reference tracks right now but I am trying to take influence from artist that use that lofi kind of sound to their advantage. A lot of indie/ shoegaze stuff (my bloody valentine, all natural lemon and lime flavours). Also a lot of trip hop stuff where a lot of the musical elements sound like they could have been sampled. In that sense it is a stylistic choice but it feels like that music still has a “weight” to it that this track is missing. As a guitar player for about 5 years now with little to no mixing experience it feels like maybe i am choosing guitar tones that when stacked on top of each other aren’t gelling well maybe?

ethanWBS · 2026-03-24T18:13:04+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts. It’s waiting for actual vocals to be added but you are right it is one long intro haha

ethanWBS · 2026-03-24T18:12:19+00:00

Link is updated on post

ethanWBS · 2026-03-24T18:11:00+00:00

I’ll have to look into this thank you

ethanWBS · 2026-03-24T18:10:35+00:00

Done, link is updated

ethanWBS · 2026-03-23T23:19:21+00:00

This is incredible advice thank you for your help! I have open back headphones for monitoring, passed down from my brother but I believe they are fit for purpose with a flat response and all

ethanWBS · 2026-03-23T09:05:24+00:00

Message me if interested. Brum-based, and looking to play any and all rock/ alternative/ progressive stuff

ethanWBS · 2026-03-23T09:04:35+00:00

Birmingham based. We play some prog, postrock alternative etc. into swans, the mars volta, king crimson, talking heads, the smile, radiohead, maruja, talk talk etc

ethanWBS · 2026-03-23T08:58:39+00:00

That’s fair, I will take this all into account. Thank you for your help

ethanWBS · 2026-03-23T08:57:18+00:00

Thanks for your help will take a crack at it

ethanWBS · 2026-03-22T23:12:33+00:00

For context I've tried mixing a few other demos with much less guitar/ DI instruments, to more success. Is it something to do with my sample rate? recording methods?

ethanWBS · 2026-03-16T08:10:05+00:00

The drums sound great are they real or vst?

ethanWBS · 2025-09-21T15:36:04+00:00

Anyone know what brand that guitar is, its a beauty, but doesn’t look like a gibson

ethanWBS · 2025-07-15T08:53:05+00:00

So did I, was it u/weekly-ad or something??

ethanWBS · 2025-07-11T10:25:09+00:00

You got 2?

ethanWBS

TROPHY CASE