The list of myths that have developed around metal production has become quite long over the years.
In this video, I have taken on five more myths and would like to debunk them.
Here you can find the first part of the 5 myths in metal mixing.
Myth 1: Dynamics are bad
Many bands seem to think that metal has to be loud from beginning to end. In my opinion, this is a shame, because heavy music only sounds heavy when a certain part can be recognised as such due to the the dynamics of the song. For example, a musical reduction in the verse can be very useful if the following part (e.g. the chorus) is supposed to sound particularly powerful and heavy.
Myth 2: Money buys Sound
In the past, I had to deal with many musicians who wanted to assure me that their super expensive vintage 50’s snare or their special edition Gibson Les Paul only sounded good because of the high price tag. This may be true for genres like classical music, but not so much for metal. In my opinion, the price is secondary to whether the instrument feels good and inspires you.
Myth 3: Vocals should never be too loud
For me, vocals are the most important element of a mix, even in metal. However, many musicians seem to disagree and claim that vocals that are too loud overpower the instrumental. This can be the case, but it is often due to the mix itself being a bit weak. However, it is definitely possible to combine a powerful and loud instrumental with loud and clear vocals. So I advise against automatically assuming that the vocals should never be loud.
Myth 4: Drum tuning doesn’t matter
Since we will most likely be working with trigger samples, drum tuning is not important, right? Not quite. Let’s say we record our drums and replace the kick, snare and toms, but still use the recorded overheads. In the overheads, the kick and snare of the drums are still present, which can lead to phase problems when combined with the samples. To make life easier for the mixer, some effort should be put tuning the drum shells.
Myth 5: We can edit anything
When I ask a musician to re-record a take, all too often the response is: “Can’t you just edit it?”
In some cases I can, but in others I don’t want everything to sound too perfect. For example, some passages even benefit from a snare hit that’s a bit too early or too late and it’s my job as a producer to identify those passages. Unfortunately, Feeling cannot be edited.
