My drum mix got saved by a 3 a.m. voicemail from a stranger in Ohio

A guy who found our demo on a dead forum called and said the snare sounded like a trash can lid, so I moved the mic 4 inches back and now it actually cuts through the room, has anyone else had a random listener fix their sound better than their own bandmates?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix3856d agoMost Upvoted

Figured the dude was just drunk-dialing randoms at first... but damn if that trash can comparison didn't hit home. Moved my overheads a foot away from the kit and suddenly the whole mix stopped sounding like a steel drum circle. My bass player still thinks the snare needs more reverb, but he also thinks wearing cargo shorts to practice is a good look, so I'm taking the Ohio guy's word over his. Honestly, the best advice I ever got came from some stranger on a dead forum who probably records in his mom's basement with a pair of computer mics. Might start posting my mixes on random state tourism boards just to get more free engineering tips.

the_robin4d ago

That "steel drum circle" line got me good. Same thing happened to me years ago, some random sound guy from a forum I don't even remember joining told me to pull my room mics way back and stop compressing them so hard. Took his word over my drummer who kept saying it sounded "bigger" but honestly it just sounded like mud. That stranger saved my whole recording.