Is metal more difficult to record and mix?

[oleg87]

I'm going to say no... Microphones are linear (if not overloaded) and analog-to-digital converters are linear, and so is mixing (ignoring effects/processing). You can accurately capture/record a metal band just as easily as an orchestra. Or, you could... Modern music is more "produced" than "recorded"...

It could be dynamic compression which is used to make it "constantly loud" or "constantly intense". IMO - Most modern music is over compressed, making it boring. And isn't metal supposed to be louder than everything else? (Loudness War)

Audiophile preferences aside, metal recorded in a very "naturalistic" way tends to sounds kind of dull/flat IMHO. I think the goal of most producers is to make a mix that sounds subjectively punchy and heavy, not "hi-fi", and that usually involves either a mix that sounds very artificial, with fastidiously eq'd/compressed/triggered drums and triply/quadruply+ multitracked guitars, or more naturalistic but with heavy compression/saturation - to some extent you need to simulate your ears getting smashed to get a mix that really slams.

When it comes to metal production, I'm a fan of Kurt Ballou's credo

 

[Ported]

As others have mentioned the wall of high harmonic content all at once is difficult to present as lively.. despite each individual track sounding that way. This combined with everyone wanting to play loud all at once too makes for some pretty uninteresting stuff (a good producer will push for some dynamics in the arrangements so that the all playing at 11 is rare but can hit home multiple times). Best results I ever made was using a desk that had bandpass eq capability so some of the mid frequency parts could be trimmed to overlap less leaving some room in the mix. This sounds less natural but gains space and clout..

 

[Prana Ferox]

Metal often has men's voices singing low (or just guttural noises), detuned guitars, distortion-pedalled bass and drums all stepping on each other's frequency bands. It's hard to mix live because everyone wants to be low and loud. You have to learn how and when to spread out and give the other instruments room.

That's true in a lot of genres but it becomes more of a thing in metal where the stepping-all-over-each other sound can become thematic choice.

 

[Axo1989]

My metal-adjacent sub-genre preferences veer more towards genre-fluid stuff, incorporating metal, noise, industrial etc. So my impressions won't be informed by an across-the-board appreciation of a wide range of metal artists. But I reckon it'll depend more on the band, their producers and the mixing talent employed, as well as production budgets.

After moving to metal label Sumerian and then to Republic, Poppy has released metal with high production values: recent EP Stagger comes in Apple Digital Master, hi-res 24/96 and Atmos. The album before that Flux likewise (sans Atmos) and was apparently recorded live in studio (but obviously added to, and treated/produced). Both have excellent (genre-appropriate) sonics, well-constructed (but close-miked/artificial) soundstage and layered combinations of distorted and clean elements that are easy to place in the mix when listening. Some nice details. Someone is spending good money, obviously. She has the advantage of contrasting high-pitch vocals with deep metal sounds, not unlike early Sabbath, which adds tonal variation to the walls of noise.

From memory, Ghostmane's Anti-Icon had good sonics also, but I might have to listen again to confirm. I think you'd have to listen to bands, producers and labels and discover a wide cross-section of quality and sound goals across the metal spectrum. Ok, listened again, fair-to-good (being a bit generous) not excellent. Sonic elements are simply placed rather than carefully layered, overall the mix is somewhat simplistic (funny how memory plays tricks, or expectations change with experience). Lots of bass though, and still a good album.

 

[sam_adams]

For you metal fans, how do the recordings compare to the live bands?

 

[617]

If I had a metal band I would have live horns

 

[Waxx]

Metal, punk (the real one, not the poppy punk that become very popular in the US) and a few genres like that (including "digital punk" genres like digital hardcore, breakcore and hardtek) don't want to sound beautifull or so. They want to sound aggressive in your face brutal, and the production techniques used are trying to do that. Distortion, lack of dynamics and so are an essential part of the sound they want.

And you got more genres like that, there is a whole genre of lofi electronic (8bit) reggae music, started with this reggae tune from 1985 made with a Casio MT40, a cheap toy synth.

They also don't want to sound hifi. They were a kind of punk movement in the reggae scene, reacting on the overproduced poppy mainstream reggae that was popular then. The favorite instruments were cheap fm and preset synths like the Casio mentioned and the Yamaha DX7 or the Korg M1. And this kind of music is still made and still popular.

And there are many of those in all kind of styles. None of those are mainstream so mostly out of the radar scope of many of you.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

If I had a metal band I would have live horns

Negura Bunget!

 

[antcollinet]

I think it comes from the "turn up everything louder then everything else" mentality.

 

[FeddyLost]

There are few sides of single coin
1) debut albums almost always sound bad because bands don't have money for good production, currently it's not so obvious, but still applicable
2) there are lot of metal bands that need to "sound bad" because it's their image - old school swedish death metal or blackened thrash for example
3) due to high harmonic content and tempo typical metal production is tough, like painting some picture with luminiscent paint when all your brush strokes are lighted up simultaneously ... so it's more like making Frankenstein instead of capturing reality from proper angle
4) typically, you (sound engineer) need to sound big and aggressive through any FM radio and airpods, so situation becomes even worse and often result is almost unlistenable on decent equipment

 

[kemmler3D]

The points about Metal needing higher overall loudness are good. High loudness and a good, clean mix are (to an extent) contradictory goals.

 

[dfuller]

Or didn't they have enough money to record it better?

There's the ticket. Low budget records sound bad.

I checked out Realm of Chaos. What production choices would have made this sound better? Honestly considering the music it sounds like it was rendered well. Kind of sounds live, slight scooped frequency response, strong bass. Drums have good impact.

I mean it sounds like a chaotic mish-mash but when your singer growls and the guitar's top end is rolled off that tends to be the case.

Compare it to this:

The guitars on Realm Of Chaos take up too much low midrange space, clouding out everything else.

 

[617]

There's the ticket. Low budget records sound bad.


Compare it to this:

The guitars on Realm Of Chaos take up too much low midrange space, clouding out everything else.

You are correct, I hear that. But I don't think Realm of Chaos is less successful. It has more body and impact. It has less clarity but I feel like it has more energy, which suits the music.

The drums on the track you linked are interesting. The hi-hat and..idk what the ringing metallic things are, but they are prominent in the mix, which is very musical, but the snares (if they are snares? Could be just weirdly filtered bass kicks) sound flat.

I guess when it comes down to it, if you want the wall of sound you're going to get a confusing mish-mash, unless you use ducking or some other technique to use instruments to compress each other.

 

[dfuller]

You are correct, I hear that. But I don't think Realm of Chaos is less successful. It has more body and impact. It has less clarity but I feel like it has more energy, which suits the music.

The drums on the track you linked are interesting. The hi-hat and..idk what the ringing metallic things are, but they are prominent in the mix, which is very musical, but the snares (if they are snares? Could be just weirdly filtered bass kicks) sound flat.

I guess when it comes down to it, if you want the wall of sound you're going to get a confusing mish-mash, unless you use ducking or some other technique to use instruments to compress each other.

They're not great sounding drums, that's for sure, but it ticks most of my "balanced metal record" boxes. If I was after a genuinely great sounding metal record...

 

[Vacceo]

For you metal fans, how do the recordings compare to the live bands?

I don't know, there is too much going on in the pit.

Jokes aside, It depends a lot on the band. I like bands that do not sound too different live and recorded, but it is purely a matter of taste.

For example, Napalm Death does not change much live, whereas Power Metal bands typically over-produce their records. Venom, on the other hand, is terrible live, not that their records are a show of musicianship either...

 

[617]

They're not great sounding drums, that's for sure, but it ticks most of my "balanced metal record" boxes. If I was after a genuinely great sounding metal record...

Definitely more modern, good impact. The synths provide a subtle harmonic context for all the noise and explosions.

I think a lot of the success of this recording comes from the composition; the noise is much more modulated than OP's example, it creates space for different sounds to be emphasized one after the others - drums stick out, then harmonized guitars, then harmonized vocals - then they all smoosh into one, but only for a couple seconds.

 

[kongwee]

Today with many tip and tricks on youtube, isn't that difficult. It just take hell lots of your time to practice and get feedbacks.