A few recording tips please?

[lScottyl]

Hey, I've been doing some HIGHLY amateur recording at home for a number of years, and in that times there's just a few things I haven't been able to work out. If someone could please help me out with a few things I would be eternally grateful.
1: I don't play bass or know any metal bass players, so for my recordings, I do all my own bass playing. I was wondering what would be the best place to 'strum' the pick. I feel I'm getting the best sound just behind the pickups, about halfway between the last pickup and the bridge, but would like a second opinion?
2: The vocals don't seem to jump out of the song very well, and I don't think it's a volume issue, but more an eq issue. They don't seem to stand out from the music. I'm not asking for a quick fix or anything, just a link maybe to some tutorials? I can't seem to find any that help me with this. someone in my band explained it like this. "The vocals just don't seem to be at the front, but caught up in the music". All I've added was slight reverb and a bit of limiting.

Thanks legends!
Scotty

 

[ashgallows]

1.it is seriously wherever you can get the best amount of control. for me it's in front of the neck pickup with the heel of my hand doing the dampening.

2.going to need a clip for that one. as for what you said though it seems like a volume balance/e.q. issue. solo each of the instruments and the vocal to see what is coving It up, then dip a little bit out of those tracks where the clashing occurs. a clip would be needed to say for sure though.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Yeah, as far as vocals, most likely your guitars are clashing with them. Cut away from the guitars where they clash and then boost that same area in the vocals.

I've always had pretty good luck raping vocal tracks with 2 comps in series and then a limiter (or 2) and slam the living shit out of them. But you still need to figure out what areas are clashing and take care of that.

 

[Downtime]

Hey, I've been doing some HIGHLY amateur recording at home for a number of years, and in that times there's just a few things I haven't been able to work out. If someone could please help me out with a few things I would be eternally grateful.
1: I don't play bass or know any metal bass players, so for my recordings, I do all my own bass playing. I was wondering what would be the best place to 'strum' the pick. I feel I'm getting the best sound just behind the pickups, about halfway between the last pickup and the bridge, but would like a second opinion?
2: The vocals don't seem to jump out of the song very well, and I don't think it's a volume issue, but more an eq issue. They don't seem to stand out from the music. I'm not asking for a quick fix or anything, just a link maybe to some tutorials? I can't seem to find any that help me with this. someone in my band explained it like this. "The vocals just don't seem to be at the front, but caught up in the music". All I've added was slight reverb and a bit of limiting.

Thanks legends!
Scotty

Concerning the bass: It sounds good when it sounds good.

To your vocal-issue: First of all, compress you vocals until they're on the same volume - always. If they are too loud or to low in some parts afterwards, use your DAWs automation. When applying reverb, use a send effect, compress the effect, and carefully add the reverb from there. If its about screaming, adding some highs carefully (depending on the singer) will help - but don't cut your guitars too much. It is a whole other story for clean vocals, they do interfere your guitars pretty much - this is where your EQ comes in. I would not recommend to use the EQ first for fast results.

Best regards,
Sebastian