How to make my recording sound more like clear, and less like ass?

[Spiritbeast]

Thanks guys. I can definitely hear the progress too. Are the drums perhaps mono because I rendered them as a wav beforehand and imported them into my mix afterwards, or is there just something on Superior Drummer I need to check on to make it stereo?
And about my questions on sample replacing, I got it figured out. I used someones Reaper template to get each mic on a different channel (Whoever you are, guy on a random forum, thanks way too much!). I tried replacing the samples, and it wasn't sounding too great sadly.

I'll get my drums sounding better after some more research, but in the mean time, anyone have any advice on beefing up the guitar (or bass!) tone? The guitar is in C# standard and using 10 gauge strings, so obviously some new and heavier strings will beef up the tone, but since recording for our album won't start until summer, that'll have to wait!

And by the way, I actually play the bass, but I'm manning the computer doing the recording process.

 

[Audiosprite]

Thanks guys. I can definitely hear the progress too. Are the drums perhaps mono because I rendered them as a wav beforehand and imported them into my mix afterwards, or is there just something on Superior Drummer I need to check on to make it stereo?

if you bounced the wav in mono then they're in mono.

 

[Spiritbeast]

if you bounced the wav in mono then they're in mono.

It was exported in Stereo I believe, but I was looking at the drum track, and when I panned it to one side, I heard most of the track, and when I panned it to another, I barely heard anything... so somethings going on stopping it from being truly stereo.

Anyway, sorry I'm a man of so many questions ... when I get good at this, I'll help noobs like me out At around 1:30 of this (which is poorly tracked btw, we just sorta rushed that one.. and don't mind the shitty copy and paste job before it!), the palm mutes create a really annoying harmonic. Well, at least I think it's annoying. Any advice on how to rid of these?

 

[drope934]

Don't like the snare of the last ones at all, it's very thin, otherwise the sound balance is a lot better than before, you can put just a little bit more of kick and snare IMO. Otherwise, maybe the guitars are quit off in some parts. I know it's not a "mixing" problem but if you record it tighter, it will sound better.

 

[Spiritbeast]

Don't like the snare of the last ones at all, it's very thin, otherwise the sound balance is a lot better than before, you can put just a little bit more of kick and snare IMO. Otherwise, maybe the guitars are quit off in some parts. I know it's not a "mixing" problem but if you record it tighter, it will sound better.

I still can't get a good snare, but I think I made everything else in the drums sound better.. maybe.
Also, is it just me, or do you guys also hear an obnoxious clicking sound in this render?

 

[smy1]

Am I the only one who thinks that this thread has TROLL written all over it???

 

[Spiritbeast]

Am I the only one who thinks that this thread has TROLL written all over it???

Yes... do you guys never get people new at recording through these parts?

 

[ahjteam]

Holy... Nice developement there dude!





How about making the articulation of the bass guitar a bit more audible? I can hear it is there, but I can't figure out what it's playing. try duplicating the track, highpass at 1khz and add a massive distortion to it, similarly to this but maybe not as distorted:

 

[jimwilbourne]

this song sounds better everytime I hear it.
make sure you get better source sounds to work with next time.

 

[Audiosprite]

It was exported in Stereo I believe, but I was looking at the drum track, and when I panned it to one side, I heard most of the track, and when I panned it to another, I barely heard anything... so somethings going on stopping it from being truly stereo.

did you pan superior drummer at all before you bounced it?

 

[Spiritbeast]

Holy... Nice developement there dude!


How about making the articulation of the bass guitar a bit more audible? I can hear it is there, but I can't figure out what it's playing. try duplicating the track, highpass at 1khz and add a massive distortion to it, similarly to this but maybe not as distorted:

Thanks for the advice. I'll edit this post with a version with a better bass track attached soon.

this song sounds better everytime I hear it.
make sure you get better source sounds to work with next time.

Thank you. Do you think that is what could be stopping my tone from being as sick as the examples I heard with the same exact chain I'm using?
I'm guessing the way to improving my signal would just be shelling out the cash for a better interface? Right now the guitar and bass are plugged into a tube preamp then that is plugged into a ... Alesis iO2 express... it was $80! I imagine that could be hurting my sound quality.

did you pan superior drummer at all before you bounced it?

No, I did not. I don't know how to haha.

 

[jimwilbourne]

Thank you. Do you think that is what could be stopping my tone from being as sick as the examples I heard with the same exact chain I'm using?
I'm guessing the way to improving my signal would just be shelling out the cash for a better interface? Right now the guitar and bass are plugged into a tube preamp then that is plugged into a ... Alesis iO2 express... it was $80! I imagine that could be hurting my sound quality.

you could be suffering from the the interface. but I'm not sure if that's even the problem. it seems like it's mostly suffering from panning & EQ issues. you just gotta clear up some room so that each instrument can have it's space.

it also sounds like you're not hearing your audio properly.
what are you mixing with? what monitors are you using?

 

[Spiritbeast]

you could be suffering from the the interface. but I'm not sure if that's even the problem. it seems like it's mostly suffering from panning & EQ issues. you just gotta clear up some room so that each instrument can have it's space.

it also sounds like you're not hearing your audio properly.
what are you mixing with? what monitors are you using?

When I record, I monitor it through a mixer with two speakers. So, not exactly "studio monitors". When trying to sort out levels, I just listen to the mix through my headphones and fool around with the volume sliders... something seems wrong about that...

But I'm not quite sure what that does with the source - and making sure my source is perfect is going to be the most important thing for me when we record this summer. In the end, I may get some production help from buddies, but I just want to make sure I have a good sounding pre-master mix. We can always fix up the tone modeling or EQ, but having a good sounding source is one thing you cannot fix with a VST.

If you really want to analyze the source, I have the raw tracks here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qh4v5599ecbqek6 I appreciate the help everyone (except for the person who called me a troll)

 

[jimwilbourne]

yeah. studio monitors are gonna help you out a lot. it helps you hear everything without the coloration that any normal speakers and headphones will give you.

granted, you're gonna want to you check your mixes on speakers that you're accustomed to, but mixing on such speakers will rarely yield good results.

 

[Spiritbeast]

Holy... Nice developement there dude!

How about making the articulation of the bass guitar a bit more audible? I can hear it is there, but I can't figure out what it's playing. try duplicating the track, highpass at 1khz and add a massive distortion to it, similarly to this but maybe not as distorted:

Alright, here is the bass turned up a little bit, the guitars turned down a little:


Here it is with a touch of distortion, barely noticeable though... maybe I should have turned that track up a little?


If there is a hearable difference... which would you guys suggest picking?

Edit: I feel like that awful crackling I hear is from the drums peaking I guess? To fix that should I just make everything quieter?
-Edit2: Rendering with the master fixed that, but I shouldn't need to use the master to have a good sounding mix.

 

[Spiritbeast]

We got our vocalist to put some vocals over the track. I'm still not too great at all this, but I am a lot better at it then I started, and that's for sure ... so I thank you guys a lot.

Though you might be ashamed I used the recording abilities I learned to create a metal cover of Rebecca Black's Friday...... and it has like 30k views haha