- Nov 11, 2013
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Granted, this is Jorn Lande, surrounded by top musicians in a great studio, but is it even remotely possible to make a song sound this good in a home studio?
How to sound this good
- Thread starter Pharaoh's Curse
- Start date
The-Zeronaut
Mixing..Y U SO DIFFICULT?
- Sep 24, 2007
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-Short answer...Yes.
-Long answer: it depends on a lot of factors...Very good recordings can and have been mixed by a lot of pros like nolly or putney in a laptop with headphones.
Drums I would either use samples with very good cymbal programming by someone who either IS or thinks like a drummer which makes a world of difference or you should record in a "real" studio with quality drums/new well tuned skins/etc which is more costly.
Bass and guitar these days could easily be kemper or amp sims with quality IRs but have to be recorded with new strings and a quality DI box.
IMHO the bass in this particular song could easily be programmed and you would never notice.
Vocals just use a decent enough microphone but use something like a portable vocal booth or any gizmo like the reflection screens or isovox to avoid the awful bad demo room ambience sound and record through a real or vst emulation of an 1176/distressor doing some healthy amount of reduction into a neve style preamp (real or vst)
I can hear a lot of constant vocal layering and harmonies tightly edited/vocalign´d which makes it sound much more "expensive"
The arrangement leaves a lot of space for that big snare ambience in the verses and the big vocal sound.
Seems to have been mixed in a very modest small-ish studio so maybe try to contact them if want to go directly to the source https://www.facebook.com/ivorytearsmusicworks
If you need someone to try to get close to that kind of sound or just some constructive criticism
just sent me a pm/message.
I need stuff to add to my portfolio and I´m looking for interesting projects and I love this genre
-Long answer: it depends on a lot of factors...Very good recordings can and have been mixed by a lot of pros like nolly or putney in a laptop with headphones.
Drums I would either use samples with very good cymbal programming by someone who either IS or thinks like a drummer which makes a world of difference or you should record in a "real" studio with quality drums/new well tuned skins/etc which is more costly.
Bass and guitar these days could easily be kemper or amp sims with quality IRs but have to be recorded with new strings and a quality DI box.
IMHO the bass in this particular song could easily be programmed and you would never notice.
Vocals just use a decent enough microphone but use something like a portable vocal booth or any gizmo like the reflection screens or isovox to avoid the awful bad demo room ambience sound and record through a real or vst emulation of an 1176/distressor doing some healthy amount of reduction into a neve style preamp (real or vst)
I can hear a lot of constant vocal layering and harmonies tightly edited/vocalign´d which makes it sound much more "expensive"
The arrangement leaves a lot of space for that big snare ambience in the verses and the big vocal sound.
Seems to have been mixed in a very modest small-ish studio so maybe try to contact them if want to go directly to the source https://www.facebook.com/ivorytearsmusicworks
If you need someone to try to get close to that kind of sound or just some constructive criticism
just sent me a pm/message.
I need stuff to add to my portfolio and I´m looking for interesting projects and I love this genre
whitedoormixing
New Metal Member
I agree with The-Zeronaut, definitely you can do it in a home studio environment as long as you know what are you doing.
I loved Jorn, he's a god! So I'll try to be objective.
To my ears and IMHO, they sampled the snare or blended it with the real one, if there was one. I'm not completely sure if the drums are real tho, they sound programmed to my ears, specially in the fills and during the solos. However, since this is a classic heavy metal/hard rock song so you can expect simple and tight and polished drumming. That being said, you can program them too.
Guitar and bass wise, you can't go wrong with Kemper or Axe Fx. I would add, from my experience, that it's even better to kemper (yeah, it's a verb as well ) than recording amps and cabs at home without proper microphones and preamps.
Vocal wise, even with all the gear, no one can match Jorn
I loved Jorn, he's a god! So I'll try to be objective.
To my ears and IMHO, they sampled the snare or blended it with the real one, if there was one. I'm not completely sure if the drums are real tho, they sound programmed to my ears, specially in the fills and during the solos. However, since this is a classic heavy metal/hard rock song so you can expect simple and tight and polished drumming. That being said, you can program them too.
Guitar and bass wise, you can't go wrong with Kemper or Axe Fx. I would add, from my experience, that it's even better to kemper (yeah, it's a verb as well
) than recording amps and cabs at home without proper microphones and preamps.Vocal wise, even with all the gear, no one can match Jorn
- Nov 11, 2013
- 232
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I don't own a Kemper, but I have a lot of the popular amp sims. I haven't access to real drums, but I have Superior 3 & Perfect drums. I have access to a bass player, but it would be DI only. I do have Trillian as well. I can hire out for programming of drums, I'm sure that would be easy to find.
All that being said, even if my song isn't 1/10th as good, it 's still 100% possible for it to "Sound" professional and not homemade correct?
All that being said, even if my song isn't 1/10th as good, it 's still 100% possible for it to "Sound" professional and not homemade correct?
The-Zeronaut
Mixing..Y U SO DIFFICULT?
- Sep 24, 2007
- 1,794
- 5
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well.."good" is kind of subjective
I found that particular song by Jorn to be kinda meh compared to his previous work...but his vocal style is soooo god that it just steals the spotlight from everything else
but it is a very well arranged song technically speaking.
My advice..check out your favorite songs by Jorn (or any other artists)
and analyze them like your life depends on it...i don't mean copy them..i mean check how they think
If you listen to bands like powerwolf or arch enemy you will hear that they found their formula and stick to it.
in this song in particular the verses are palm muted which leaves a lot of spaces for vocal layers and big snare reverb
The first phrases of the chorus are one track of vocals and then enter the layers.
He doesn't sing long sentences or go very fast. he give himself time to breathe and accent or elongate certain syllables
He likes harmonizing lead lines a lot in his work.
Learning to compose or arrange is a long journey with a lot of listening and analyzing
im not an artistic guy who just takes a guitar and jams a cool song in 10 mins
im the guy analyzing why the double kicks go from triplets to straight before the 2º verse
I see songs as a puzzle
Still I found it very intelligent that you are comparing your songs to your idols
when im mixing or arranging I don't think about local bands or my studio competitors around here
I think what would Sneap think of this mix or would this riff work for my favorite band?
I found that particular song by Jorn to be kinda meh compared to his previous work...but his vocal style is soooo god that it just steals the spotlight from everything else
but it is a very well arranged song technically speaking.
My advice..check out your favorite songs by Jorn (or any other artists)
and analyze them like your life depends on it...i don't mean copy them..i mean check how they think
If you listen to bands like powerwolf or arch enemy you will hear that they found their formula and stick to it.
in this song in particular the verses are palm muted which leaves a lot of spaces for vocal layers and big snare reverb
The first phrases of the chorus are one track of vocals and then enter the layers.
He doesn't sing long sentences or go very fast. he give himself time to breathe and accent or elongate certain syllables
He likes harmonizing lead lines a lot in his work.
Learning to compose or arrange is a long journey with a lot of listening and analyzing
im not an artistic guy who just takes a guitar and jams a cool song in 10 mins
im the guy analyzing why the double kicks go from triplets to straight before the 2º verse
I see songs as a puzzle
Still I found it very intelligent that you are comparing your songs to your idols
when im mixing or arranging I don't think about local bands or my studio competitors around here
I think what would Sneap think of this mix or would this riff work for my favorite band?
- Nov 11, 2013
- 232
- 20
- 18
The-Zeronaut
Mixing..Y U SO DIFFICULT?
- Sep 24, 2007
- 1,794
- 5
- 38
- Nov 11, 2013
- 232
- 20
- 18
Thank you everyone for your replies and thank you Zeronaught for your offer. It's taken me many years to realize that in order to sound professional, you need to be professional. No amount of plug's, recording equipment, amps, guitars, mics will ever change the fact that you are who you are.
I've sent out for mixing, mastering, real drums, re-amping. Bought all the latest gadgets and nothing has worked.
I've often wondered why after so many years I have never been able to really capture that pro sound. Technology has certainly made things closer, but at the end of the day you have to be an exceptional musician and you have to write good songs.
I, along with many others, will always have that amateur sound compared to the big guns. Such is life. I guess you deal with your limitations, or you hang it all up. I am edging toward the latter.
I've sent out for mixing, mastering, real drums, re-amping. Bought all the latest gadgets and nothing has worked.
I've often wondered why after so many years I have never been able to really capture that pro sound. Technology has certainly made things closer, but at the end of the day you have to be an exceptional musician and you have to write good songs.
I, along with many others, will always have that amateur sound compared to the big guns. Such is life. I guess you deal with your limitations, or you hang it all up. I am edging toward the latter.
Being a great musician definitely helps, but with today's tech you can stitch songs together and make something decent if you can nail the mix and mastering. Don't be deterred.
leonsun
New Metal Member
Hi,
your story is familiar for me, I started like you and struggled for years. What I can say that don't give up. The mixing is giving only les than 50% of the sound, the other elements are the quality of the sound source and the playing quality/orchestration. The virtual drum sound today are completely usable for getting good sound, you have several options to send your tracks for reamping and can record the vocal in adequate quality with medium-priced mics. What you cannot create at home is the unique vibe of high-end analog equipments.
