Hey this is my latest production, I've engineered, mixed and mastered this song. Tell me what you think! 
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My latest production
- Thread starter AntonFranzon
- Start date
oroinvictus
dangert billy
Not too bad, but it could have been better. The guitars sound very impulse-driven and are lacking in body and definition. Any bass guitar is totally inaudible. Drums sound like the stock superior drummer 2 avatar kit with no alterations whatsoever :/ and the vocal performances are just weak.
Yeah, This is the best thing i've ever done with the setup that I've got atm.
Amplitube and Superior drummer (It's NOT the stock avatar kit though).
I've always hated the tone in Amplitube, but you've got to do the best you can when you can't afford anything else! (When you've got an $150 audio interface.)
And I'm really happy with the result that I've achieved this time if I look back at my old projects!
Soon I will upgrade my studio equipment to get it better!
Also about the vocals: We tried to get a hardcore influenced sound on the song so we tried a few mic setups. (sm57, beta52 etc)
Then we ended up with a RODE NT1A and a Sontronics STC-1 as a room mic.
Do you have any tips about the vocals? mic setups etc, I've heard that the SM7B is a BEAST, but what's your opinion?
Cheers!
Amplitube and Superior drummer (It's NOT the stock avatar kit though).
I've always hated the tone in Amplitube, but you've got to do the best you can when you can't afford anything else! (When you've got an $150 audio interface.)
And I'm really happy with the result that I've achieved this time if I look back at my old projects!
Soon I will upgrade my studio equipment to get it better!
Also about the vocals: We tried to get a hardcore influenced sound on the song so we tried a few mic setups. (sm57, beta52 etc)
Then we ended up with a RODE NT1A and a Sontronics STC-1 as a room mic.
Do you have any tips about the vocals? mic setups etc, I've heard that the SM7B is a BEAST, but what's your opinion?
Cheers!
oroinvictus
dangert billy
Hey that's fair, if you're happy with it then that's mostly what counts, right? And believe me, I've heard FAR worse mixes from people on this forum (I won't name any names) that claim to have years of experience and thousands of dollars worth of equipment. For amp sims, you may want to look into Nick Crow's emulations, LeCto and LeCab (amp and cab simulators), maybe even Pod Farm, though those first two options are free. That's not to say you can't get good tones out of amplitube, though. I think your tone just needs some surgical and color EQ to help get them in-your-face but sitting in the mix properly. As far as studio equipment goes, I highly recommend getting a good pair of reference monitors or monitor headphones if you haven't already. An acoustically sound room is also quite favorable but that's another story entirely. The NT1A is a great mic, I typically use a pair for stereo overheads. It's also great for voiceover work. The SM57 is a tried-and-true all arounder, it's fairly difficult to go wrong with one. They're good for vocals and great for guitars and (some) drums, but if you want to record really crisp, clean vocals I would recommend a small or large-diaphragm condenser mic over a small cardioid-pattern mic like the 57. Stick with the NT1A, or if you're feeling adventurous you could dabble into Audio Technica, they make some really great condenser mics for good price points.
I will check out the free stuff for sure, I did actually send you an email about reamping before we released the song, but I didn't get any response haha..
When I've got a good guitarsound then there's just some Slate or Sturgis drums missing to get a huge sound. (Including surgical EQing and stuff.)
So if you were me you would go for the NT1A and a pair of OHs? How should I place the OHs in the room?
I have a pair of Sontronics STC-1 but I did just use one of them when I recorded this.
Also our screamer has a really powerful and loud voice, so I have a bit troubble to handle it..
Thank you for helping me out by the way!
When I've got a good guitarsound then there's just some Slate or Sturgis drums missing to get a huge sound. (Including surgical EQing and stuff.)
So if you were me you would go for the NT1A and a pair of OHs? How should I place the OHs in the room?
I have a pair of Sontronics STC-1 but I did just use one of them when I recorded this.
Also our screamer has a really powerful and loud voice, so I have a bit troubble to handle it..
Thank you for helping me out by the way!
oroinvictus
dangert billy
Oh you did? Damn. My email is pretty filled day in and day out so my apologies for that... if you ever need someone to get you some Slate drums, I can do that for you. I understand shelling out 100 or 200 bones isn't incredibly appealing unless you plan on using it all the damn time. I've got SSD 3.5 and 4, both platinum versions. If I were you I'd save up for another NT1A, use those as your OH mics for drums. As far as OH placement goes, I often use a trick that I picked up about 5 years ago on the Gearslutz forum.
"1. Sit on the drummer's throne/stool.
2. Hold both drum sticks end-to-end so that you have a measuring device ( aprox. 16"...give or take).
3. Place the tip of one end of your new double- length-drums-stick-measuring-device in the center of the snare with the "drum sticks" held vertically.
4. The other end will now (depending on how tall you are) be a little above and in front of your forehead.
5. Place a mic here. I've been aiming it down at the snare...
6. With the tip of the "drum sticks" still in the center of the snare, angle the "stick back and down, so that's it's to the right of your right shoulder ( about a 45 degreee angle)
7. Use a mic cable. Measure the distance of the over the snare mic to the center of the kick drum. Check that the "right shoulder" mic is also the same distance.
8. Double check the snare distance again.
9. As far as where to face them...experiment. I like the extra snare reinforcement, so as of late I've been facing them both at the snare. facing them at the rack and floor toms also produces good results.
10. one last thing to check. with headphones on, both "OH" mics in your cue mix (only them) .fine tune the placement (i.e. adjust their orientation...usualliy just moving the shoulder one) untill the kick is in the center of your "image"
11. When you're done you'll notice that at first glance, this looks very weird and unsymmetrical. Yet it is very symmetrical in it's result. A. Rack toms are higher off the floor than floor toms, so this arrangement actually follows the contour of the toms as they really are. Standard OH micing doesn't take this into account, and as such are usually no more than "cymbal mics". Most of them time you see mixers pulling the OH's down to -10 or more in the mix because of the over abundance of cymbals and badly phased snare/kick/toms in the OH's."
"1. Sit on the drummer's throne/stool.
2. Hold both drum sticks end-to-end so that you have a measuring device ( aprox. 16"...give or take).
3. Place the tip of one end of your new double- length-drums-stick-measuring-device in the center of the snare with the "drum sticks" held vertically.
4. The other end will now (depending on how tall you are) be a little above and in front of your forehead.
5. Place a mic here. I've been aiming it down at the snare...
6. With the tip of the "drum sticks" still in the center of the snare, angle the "stick back and down, so that's it's to the right of your right shoulder ( about a 45 degreee angle)
7. Use a mic cable. Measure the distance of the over the snare mic to the center of the kick drum. Check that the "right shoulder" mic is also the same distance.
8. Double check the snare distance again.
9. As far as where to face them...experiment. I like the extra snare reinforcement, so as of late I've been facing them both at the snare. facing them at the rack and floor toms also produces good results.
10. one last thing to check. with headphones on, both "OH" mics in your cue mix (only them) .fine tune the placement (i.e. adjust their orientation...usualliy just moving the shoulder one) untill the kick is in the center of your "image"
11. When you're done you'll notice that at first glance, this looks very weird and unsymmetrical. Yet it is very symmetrical in it's result. A. Rack toms are higher off the floor than floor toms, so this arrangement actually follows the contour of the toms as they really are. Standard OH micing doesn't take this into account, and as such are usually no more than "cymbal mics". Most of them time you see mixers pulling the OH's down to -10 or more in the mix because of the over abundance of cymbals and badly phased snare/kick/toms in the OH's."
Thank you so much for this trick!
It would be really cool to mix the same song with slate drums to see the difference, how much do you charge for doing that?
oroinvictus
dangert billy
Oh whipping up some MIDI drums is free, it's hardly much trouble. Send me a PM and we'll work it out.
By the way, here's my soundcloud if you want to hear some of my recent mixes. https://soundcloud.com/oroinvictus
By the way, here's my soundcloud if you want to hear some of my recent mixes. https://soundcloud.com/oroinvictus
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