Need Friendly advice

[BLOODROOT]

Ok guys, I know how brutal everyone here is and no matter how good something is it is total shit so I want honest feedback on the recording, not the tune. I know they both suck. Its just average american run of the mill numetal. Im a critic too so its ok. Ok.... I used a sm57 , Engl powerball on the rhythms and Engl Savage 120 for the solo through Marshall v30 cab Dean ml with dimarzio x2n pickup. The guitars are fizzy and the snare is flat. I talked to one of the respected members here and I'm sure he is right. For the guitars I just ran the mic straight into the pc and the crappy soundcard analog to digital converters are most of the problem. I need to buy a good usb interface for my next attempt to record. after that though, what are some good things to know to make the recordings better than what I have. He mentioned to hard pan the guitars. I was doing 2 hard panned and 2 75% but was told hard pan only. I didnt understand the need to quad track then if they are just going to be hard panned why not just do 2 tracks for rhythm then. My guitars are low because the louder I turned them up the more it drowned the bass drum and snare out. the vocals we just used sm58 beta. Should we use this or get a condensor or a tube condensor, why wouldnt an overhead condensor work? Im just throwing stuff out there for some guidance. thanks guys


Here's my tune link. its the first one "words to say"
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=479598

 

[TheIllicitOne]

Not bad actually. It sounds like the mix is a little right side heavy though. Guitars could be a little more in your face and the vocals sound like they are a little muddy. You'd have to ask the other guys how to fix it though. The clean vocals are killer though.

 

[fabz]

imho there's not enough reverb on the snare and the vocals stick out too much and the leads are too loud too. It also seems that the bass is buried a little but that's just me... I like the bass guitar loud. I miss the cymbals also! turn them up!

 

[Notuern]

Pretty good, i agree with everyone else, but i would like to have more midrange in the guitars, so you get that brutal crunch.
Edit: And i would like abit less distortion on the "singing".
Edit2: Try to make the guitars sound more like the "ENGL POWERBALL WITH X2N AND DEAN MLF666".

 

[Djabthrash]

Pretty good, i agree with everyone else, but i would like to have more midrange in the guitars, so you get that brutal crunch.
Edit: And i would like abit less distortion on the "singing".
Edit2: Try to make the guitars sound more like the "ENGL POWERBALL WITH X2N AND DEAN MLF666".

+1

Weird how this "ENGL POWERBALL WITH X2N AND DEAN MLF666" clip sounds badass and the new one sounds way less good

 

[Uber Mega]

It's not bad actually, i won't echo what others have said in terms of what needs fixing...the lack of audible cymbals hit me instantly though. The song itself was cool and the vocalist has a great clean voice (although he sounded a bit strained on the growls)

Good work.

 

[BLOODROOT]

Yeah I get different stuff from everyone. On my system. Everthing is perfect cept the snare needs more reverb. In my car, the bass isnt loud enough and the solo is distant. In my wifes car the drums bury everything cept the vocals. At my singers house the bass guitar is raging loud and can barely hear the guitar solo. At my drummers house the drums are very distant and the vocals and guitar are screaming loud. It is irritating. I figured someone would have some thoughts. Oh well. thanks for listening.

 

[Radd]

First of all, really cool song.
Is this a band effort or do you do it all yourself? Do you do the vocals? Sounds really cool.
What are the drums? DKFH Superior?

Second, yeah, my thought right away was the converters are the major problem.
Seems a bit bass heavy but bringing the guitars up some (which it could use) may even it out nicely.
Thats it for me and thats my friendly advice.

That really sucks that it sounds so different through so many different speakers/environments. I know there is a thread going on now that touches on this some. From what I gather, good monitors and good room treatment should allow your mixes to come across good anywhere. I don't know for sure though.

 

[BLOODROOT]

Thanks. it is my actual band. I just play guitar. The drums are the original dfh but are programmed from the actual real beats from the basement tapes. Took my drummer 2 days to do it. im having fun learning at this point as far as recording. It beats going to the local places here and dumping cash and it sounding just as bad. All the places here suck. Even the protools studios sound like 4 track tape recordings. I figure once I get a good preamp it will make my guitars sound a bit better. The rest will just come with trial, error and reading the knowledge from this forum.

 

[Djabthrash]

Thanks. it is my actual band. I just play guitar. The drums are the original dfh but are programmed from the actual real beats from the basement tapes. Took my drummer 2 days to do it. im having fun learning at this point as far as recording. It beats going to the local places here and dumping cash and it sounding just as bad. All the places here suck. Even the protools studios sound like 4 track tape recordings. I figure once I get a good preamp it will make my guitars sound a bit better. The rest will just come with trial, error and reading the knowledge from this forum.

You're 100% right man. Try to go as far as possible in a DYI mode.