Newbie needs feedback/advice.

[dill_the_devil]

Hey guys! I'm a complete newbie to any sort of recording, but recently I've been fed up with coming up with riffs and having no one to play them with, so I wanted to record something down. My resources are pretty limited, as I'm young and poor, but I managed to get hold of a few things to help. My gear is thus :

- Maverick X-1 guitar
- Adobe Audition v1.1
- Line6 GuitarPort
- Leafdrums v2.1 drum sequencing software

And, that's pretty much it. I've been fooling around with the stuff for a few weeks now, but can't really seem to get a decent sound together. Here's my latest effort :

http://www.geocities.com/philwhitehouse/Dill-demo2-heavy.mp3

I was wondering what advice you guys could give to get this sounding a bit better. Feedback on the riffs would be cool too, naff as they are!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I'm not really familiar with the equipment you're using, but for starters I suggest cutting down the reverb on the guitars a tad. Also you can double them to get a tougher sound.

You might want to randomize the midi notes here and there on the drums so they are less redundant and get a more human feel.

Use an equalizer on the bass drums to get more click (metal!). Find a high frequency that sounds good and boost it a little with a small Q setting (but a higher Q number). Cut that frequency a bit on the rest of the instruments and the bass drums will stand out a little.

I don't think there's any bass guitar on that clip, but I could be wrong--my speakers here suck. Hopefully you have a pitch shifter if you don't have a bass guitar and you can just lower the pitch of your guitar an octave and that'll give you something. It won't sound nearly as good as a real bass, but at least there will be something there. I've done at least one mix with a guitar turned bass and it actually sounded pretty decent, and that's all you're really looking for right now.

Granted, I'm still pretty novice, but for starters I think that's a good way to go.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Hi,

I think we are all notive, and even Andy can learn from our experiences. Nobody knows everything, and every opinion of advice is good to ear (you are then free to follow them or not after consideration).

I agree with GGI, give the bass drum more hi freq, and probably cut a little bit of low freq on the them too. I don't know your softwares, but maybe you can pan the drums differently, put the ride on one side (75%) and the hats on the other side (-75%), pan the cymbals too. I noticed their are no toms... Not very realistic, most drummers use toms for breaks and stuff... But if they sound like shit, maybe you're right not to use them ;o) Raising the level of the snare could be cool too.

I wouldn't be that concerned about the bass guitar if you just want to do exactly what the guitars are doing... Concerning the guitar sound, besides cutting nearly all the reverb, you should try double tracking each part (2 on the left, panning -100 and -80, and 2 on the right, panning 100 and 80) with a lower distortion setting (this is what Andy advices actually) and maybe two different amp setting. This requires you to be a little bit more tight with the playing though, but this is for the best

Keep up the good work anyway, this is a great starting !

Brett

 

[dill_the_devil]

Cheers guys - you're right, there are no bass guitar in the mix - there are some toms in there, but they unfortunately don't cut through the mix terribly well, and end up sounding pretty much like the snares. I can't really randomize the drum hits on the Leafdrums software, so I'm stuck with rigid, mechanical drumming, sadly. I've also got no pitchshifter (I'm young and poor) but I've got a friend willing to lend me a bass guitar in the near future.

Thanks for the advice - I'll take it all into account and post something else soon.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

hey, we all started poorly and slowly!

here are a couple other things to think about. first, always listen to your music on different sound systems. what sounds good on one stereo could sound awful on another. listen through different speakers, even on bad walkman headphones.

also, I suggest to work hard on one instrument at a time. keep messing with your guitar sound until you get it the best possible! always compare it to cds you like and listen closely.

 

[FrostGiant]

I myself just started doing this recording dealy 2 years ago and have an idea for the basic 'why don't it sound right' questions (which I myself had, now my next obstacle is eq during mixdown which is a bitch). But anyway, I haven't listened to your track yet but from what these guys posted I think the biggest issue with your guitars is doubling. That'll make a world of difference. 2 or 4 times. Whatever the mix calls for. Pan right and left to your taste. As far as the Line 6 guitar port goes, if it's anything like the POD, turn that bass way down. I know the PODs are very bassy and you can't mix em for shit. It makes a good bedroom jamming tone, but not good for mixes. And like was already posted (which most of this was already, I'm just bored) turn down the gain. 4 crunchy guitar tracks will be much more heavy than 4 fuzzy, heavily distorted tracks and it'll be a lot cleaner. Of course it means you have to play cleaner, but that'll only make you a better musician anyways. I'll try to give you track a listen tomorrow and see if I can't come up with some better comments.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

I agree with GGI, give the bass drum more hi freq, and probably cut a little bit of low freq on the them too. I don't know your softwares, but maybe you can pan the drums differently, put the ride on one side (75%) and the hats on the other side (-75%), pan the cymbals too. I noticed their are no toms... Not very realistic, most drummers use toms for breaks and stuff... But if they sound like shit, maybe you're right not to use them ;o) Raising the level of the snare could be cool too.

I tend to choke off the guitars just above the depth volume for kick then give the kick a little boost there. I find it ties the bassline and the kicks together nicely. Not entirely sure thats the done thing, but it works for me.

Kicks usually punch depthwise about the third from the left on a ten band EQ btw... David miles says...

Bottom depth = 60-80Hz / Slap attack at 2.5hz.

Have a play with those frequency ranges and see what happens.

Sam

PS downloaded your old demo Brett, good stuff... get that album rolled out pronto!

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

I myself just started doing this recording dealy 2 years ago and have an idea for the basic 'why don't it sound right' questions (which I myself had, now my next obstacle is eq during mixdown which is a bitch). But anyway, I haven't listened to your track yet but from what these guys posted I think the biggest issue with your guitars is doubling. That'll make a world of difference. 2 or 4 times. Whatever the mix calls for. Pan right and left to your taste. As far as the Line 6 guitar port goes, if it's anything like the POD, turn that bass way down. I know the PODs are very bassy and you can't mix em for shit. It makes a good bedroom jamming tone, but not good for mixes. And like was already posted (which most of this was already, I'm just bored) turn down the gain. 4 crunchy guitar tracks will be much more heavy than 4 fuzzy, heavily distorted tracks and it'll be a lot cleaner. Of course it means you have to play cleaner, but that'll only make you a better musician anyways. I'll try to give you track a listen tomorrow and see if I can't come up with some better comments.

I agree that the old PODS sound like shit, i'm playing with a tubescreamer to get a more real tone. Maybe I'll post some if i get some success out of it.

 

[Wadi]

Hi guys,

I just got myself registered in this forum and hell, I love this place!! I have a mix and would really appreciate if any of you kind people put an input or two as to how the mix sounds like. I will be doing my own mix for my band real soon and would like to see your comments before proceeding with the works.

I am doing the mix in a totally software environment without any external hardwares and using an Yamaha MSP5 as my monitoring.

Thanks so much.

The Link

http://www.pure-rock.net/sounds/3.mp3

My band's Webby

http://www.e-thereal.cjb.net/

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

PS downloaded your old demo Brett, good stuff... get that album rolled out pronto!

Thank you, it's quite old indeed (95);-), but the new album is really taking all the energy out of me... By the way if you didn't, you should download the Sampler song we did for french Rock Hard magazine, it's much more recent. The link's on the homepage (www.kalisia.com), bottom left.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Thanks.

 

[Wadi]

Heya Brett- Kalisa,

An awesome page and great killer songs!!

 

[dill_the_devil]

Here's another attempt, taking into account the advice given herein...

http://www.geocities.com/philwhitehouse/heavy.mp3