Progressive metal song.. Opinions needed

Decimator

Member
Apr 15, 2007
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www.mikseri.net
Hi all

I've been reading this forum for a while now and thought to post my own music for some advice...
It's a progressive metal song with some crazy(stupid) riffing. At first I thought that the guitar sound was ok. Now I don't even know anymore:)..
I think it's too sharp and "in your face"

The guitars and bass are recorded through PODXT..

So tell me what's wrong:)
http://www.upload.celtiaproductions.co.uk/uploads/progea-final-02.mp3
 
Man, I liked the song a lot. That middle jazzy part reminded me of Spiral Architect.
I dont know much about recording but I think the guitar solo was a bit too quiet and the guitars sounded too "digital".
 
Killer riffs there :) I think the guitars need a bit more low end, but that´s about it for them. Nice that the guitars don't have that much distortion, makes the sound clearer. The kick drum should have some more click to it, doesn´t cut through that well.. Other than that, nice job :)
 
man it's really tight, i'm really digging your playing more than anything else. the tones are really good for a modeller, what settings you got on your main riffage? how did you record it? double stuff? different amps?
 
Thanks for the comments everybody! Glad that you liked it:)

The amp model is Modern Higain with Brit Celest v-30 cab.. It is actually almost the same patch that you get just by selecting the modern higain amp. I just backed the drive a little and added some mids.. No screamer or any other stomp, thought that the sound had enough attack already.. For leads I used the same patch with added drive and delay of course.. The guitar I used is Jackson DRX with stock passive pickups.

I usually combine 2 different sounds for rhythm(and quad track), but this time I only used one. I doubled the riffs (same amp, panned hard left/right).. In some riffs of the time there are 2 guitars playing same riff octave higher (same amp, panned not so hard left/right)

I guess I could try some eq tweaking on those guitars to get them more natural sounding. Or play them again with BigBottom-Green25 combination which sounds more "real" in my opinion (should've used that in the first place :))..

Yes, the solo is a little bit too quiet. I guess I tried to bury it to the mix because it's so crappy:) and I was too lazy to record it once more.

What did you think about riffs that "got stuck".. Cool? Stupid? Retarded?.. I relly don't know, have listened that mix waaaayy too many times:p

And yeah I agree, the kick coud use some more click to it. Gets kinda buried at times..

Feel free to ask or add some more commets:)
 
Thanks for the comments everybody! Glad that you liked it:)

The amp model is Modern Higain with Brit Celest v-30 cab.. It is actually almost the same patch that you get just by selecting the modern higain amp. I just backed the drive a little and added some mids.. No screamer or any other stomp, thought that the sound had enough attack already.. For leads I used the same patch with added drive and delay of course.. The guitar I used is Jackson DRX with stock passive pickups.

I usually combine 2 different sounds for rhythm(and quad track), but this time I only used one. I doubled the riffs (same amp, panned hard left/right).. In some riffs of the time there are 2 guitars playing same riff octave higher (same amp, panned not so hard left/right)

I guess I could try some eq tweaking on those guitars to get them more natural sounding. Or play them again with BigBottom-Green25 combination which sounds more "real" in my opinion (should've used that in the first place :))..

Yes, the solo is a little bit too quiet. I guess I tried to bury it to the mix because it's so crappy:) and I was too lazy to record it once more.

What did you think about riffs that "got stuck".. Cool? Stupid? Retarded?.. I relly don't know, have listened that mix waaaayy too many times:p

And yeah I agree, the kick coud use some more click to it. Gets kinda buried at times..

Feel free to ask or add some more commets:)


what mic selection did you use
what are you doing to the channel in the mix

i was just messing around and was curious if i could match the tone, and couldnt get the same sound

my pickups are active but i dont see how that would sound thinner than the passives
 
what mic selection did you use
what are you doing to the channel in the mix

It's the 421 condenser with 41% room. I could just post the patches if anyone is interested.. In the guitar group I used kjaerhus eq for few minor cuts and boosts(-2db@350Hz, -2db@2kHz and +2db@6,3kHz). Next in line is kjaerhus mastering limiter to squish the guitars a little :loco: :)
 
It's the 421 condenser with 41% room. I could just post the patches if anyone is interested.. In the guitar group I used kjaerhus eq for few minor cuts and boosts(-2db@350Hz, -2db@2kHz and +2db@6,3kHz). Next in line is kjaerhus mastering limiter to squish the guitars a little :loco: :)

wait... there's a 421, and a condenser selection for mics...

:erk:
 
Whoops :) I meant dynamic.. Had to look that up on the pods dusty display.. Gearbox 3.0 shows the mic settings wrong sometimes:erk:

i dont know, i just can't get over the mesa with a tube screamer

every tone i make with the pod just doesnt compare to it

i feel like i spent 700 dollars on a rack unit and the upgrades for one model! haha
 
I use the bean shaped.. +4dbu outs were enough for me.. Don't really like to use pod as a soundcard to record digital...

i dont know, i just can't get over the mesa with a tube screamer

every tone i make with the pod just doesnt compare to it

i feel like i spent 700 dollars on a rack unit and the upgrades for one model! haha
Haha.. I know. I was stuck on that mesa model too.. I think thats the thickest sounding model of all but combining 2 different sounds you can get nice results also
http://www.sneapforum.celtiaproductions.co.uk/Decimator/bbbiisi-03.mp3 Here's another mix for comparison.. 2 tracks on Bigbottom and 2 tracks of Engl
 
I like the sound of the first sample more so than the second one...

I'm talking, guitar, drums, overall... sounds more cohesive. IMO

I've also listened to that track on a couple different speaker setups and I think the level of kick-click that was there was fine...

Sounds good... KEEP IT UP!:headbang:
 
i dont know, i just can't get over the mesa with a tube screamer

every tone i make with the pod just doesnt compare to it

i feel like i spent 700 dollars on a rack unit and the upgrades for one model! haha

I'm interested in hearing the XT Pro, I had the original Pod Pro and I thought it was awesome... sold it and the Crate BV head I had used it with and upgraded to a Dual rec... and later sold that... bad idea.:erk: