Recording yourself and making it sound real

[Pharaoh's Curse]

Does recording yourself always bring in a level of "Fake-ness" ? A separated sound? Kinda like things don't sound like a full band?

Does a real drummer make a huge difference over VST drums? I've used both and had the same results.

For as long as I can remember recording myself never sounded real to me, it sounded like the instruments were separate in the mix and never together. I have had albums mixed by studios that sounded the same way and never once have I heard a studio or someone listening to my songs say "Your stuff sounds fake" In fact, I have had people think I was a full band with no knowledge of the drums being 100% midi programmed. So I begin to think maybe it's just me? Maybe I am too close to the music and no level of production will ever sound professional to me. I could go to Michael Wagener and still sound fake to me.

My guitar parts always sound fake to me, the vocals separate and fake in the mix, the drums, bass.. It all sounds fake.

I have heard mixes all over the net both with full bands and guys using VST's in their bedrooms and they sound real to me, they sound like a band, authentic. Hard to explain..

Does anyone else feel this way about their music? If so, how do you get past that? Can you ever get past it?

 

[nezvers]

Well for start you could give something to listen.

 

[Pharaoh's Curse]

Another question: Does the room add a "cohesive" element to the mix that virtual tracks do not, or can not?

 

[Pharaoh's Curse]

Take a listen to Hammerfall, now I realize no way are we in the same league as these guys, but their mixes sound about 1,000 bigger, more professional and most importantly, Real..

 

[ashgallows]

to my ears the difference is covering gaps in the frequency spectrum and a bit of clipping. your mix has a few holes in the upper mid/high area that theirs doesn't. tbh i like that (your) sound better for metal as it sounds less poppy to me. it seems like theirs is clipped just a bit more, but that might also be an illusion as it might just be perceived loudness. i also feel like if your reverbs came up more and had a bit of leveling to them it would make the mix more full and seem more "stereo". all this said, i would much rather listen to your mix, as it has a bit more weight and it highlights the rythmn section instead of putting the vocal stacks louder than everything else.

 

[Pharaoh's Curse]

to my ears the difference is covering gaps in the frequency spectrum and a bit of clipping. your mix has a few holes in the upper mid/high area that theirs doesn't. tbh i like that (your) sound better for metal as it sounds less poppy to me. it seems like theirs is clipped just a bit more, but that might also be an illusion as it might just be perceived loudness. i also feel like if your reverbs came up more and had a bit of leveling to them it would make the mix more full and seem more "stereo". all this said, i would much rather listen to your mix, as it has a bit more weight and it highlights the rythmn section instead of putting the vocal stacks louder than everything else.

Thanks for the reply, does our mix sound authentic? Do the instruments seem separate or not glued in the mix? When I listen to my stuff, it just seems to not sound like a real band.

 

[ArsMemoria]

I don't think your band sounds "fake" or separated. The mix(your band) sounded glued to me, the only things I would have to say are just minor stylistic and mix changes. For example, I'm the opposite of ashgallows: I'd love to hear your mix with a little more fullness in the upper mids/highs. Maybe a tad more reverb on the snare, but I'm also a fan of that big snare/drum sound so take that for what it's worth.

Others might be able to chime in with some better points, but I think this is probably just an issue of being too attached to the material.

 

[Keregioz]

Is your problem when you "record" yourself, or when you "mix it" yourself? I mean, the way you phrase your question makes me think that you don't have this problem when you're mixing another band. Or is your question "why don't my mixes sound as good as professional ones" (to which the answer is obvious)?

For what is worth, your mix sounded fine to me.

 

[Pharaoh's Curse]

Is your problem when you "record" yourself, or when you "mix it" yourself? I mean, the way you phrase your question makes me think that you don't have this problem when you're mixing another band. Or is your question "why don't my mixes sound as good as professional ones" (to which the answer is obvious)?

For what is worth, your mix sounded fine to me.

Recording and mixing my own material, or even someone else mixing, It just doesn't sound real to me. I don't mix or record other bands, in fact this mix was mixed by someone else in a professional studio. I think it's just in my head, I'm too close to it therefore the anticipation when listening to a song isn't there, I already know what's coming.

Is there an element missing when you don't have a live band all recording in the same room? Even with overdubbing you are typically recording in the same room. I have wondered if a real drummer makes a difference, the mix above is Superior drummer programmed.

But in the past I have purchased real drums tracks and they don't seem much different than Superior drummer. After all, I am limited to whatever room they record the drums in and I have to use amp sims or re-amps for guitars.

Again, I think much of this is all in my head but I have always had this difficulty of never thinking my stuff sounds real to me since day one.

 

[Heabow]

Your mix does not sound bad at all. The guitars are a bit too much scooped for me, the snare too dry (on some sections). BTW the song is good dude!

 

[Pharaoh's Curse]

Thanks everyone, it's really awesome to get feedback here!

 

[ashgallows]

well the question more is, how does it make you feel? I mean, metal nowadays is a super tight, heavily eqed ultra produced thing. And really that was always sort of the goal, make some superhuman larger than life beast of a sound. your mix sounded cohesive, but much better is that it sounds darker than others like it in the genre productionwise and thats what makes it stand out to me.