Recording

[ParsonsMatt]

Question: How do you get a nice tight sound on the double bass when recording? My drummer has a single bass drum with double pedals and its always sounded really muffled and way too bassy when we record it. I want a good tight sound, Decapitated is a perfect example of how I would like it to sound.

Triggering is the easy way. Just drop in a nice tight sample and you're set.

Alternatively, you could do this:

Remo Powerstroke III bass drum head
Falam slam bass drum pad
Wood beaters
No resonant head
Audix D6 drum mic

Tune the PSIII to just past wrinkle tension, and set the Audix D6 about 6 inches away from the head pointing straight at the beater impact site.

 

[wandering_taco]

Thanks man, I think triggers will be our choice. I'll have to get the drummer to buy some. We've discussed it before but nothing ever came of it, plus his dad who's been drumming for 20+ years was all like "Sean I've been drumming for a long time, I know all about triggers. They wont help cause most of the time you're playing so fast it wont ever matter" lol, his dad's a really good drummer and he's cool about us using his mixing table n whatnot, but I really dont think he knows enough about metal to be excessively helpful in this matter.

 

[sumairetsu]

Question: How do you get a nice tight sound on the double bass when recording? My drummer has a single bass drum with double pedals and its always sounded really muffled and way too bassy when we record it. I want a good tight sound, Decapitated is a perfect example of how I would like it to sound.

Some questions for you:

How far up do you have the lows while you're recording? Also, do you have any mids or highs mixed in?

My preference for recording is to record everything with a flat EQ, then run everything at high volume to do the final mix. (Hey, it's Metal. It should be mixed at a high volume because that's how it should be played.) I'll then start tweaking the lows, mids and highs so the sound isn't clipping, muffled, muddy or shrill.

Remember, when you're mixing, if you have a lot of low end on the original source track, you're going to end up with a muddy, bassy sound when you go to mix if you're not careful.

You need to think about how everything will sound in the FINAL MIX. Just because it sounds good to your ears when you're recording it doesn't mean it will sound good when you mix it.

 

[wandering_taco]

I'm not sure what most of those terms mean, I'm still a complete noob to all this. The guitarist just adjusts it till it sounds good in the headphones then we record. He said he just got a new editing program, maybe that will help a bit.

 

[Mystique1721]

Some questions for you:

How far up do you have the lows while you're recording? Also, do you have any mids or highs mixed in?

My preference for recording is to record everything with a flat EQ, then run everything at high volume to do the final mix. (Hey, it's Metal. It should be mixed at a high volume because that's how it should be played.) I'll then start tweaking the lows, mids and highs so the sound isn't clipping, muffled, muddy or shrill.

Remember, when you're mixing, if you have a lot of low end on the original source track, you're going to end up with a muddy, bassy sound when you go to mix if you're not careful.

You need to think about how everything will sound in the FINAL MIX. Just because it sounds good to your ears when you're recording it doesn't mean it will sound good when you mix it.

Thank you! that info was helpful. I'm pretty new at recording, so I have no idea about what I'm doing really.

Ok guys, so I'm using cubase to record. My set up is guitar>podxt>computer. I don't hear that much of a difference when I mess around with the equalizer for the guitar tracks. could someone give me a guide as how to work them? and what exactly they do? and also would someone be so kind as to tell me what EXACTLY it means to mix and how I would go about doing this? any information would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

and here is one of my songs I recorded a few days ago to give you an idea of what my tone sounds like and so maybe someone could give tips to make it better. http://www.sendspace.com/file/6mj53r

 

[Mystique1721]

ok wtf happened to all you recording guys? I know there has got to be some good advice out there!

 

[Fetzer]

I'd really like to help you, but since I mostly learned by myself I couldn't really guide you. If there's really nobody posting in the next days I'll make a post, but I'm sure there's other people here that could help you better than me.