The Recording Thread

[AmirH]

God what the hell, I replied to this in detail and the forum signed me out and lost the post. I don't have time to retype that shit. Maybe later I guess.

Summation: center your leads more but not necessarily in equivelants. 15-20% is a good starting point.

Layering two tracks in mono or stereo is NOT the same as one track in stereo. Stereo doesn't refer to it's position in the stereo field it just means great flexibility in adding effects such as reverb or in using tools like automation. Also- don't you have any sort of rhythm track under your leads? seems odd. Alright, whatever I have to get off the net now. Stupid forum software.

 

[Kenneth R.]

mixing an album is a bit like cooking.
You need to try everything every possible way and there will be some occational vomiting in the process...

and b.t.w.
You know what the difference between being the engineer at a mixingsession, and a toilet???

The toilet only have to take shit from one asshole at a time

hahahah excellent

 

[Lefthander]

And from the "shit" borns the music-from toilet not

 

[paradoxile]

no one pays toilets either

 

[Skaldir]

and b.t.w.
You know what the difference between being the engineer at a mixingsession, and a toilet???

The toilet only have to take shit from one asshole at a time

I like that one

 

[BrandonS]

mixing an album is a bit like cooking.
You need to try everything every possible way and there will be some occational vomiting in the process...

and b.t.w.
You know what the difference between being the engineer at a mixingsession, and a toilet???

The toilet only have to take shit from one asshole at a time

Another difference, you can close the gaping hole in the front of the toilet by closing the lid - not something you can do with engineers. Haha! I am totally kidding. But yeaaah.... this stuff sounds really technical. Judging by sound can be hard, plus adding the right effects like reverb or whatever to get everything in the right place is harder than fuck. But thanks you guys, I think I got a pretty good idea of what I should try.... We can keep this thread open though, for educational purposes? Maybe discuss more on recording techniques in the home studio.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I'm going to start recording my album soon so I can post updates or embarrassing moments maybe

 

[paradoxile]

I'm going to start recording my album soon so I can post updates or embarrassing moments maybe

you mean like waking up after your Jackson Guitar(who you mistaked for Jenna Jameson) has sexually violated you in your sleep?

 

[Kenneth R.]

both of my guitars are hotter than that slut

there is one story so far but it is way too funny. you'd all implode.

 

[Metal88]

Obligatory: "Oh, please Kenneth - do tell us!"

This better be good. Hehe.

 

[cuntface]

Awww now I feel guilty... sorry there, Mr. Swanö... you get some sleep now, ya'hear?

how do u intend on recording cellos and flutes? recording your keyboards? i do some orchestral pieces and the best way to get a good sound, is to use good sound samples, these will sound ALOT better than a keybord and if u get good ones then people will not be able to tell the differnce between your song and a real recording, you can then use sibelius to notate teh song or play it into cubase using the sound sample as plug ins playing it in will give it some expression.

 

[Skaldir]

how do u intend on recording cellos and flutes? recording your keyboards? i do some orchestral pieces and the best way to get a good sound, is to use good sound samples, these will sound ALOT better than a keybord and if u get good ones then people will not be able to tell the differnce between your song and a real recording, you can then use sibelius to notate teh song or play it into cubase using the sound sample as plug ins playing it in will give it some expression.

It's good to use Orchestral samples and then let one real instrument play over it. I did this with violin and it adds a lot of natural feeling.
I guess it would also work with cello and flute.

 

[cuntface]

ive never tryd that well i cant play violins or cellos i just rely on my piano skills, it would be good for a soloing instrument but it would be hard to get that to fit well with a whole strings section plus im not going to get the same sound quality as good samples

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

there're standardized modern recording techniques and starting points, but whatever you do, try to make it less visual, put the efforts in your ears not on the vuemeters, listen to it with eyes closed, cuz the basic rule is "What sounds good to you, is what is right". Get the called "Home Recording Power", it's pretty useful for a big intro into this area, lots of nice tips.

 

[AmirH]

It's good to use Orchestral samples and then let one real instrument play over it. I did this with violin and it adds a lot of natural feeling.
I guess it would also work with cello and flute.

Agreed! Samples sound great for creating an atmosphere but it's not completely convincing when used for the main melody line. I mean it can sound good, but won't have a ton of feeling to it. At least that's been my experience with string samples so far. I don't have an extremely expensive sample library to work with either.

One trick I like to do is play piano bits by hand and let that dictate timing and velocity via midi. Again though- only for main bits where that instrument is the focus of the listeners attention.

 

[rrjii2000]

First of all dont overlook the Power of EQ. Panning is a nessicery step, but only after the mix sounds good with the pans at 0. If your recording a stereo track, then leave the pans maxed at L and R. However too many stereo tracks will lead to masking.

It sounds like you have a lot of parts so try and get all your instruments in there own EQ space. Start with the bass instruments and work up from there. It really hard to give specific advice about mixing and mastering. Because the sound it always different. My instructors at Berklee empasize on trial and error learning. Mix what sounds good to you, then quit for the day. Listen again tomorrow and make any small corrections needed. After a time of listinging to the same material your ears adjust to the sound,and it becomes difficult to achieve a global mix. Let others listen, not just other musicians, but everyday people. It's suprising what they can tell you about your song. Lastly have fun, I know mixing can be a pain, but this is our life. So we must make it injoyable.


Rob

 

[Kenneth R.]

uhh... i dunno man I've never seen anyone tweak a mix without panning the instruments so they aren't sitting on top of each other first.

Having fun is definitely #1

 

[~nightfall~]

So, my band and I recorded a song, and i finally got to mix it all together during the weekend. Would be nice to hear your say about the song itself, and the production. I know it aint the best around, but please concider that everything is done by ourselves without external expertise

The lyrics are kinda lame, I know, which is why we are writing norwegian lyrics for our new songs. Besides that, what do you think of it?

Thankful for all kinds of comments, please be honest :zombie:

http://www11.nrk.no/urort/user/song.aspx?mmmid=273256

 

[Skaldir]

So, my band and I recorded a song, and i finally got to mix it all together during the weekend. Would be nice to hear your say about the song itself, and the production. I know it aint the best around, but please concider that everything is done by ourselves without external expertise

The lyrics are kinda lame, I know, which is why we are writing norwegian lyrics for our new songs. Besides that, what do you think of it?

Thankful for all kinds of comments, please be honest :zombie:

http://www11.nrk.no/urort/user/song.aspx?mmmid=273256

Wow, that's a hardrock song! Nice cheesy lyrics Are you the singer? Cool voice. I think could be arranged shorter.
About the production. The thing that bugged me the most is the loud hi-hat. And the guitars could be more up, cause I have the feeling that the bass dominates the guitars. I think it will get more drive with louder guitars
But first of all lower the hi-hat hehe.
One more thing. The vocals seem to have pretty much "room" in the sound. Maybe try to record them more direct. Get closer to the mic or do some acoustic improvements on your room, cause you have a great voice.

 

[~nightfall~]

Wow, that's a hardrock song! Nice cheesy lyrics Are you the singer? Cool voice. I think could be arranged shorter.
About the production. The thing that bugged me the most is the loud hi-hat. And the guitars could be more up, cause I have the feeling that the bass dominates the guitars. I think it will get more drive with louder guitars
But first of all lower the hi-hat hehe.
One more thing. The vocals seem to have pretty much "room" in the sound. Maybe try to record them more direct. Get closer to the mic or do some acoustic improvements on your room, cause you have a great voice.

Thanks for your kind inputs about my voice and the useful tips for improvement for the overall sound Users on a norwegian studio-forum also listed the hi-hat and low guitars as ways to improve, so I guess i have to revisit the mix once more sometime soon. Time is always the problem, always to busy - music must come second :zombie:

5:29 is a long song these days, and I guess it could be arranged shorter as you say. Maybe I will edit a "radio-version" sometime When I write songs I always tend to end up with 5:00 ++ ones, I guess its partly because of me growing up listening to stuff like Crimson and Maidens "Rime of the ancient mariner", and partly because there`s always room for another riff.