www.myspace.com/jsdunnmusic
I'm going to redo these songs at a later time, but I have something that is ultimately more satisfying than the old recordings I had on my page which were horrible.
My own observations:
vocals float on top- I need to figure out a way to fix that. Probably using a better mic, and doing a better performance (I panned instrumentals to the left and vocals to the right when I imported so I could add some compression and verb, but that's a sort of crappy patch up, on Distance and Dialogue I didn't hit the vocals as dead on as on Blondi and Science Fiction, although those could use a bit more work too)
I like the way I've been recording my drum machine. Sounds nice and punchy.
Guitar parts sound one dimensional- I think I'm going to alleviate that by having an ambient condenser mic, an SM-57 on the amp with better placement (I dangled my friend's AKG condenser over the speakers- meh) and also having the line out on my Bassman supply some. I think I can mix them alltogether and get a really powerful sound.
For you effects junkies- I'm mainly using a Boss-BD-2, an EHX Frequency Analyzer, and a Dano PB+J to sculpt my sounds. [/list][/list]
My first tascam 424 mk ii recordings
Moderated By: mods
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SpectralJulian
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More Cowbell
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SpectralJulian
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Yeah, stupid Audacity is annoying me, if I bring them down a notch, they seem to low to me, and if I bring them up a notch, they seem to high to me. -_-
It could be my singing style that is really competing for the same mids as the guitar. I could always sing my songs differently, I sing them differently every show I play anyways.
I might have one of my friends do a remix. See what new ears do for it.
It could be my singing style that is really competing for the same mids as the guitar. I could always sing my songs differently, I sing them differently every show I play anyways.
I might have one of my friends do a remix. See what new ears do for it.
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SpectralJulian
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SpectralJulian
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SpectralJulian
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my tips to improve (based on blondi)....
1) you need a different snare sample, or eq the snare so it doesnt clash with the guitar so much
2) add a bit of high id to the vocal, and take it from the guitar, that'll make your vocals stand out a bit more, and you can turn them down in the mix without losing any clarity. its hard to say without actually trying it, but it'll be somewhere in the 2.5khz to 6khz range. Really want you want to happen with this kinda thing is for the vocal to sit in the track, and the high mid range to give it that little bit of subtle edge and clarity
3) similarly try adding some low mid range to the guitar, its nice to have as sharp as you have, but if you add a touch to make it sit a little closer to the bass it'll fill things out nicely. alternatively, add a little bit more high to the bass and roll off some of the very low frequencies to stop it being so muddy. you could try a little of both and use them less drastically.
3) watch the digital distortion on the vocal, because of the very distorted guitar sound, the distortion kinda blends in a bit more than usual
mostly its pretty cool, it's good you're doing something a little way from the norm.
futher comments based on science fiction
1) the guitar bass balance is a bit better here, and the guitar doesnt clash with the snare quite so much. its still very obviously a sample though.
2) the vocal distorts a bit more, a better mic will help this, and will probably help you capture some of those all important high mids too. a 58 will do you nicely i imagine.
3) the biggest problem i can hear; theres a bit too much clashing going on in terms of frequency. i've no idea if you're a fan, but if you listen to blood sugar sex magik, it sounds so clear because everything has its own place in the frequency spectrum. obviously thats an example thats quite far removed here, but it still applies. think of a quick frequency spectrum graph, and try and place things in different blocks along it. too much overlapping can create a muddy mix (take this with a pinch of salt, you can overlap a lot and have it sound good, but it's something to consider when mixing). i can explain this better if you dont get what i mean.
before jimmy jumps on me with his own brand of negativity, im not being negative here, just trying to offer some areas for improvement.
1) you need a different snare sample, or eq the snare so it doesnt clash with the guitar so much
2) add a bit of high id to the vocal, and take it from the guitar, that'll make your vocals stand out a bit more, and you can turn them down in the mix without losing any clarity. its hard to say without actually trying it, but it'll be somewhere in the 2.5khz to 6khz range. Really want you want to happen with this kinda thing is for the vocal to sit in the track, and the high mid range to give it that little bit of subtle edge and clarity
3) similarly try adding some low mid range to the guitar, its nice to have as sharp as you have, but if you add a touch to make it sit a little closer to the bass it'll fill things out nicely. alternatively, add a little bit more high to the bass and roll off some of the very low frequencies to stop it being so muddy. you could try a little of both and use them less drastically.
3) watch the digital distortion on the vocal, because of the very distorted guitar sound, the distortion kinda blends in a bit more than usual
mostly its pretty cool, it's good you're doing something a little way from the norm.
futher comments based on science fiction
1) the guitar bass balance is a bit better here, and the guitar doesnt clash with the snare quite so much. its still very obviously a sample though.
2) the vocal distorts a bit more, a better mic will help this, and will probably help you capture some of those all important high mids too. a 58 will do you nicely i imagine.
3) the biggest problem i can hear; theres a bit too much clashing going on in terms of frequency. i've no idea if you're a fan, but if you listen to blood sugar sex magik, it sounds so clear because everything has its own place in the frequency spectrum. obviously thats an example thats quite far removed here, but it still applies. think of a quick frequency spectrum graph, and try and place things in different blocks along it. too much overlapping can create a muddy mix (take this with a pinch of salt, you can overlap a lot and have it sound good, but it's something to consider when mixing). i can explain this better if you dont get what i mean.
before jimmy jumps on me with his own brand of negativity, im not being negative here, just trying to offer some areas for improvement.
Shabba.
i just remembered your thread title, and realised your eq wont deal with all of that. how are you bouncing it? going from the two phono/rca outputs to the stereo mini jack in on your pc soundcard? or are you bouncing individual tracks to your pc.
if its the former, quite a bit of what i wrote doesnt apply, sorry about that.
if its the former, quite a bit of what i wrote doesnt apply, sorry about that.
Shabba.
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SpectralJulian
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I'm going line output into the line input on my mobo. (Onboard sound, I'm cheap.)
I do have a DOD stereo Rack EQ, so I should probably put that to use.
There is no bass on science fiction, so that is why the bass seems so well mixed. There is only bass on Dialogue and Blondi right now. I did that because i want to let my new bassplayer add some of his own creativity into the mix. I have a song named Gavin (no reference to forumite, it is about the little kid from KITH) that we were jamming on that he added a little something to and I really liked it.
My sister's boyfriend said he has either a 58 or 57 that he could lend me. So when I redo these everyone should be using that and I'm going to try ambient mics using condensers as well, as it seems like that is what they are actually good at.
I'll look into trying out a different snare sound. Maybe tuning it either higher or lower might do the trick. I've meant to really give a look into what samples I am using for drums but I just got cozy with the ones I've been using and sort of ignored it.
I'm thinking next time during mixdown I'll do drums on 1, guitar on 2 panned right, vocals on 3 panned left, and bass on 4. Then I'll use either the tape out or the effect out on the vocals and guitars to send them to the outboard mixer I have and through EQ and return them so that the vocals are panned right and the guitar panned left on the live channel (5-6). That way I'll have a stereo mix and I'll effectively be doubling the vocals and guitars. Does that sound like a good idea?
I do have a DOD stereo Rack EQ, so I should probably put that to use.
There is no bass on science fiction, so that is why the bass seems so well mixed. There is only bass on Dialogue and Blondi right now. I did that because i want to let my new bassplayer add some of his own creativity into the mix. I have a song named Gavin (no reference to forumite, it is about the little kid from KITH) that we were jamming on that he added a little something to and I really liked it.
My sister's boyfriend said he has either a 58 or 57 that he could lend me. So when I redo these everyone should be using that and I'm going to try ambient mics using condensers as well, as it seems like that is what they are actually good at.
I'll look into trying out a different snare sound. Maybe tuning it either higher or lower might do the trick. I've meant to really give a look into what samples I am using for drums but I just got cozy with the ones I've been using and sort of ignored it.
I'm thinking next time during mixdown I'll do drums on 1, guitar on 2 panned right, vocals on 3 panned left, and bass on 4. Then I'll use either the tape out or the effect out on the vocals and guitars to send them to the outboard mixer I have and through EQ and return them so that the vocals are panned right and the guitar panned left on the live channel (5-6). That way I'll have a stereo mix and I'll effectively be doubling the vocals and guitars. Does that sound like a good idea?
can you route one signal to all 4 tracks?
if you can do that, and make a short sharp noise, like hit a pen on a table or something, and route it to all 4 tracks. make it happen just right at the start of the song. then bounce like this...
track 1 hard left
track 2 hard right
bounce that to your pc, then
track 3 hard left
track 4 hard right
and bounce
import both stereo wave files into an audio editor (you can download kristal for free if you need to). and then zoom in and line up the sound at the start on the two files. That way you have all 4 tracks seperate and in time, using only your stereo output.
if you can do that, and make a short sharp noise, like hit a pen on a table or something, and route it to all 4 tracks. make it happen just right at the start of the song. then bounce like this...
track 1 hard left
track 2 hard right
bounce that to your pc, then
track 3 hard left
track 4 hard right
and bounce
import both stereo wave files into an audio editor (you can download kristal for free if you need to). and then zoom in and line up the sound at the start on the two files. That way you have all 4 tracks seperate and in time, using only your stereo output.
Shabba.
what are you using at the moment?SpectralJulian wrote:My sister's boyfriend said he has either a 58 or 57 that he could lend me. So when I redo these everyone should be using that and I'm going to try ambient mics using condensers as well, as it seems like
rather than a condensor, just trying move the dynamic back. condensors (generally) have better transient and frequency response, so you wont catch the same amount of reverb with both. If its not a hassle to borrow one, and you already have the phantom power supply you may as well, but you can get great guitar sounds with a good dynamic and a little practise.
Shabba.
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SpectralJulian
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My other band Destroyer! uses a condenser for recording all of us at once on one mic (we recorded right before I got the 4 track, we will probably start using it now.) They have 2 AKG c 1000s and a yamaha mixer with phantom power that I borrowed, but only 1 XLR cable so I could only use one at once.
Well on Science Fiction and Blondi I used the line out.
Dialogue I used the mixer to mix the AKG condenser and the line out.
On Distance I used just the AKG. That sounded the worst to my ears guitar wise, but I'm thinking that it could be because I might have accidentally set my BD-2 too dark. I'll have to check that out.
I'm borrowing an SM-57 soon, no prob, and I've been told such good things about it.
On vocals I used a crappy Sony mic that I don't think is meant for recording. It has a 1/8" end on it
It has a very small sweet spot that can easily be missed unless you are holding the thing and practically deep throating it.
The drum machine I put through my squier champ and then used the headphones out into channel 1. The squier champ + my drum machine gets me the right tone on this one song I have called friendly fire where the combination of the snare and the ride make cool factory like sounds. I can't get that plugging straight in.
Well on Science Fiction and Blondi I used the line out.
Dialogue I used the mixer to mix the AKG condenser and the line out.
On Distance I used just the AKG. That sounded the worst to my ears guitar wise, but I'm thinking that it could be because I might have accidentally set my BD-2 too dark. I'll have to check that out.
I'm borrowing an SM-57 soon, no prob, and I've been told such good things about it.
On vocals I used a crappy Sony mic that I don't think is meant for recording. It has a 1/8" end on it
It has a very small sweet spot that can easily be missed unless you are holding the thing and practically deep throating it. The drum machine I put through my squier champ and then used the headphones out into channel 1. The squier champ + my drum machine gets me the right tone on this one song I have called friendly fire where the combination of the snare and the ride make cool factory like sounds. I can't get that plugging straight in.
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SpectralJulian
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SpectralJulian
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Renton
gavin starts out good but gets annoying quickly....
can't stand music without drums anymore.... unless it's piano...
doesn't even sound like guitar in science fiction, just sounds like noise.. lay off on the delay yo!
i really like your intros.. love how they go from loud to soft and intrecate back to in your face rawk!
all in all, they're good for mk424 tracks... your noise reduction works alot better than mine ever did...
i like alot of the instrumental parts... lots of dronin' and what have you..
can't stand music without drums anymore.... unless it's piano...
doesn't even sound like guitar in science fiction, just sounds like noise.. lay off on the delay yo!
i really like your intros.. love how they go from loud to soft and intrecate back to in your face rawk!
all in all, they're good for mk424 tracks... your noise reduction works alot better than mine ever did...
i like alot of the instrumental parts... lots of dronin' and what have you..