Bash the hell out this song, please

[Hope Leaves]

I usually do stuff in multiple takes, riff by riff even, as long as you do it well it shouldn't be noticable, and should lead to a tighter track.

When the guy before said guitars were clipping, what he meant was that they are distorting, this is the crackly distortion, you can hear it a lot at the beginning. Try tracking the guitars slightly quieter - you can always make up some volume in the mix.

[midKnight]

Originally Posted by DarioScotto

Also, is it best to record the instruments in one whole take?
Or in seperate ones, like we did? Was it noticeable?

That depends. IF you have the kind of players in your band that know the material inside and out and are of the caliber (excellent timing, excellent phrasing) that they can do the whole thing "in one take" then fine, great.

However most people (and no offense to the great musicians on this board) are not "one take" kind of people, so there is nothing wrong with recording your song in sections to get each part right.

Whether it's noticeable or not depends largely on your editing skills in assembling the song. I find it's very common for me to record lots of tracks during the recording process for an instrument in which I take the best performances from each pass and build the track from there.

Just some general concepts for you to consider.

[Stevo22]

Originally Posted by DarioScotto

Also, is it best to record the instruments in one whole take?
Or in seperate ones, like we did? Was it noticeable?

What Instruments? haaaaaaaaaaaa only joking - not particularly my type of music, but in answer to your question above:

If you can record your instruments in one take that would good for practice sake. Also you will know you can play that song properly and LIVE (if that's what you are aiming for).

If you want to take the production/artistic view, there's no reason you can't chop, cut & paste, edit, reverb, distort whatever . . . to your hearts content, cause that's the beauty of the tools we have.

I've tried both methods. I found, a downfall with the production/artistic method is when I do a mix of some songs that we record, the band would say "that sounds fukin great steve" (good for me...sort of) but unfortunately it is hard play as good as that mix next jamm.

If you find that you have to do too many takes or edits - you may be better off learning the song properly.

Errr Ummmm - I should take note too

Your recording has some slight clipping throughout the whole song.
It could be the mp3 playback at this end - buffering etc.
I'll prolly save the file on disc and double check.

You definately need to add some space to the mix - sounds very mono.
The style is full on, so you need to add some light & shade to add a bit more interest. The panning advice from previous posts is a good start..

Steve.

[DarioScotto]

You definately need to add some space to the mix - sounds very mono.
The style is full on, so you need to add some light & shade to add a bit more interest. The panning advice from previous posts is a good start..

How would I add space exactly, or what do you mean by space?

[Stevo22]

Originally Posted by DarioScotto

How would I add space exactly, or what do you mean by space?

By space, I mean creating the illusion that the instruments and vocals occupy a given position. eg. How it would sound to an audience listening to a live band in a small venu (or a huge auditorium if that's your fancy)

Assuming you have recorded separate (mono) tracks:
You create this illusion like creating a landscape. eg. guitar1 to the left a bit, guitar2 to the right, bass and lead vocals in the middle, backing vocals to the back and left etc...

The main 3 tools required are:
Pan (panoramic) for stereo position L/R.
Reverb (for making things sound further away)
Eq (for presence and tone separation)

The general method would be:
Pan to the position you want, eg Guitar1 45deg left, add a bit of reverb if you want it to sound further away, also roll off some high eq if you want it to sound further away.

If you want something to sound closer eg. vocals: have less reverb and create presence by upping the eq by acouple of db in the 10-15k region.

What you are doing is creating a soundscape for the listener to be in.

Also a point to remember: use the same reverb effects send and just vary the amount for each track (avoid a lot of reverb on drums) - and less usually sounds better otherwise the whole mix can sound muddy and confused.

hope this helps.

Steve.

[DarioScotto]

Here is an mp3 of the song after I panned the instruments.

I don't really notice much of a change in the guitar. Still sounds small.

[brianinogang]

okay here are some tips that might help you out with your problems. first of all, micing the amp is still the best way to record guitars. thats my personal preference by the way. then make sure that your tone is based on whats coming out of your monitors or headphones and NOT the amp itself.(for recording only). eventhough the guitar tone coming from the amp sucks, its okay as long as it sounds good on your speakers or headphones. for the drums, i suggest you use ezdrummer. its on of the best available these days. you can use it with flstudio. ditch the fruity drum presets. they suck totally. i only use fruity instruments for bongos or other percs and effects but as for the drumkit itself.. i wouldnt recommend that. then for your vocals, dont turn the volume up if you want them to blend with the music. it just results in clipping. use the eq instead. keep in mind that the eq can also raise the level of sound waves without touching your track volume knob. you'll just have to learn it through constantly tweaking. i think every sound engineer or recording buff went through this grueling process but the fruits of it are very satisfying. for your panning. if you want to create space... do two separate tracks for rhythm. same notes. just different takes. the first is for left and the second one is for right. i recommend panning them 100L and 100R. some use 80. it depends but i suggest you start with a hundred to let you notice the big difference when its not centered. do what hopeleaves recommended coz for my taste, he's one of the best metal music mixers on this site. try listening and reading his posts entitled auroboros. and listen to his nociv track. i think you'lll catch some good tips there. for bass guitar, if you want it to be virtual then use boobass on flstudio. sounds good for my taste. but if not, its all good. just remember to pan the bass guitar on the middle(0). if youre a metal mixer, try listening and reading the threads of these members. i cant remember them all coz there are a lot of good mixers here but here are some. gradgt,lolgreg,skyman666,guitarace,jd9gtt,hopeleav es, i cant remember em all.... there are so many... oh and im assuming that you already know that brandon's automatically on this list. i hope this helps. good luck on your recording journey bro!!!!