Controlled Denied

[maschneid]

Well this is a song that a buddy and I did while we were deployed to japan. Equipment used. A guitar, Roland Cube amp, an HP laptop with Vista, A logitech headset($17) with microphone built on to it.we ran the headset to the microphone jack on the front of the laptop. used magix music maker as the only production software I had at the time. and fruity loops for the drums. So some constructive critisim would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind what I was working with. I tried doing EQing on the guitars. I also had a hard time when combining the tracks and trying not to peak. What do you guys mean by cutting a hole in the track to allow another to fit? Sorry for the long post.

[brandondrury]

I don't care for the direct guitars. Actually, I hate them. Direct guitars sound like toys to me.

Alright now that the song has kick in, I have to give you credit for creating something exciting. Good job on that front!

It sounds like you have white noise through the entire song. It has WAY more high end that I'd ever want on the cymbals and guitars (maybe other stuff too.)

The snare drum sounds more like a beat boxer is doing it or maybe the drummer is hitting a pizza box. A meaty snare is something I love, but the snare MUST crack especially for metal.

I'm guessing the drummer went balls out nuts on the cymbals with little regard to balancing the kit and the hi-hat and cymbals were mic'd fairly close. That hi-hat is SCREAMING. I probably use a hi-hat mic in a mix 10% of the time and when I do it's about 25dB down in the mix. I'd pull it down A TON! I'd pull whatever mic has all the cymbals in it down quite a bit as well.

You would have had to mix this thing on something VERY VERY dull....maybe a guitar speaker. (That's a joke! ha ha). Your studio monitors should have made your ears bleed from all the high end.

The good news is there is some cool music here. I don't get too excited by metal these days (because most of it is boring). This is a fun!

The engineering needs quite a bit of work. I wish I could record a metal band like this.

Brandon

[maschneid]

Thats just it I didnt have monitros, and actually it was played back through the amp. In hindsight I would have definatly done mixed it up alot better. There was no drummer it was fruity loops and since im a cheap ass I only have the demo version of it. but that was my first attempt at recording so the only way to go is up.

[maschneid]

Also what gets rid of that white noise through out the song? Preamps?

[objectman]

Well. That sounds really great. I do agree with Brandon, however. Bit nashy on the ears at times. But NICE n tight. I'm not really a big fan of metal either, but after hearing this piece I'm now considering it as a genre, myself

[docman]

Vocals are too loud.

Remix it listening to a pro reference song in this genre to get levels of the instruments adjusted, and bass and treble adjusted and each channel.

Like the flange / phaser on the intro guitar. Nice fast picking on the distorted rhythm.

[brandondrury]

actually it was played back through the amp.

Wow! How did you do it? I've never guessed at direct guitars and been wrong. At least not that I know of. These are definitely the fizziest mic'd electric guitars I've ever heard then.

There was no drummer it was fruity loops

Did you EQ the living hell out of this? I couldn't imagine that an audio company would put out samples/loops that sounded like that.

was my first attempt at recording so the only way to go is up.

Well, I think you did a great job. Getting energy into a song is HARD HARD HARD. Obviously,the engineering is not their yet, but keep working. I've got a feeling 2 or 3 songs down the line, you'll be doing some really cool stuff.

Also what gets rid of that white noise through out the song? Preamps?
Probably not preamps. What audio interface are you using now? If you are are using a stock soundcard, I would DEFINITELY upgrade to a real audio interface (see my home recording soundcard wizard in my signature). After that, the white noise is probably caused by using WAY too much high end boost.


Brandno

[mike p]

I do not like how the vocals meet the ears....I don't know why though....

[maschneid]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Did you EQ the living hell out of this? I couldn't imagine that an audio company would put out samples/loops that sounded like that.


Also what gets rid of that white noise through out the song? Preamps?
Probably not preamps. What audio interface are you using now? If you are are using a stock soundcard, I would DEFINITELY upgrade to a real audio interface (see my home recording soundcard wizard in my signature). After that, the white noise is probably caused by using WAY too much high end boost.



Brandno

No EQ was added to the drums what so ever. I didn't figure it out at the time. So what you hear is Fruity loops drum sample orignals.

Also I didn't use a sound card as you can see up above. It was a logitech headset with a built on microphone placed by the speaker, and then pluged right into the microphone jack of the laptop. Standard soundcard, unfortunetly using vista as OS.

Well thanks for the feedback everyone thats what I wanted was it to be torn apart. At least I know that our band has a good sound.

[brandondrury]

No EQ was added to the drums what so ever. I didn't figure it out at the time. So what you hear is Fruity loops drum sample orignals.

Really? What about the 2bus? Did you "master" this? I can't imagine that a professional company would release those drum sounds.

It was a logitech headset with a built on microphone placed by the speaker, and then pluged right into the microphone jack of the laptop.

Okay, well that explains a lot. Maybe you didn't EQ everything in a ridiculous fashion. The headset mic did it for you!

Well thanks for the feedback everyone thats what I wanted was it to be torn apart. At least I know that our band has a good sound.

That's the idea! Keep working. You will grow quickly.

Brandon