New track - The Truth

[elmagoo]

Hey all,

So as I was creating my Line6 Spider Valve samples ohh so long ago, I came up with a riff that I decided to turn into a full song. So when starting to record it, I figured it was time to upgrade a few components of the studio. I also invested in some mixing education by picking up the DVD set Internal Mixing (you can find it on United Audio's website for sale). I HIGHLY recommend this video, it will change your outlook on mixing for the better!! I also read all of the article on Bob Katz sight, especially about he K metering system (also a great read and worth practicing..this track was mixed at K-20 and mastered at K-12

Anyways, here's the tune. I've done a quick mastering pass on it as well, but I know it needs some refinement. So much bashing would be swell .

Here's a list of the gear / software used:
All electric guitars:
Line6 Spider Valve amp
Fender strat with DiMarzio pickups installed
The wah pedal and tremolo / leslie effects are the ones built into the amp
Blend of 2 signals:
CAD Trion 7000 ribbon mic on speaker w/ Reflexion Filter
Direct out on the back

Acoustic Guitar:
Taylor 310CE
Blend of 3 signals:
Trion 7000 on sound hole
Rode NT1A on neck @ 12th fret
Direct out

Bass:
Fender 5 string J-Bass through a Sans Amp Bass Driver DI

Drums:
EZ Drummer, all programmed by hand (no loops or midi grooves)

Interface:
Focusrite 428 mic pre with the AD converter card
E-MU 1820m

Software:
CuBase 4
1 UAD card (only used the Cambridge EQ)
PSP Audioware plugins:
-Master Q
-Vintage ****er 2
-Xenon
-Neon HR
-608 delay (best friggin' delay on the planet!!!)
Focusrite LiquidMix
iZotope Ozone
Perfect Space convolution reverb (came with Sonar 5)

[EnSkorSang]

the drums seem to panned a bit to the left, which doesnt seem to fit that well.
I like the lead guitar, but its a bit lost in the mix, and the whole thing seems to be sitting back from the speakers. Maybe push the mid - high frequencies on the lead, and make a whole in the ryhtm guitar for it. Other than that its quite a nice job.

[maestoso]

bring up the bass to thicken the groove otherwise it is sweet!

[uab9253]

I think it sounds sweet. Damned sweet. Maybe more bass, just a touch. Everything is really well played, including the bass. This is one of the best things I've heard on here. Kudos.

[jamie78]

I think that this song is amazing! A couple of mix notes I came up with though ..... these are just to my ears now.......
1) Bass could maybe come up just a C/H.... I think it would sit in the pocket a little more.
2)Lead guitar overall is great.... I think that if you added a little more ( and I'm talking a little here) in the high mid range, those lead lines would really zing!...
3)When the Acoustic track comes in, I found it to be just a little loud.....Maybe cause it was just in there on its own...I don't know.... I was also thinking that a little bit of a string section there would be sweet.... Like cello or something...
4)When the song comes back in from the acoustic section... I wanted the drums to jump abit in the mix.... kinda smash me ... ya know?

Overall though.... I think this was fabulous! Holy Satch feel Batman!

Jamie.

[elmagoo]

Thanks a bunch guys, glad you all dug it. I'll be working these suggestions into my next revision for sure .

Benson

[YAZAM68]

really like your acoustic guitar....

[YAZAM68]

Mixing? I not good in mixing. but i like your variety in the song.... its take a lot afford to memorize all the parts....Do u write the song or u memorize all the part?

Just wonder how u record this song?
Do u record the riff or the bass/drum first?

[elmagoo]

Originally Posted by YAZAM68

Mixing? I not good in mixing. but i like your variety in the song.... its take a lot afford to memorize all the parts....Do u write the song or u memorize all the part?

Just wonder how u record this song?
Do u record the riff or the bass/drum first?

Glad you liked it .

Everybody has their own way of course, and it's sometimes a little different from track to track. For this track, I started roughing the idea with just a guitar and metronome in CuBase. I record any riff's / parts of a track that I have ideas for, but I just use simple electric guitar. Then I'll lay down a really simple drum track to flesh out the beat, usually just kick and snare (but I really try to get the kick in the right place to make sure the feel is there for all the different parts). I try to get the entire back bone of the track down with simple drums and guitar. This way I work out all of the movement and energy, figure out where the track wants to go / ends up. The whole time I just think of whatever melodies or ideas I have during this process. Sometimes I'll do a rough track so I don't forget them, but mostly I just let them sit in my head. The reason I don't usually track them is to not allow them to become 'final' prematurely by getting used to them.

Once all the roughing is laid out, I go back and start recording / programming parts for real. I usually will start with the drum track and get it 90%+ programmed (all the main parts minus fills). Then I'll lay down the rhythm guitars, and then the bass. I like to do the rhythm guitars first because it gives me something to play off of with the bass, and it also keeps me honest in that I don't get too noodly with the bass lines. My biggest influence on bass is Geddy Lee, hence I love melodic, driving bass lines . Also there are times when I hear something in the rhythm guitar tracks that I'll want to double / mimic in the bass.

The rhythm guitar parts I pretty much know because I figure them out a bunch while rough tracking them. Everything else I figure out while I'm recording, especially the bass. I just try different lines, do a few takes until I get something I'm really happy with. Sometimes I'll have ideas that were floating around in my head from the rough tracking as well. But for the most part I'm figuring out the song as I go and thinking of details to put in as well.

One thing I really try to keep in mind is the arrangement. From what I've learned through others (and now my own personal experience), the best thing you can do to have a fantastic mix is to have a great arrangement. If you have this, the song tends to mix its self . So what elements I personally look for in terms of what goes into each part (and from my understanding is pretty much standard):

- Foundation
- Rhythm
- Pad
- Accents
- Lead line

The idea being that you want 1 thing that will represent each of these categories, going on at any given time. You don't have to have all 5 going at once, but once you get more than this, the song becomes harder to mix. By hard to mix, I mean you will have a harder time finding space in the mix for everything going on. Granted this isn't a hard and fast rule, but it's something I try to keep in mind while writing the track .

So after the drums, rhythm guitars, and bass are down, I move on to other parts like clean guitars, acoustic, pads / keyboards, etc.... After getting all of that down, then I do the lead line. By this point I usually have a melody figured out in my head, and I just try to put it down as I envisioned it. Sometimes it doesn't always work, and then I'll think of new ideas or just try different things. I don't quit until I'm satisfied, and I'm a bit obsessive about getting the perfect take . I'm learning to go for the best 'felt' take, regardless if there's a tiny glitch in it. I weigh how obvious / distracting the glitch is to the take. If I can correct it with an overdub, then great, or perhaps a bit of pitch correction / time stretching. Those tools are only used sparringly though, and the take has to be worth salvaging rather than just trying again. I will comp takes together though as that's pretty simple, and I find that on recording long parts I usually like parts of the different takes. Also I tend to record in short spurts, meaning I don't try to track an instrument for the entire song each take. I like to go in sections, such as recording just the verse, or the chorus, or the outro, etc....

Effects and special FX I don't do until after the static rough mix is completed (which isn't completed until everything is done being recorded). Examples of this would be the etherial sound on the acoustic guitar parts, or the stuttering effect coming out of the chorus into the opening riff again. On a side note, that etherial effect was found completely by accident. I set up a group FX channel as I wanted to do something to the acoustic guitar. I started with a Perfect Space convolution reverb with a big church hall sanctuary impulse. I then put in front of it the PSP 608 delay (which I highly recommend to anybody, it's the best delay on the planet . I used about 4 taps panned in different ways and voila, that's the effect you're hearing. I automate the send level over the course of the acoustic part.

OK, so I wrote a long novel for a response, sorry to drone on . I hope you found this useful .

Benson

[YAZAM68]

Originally Posted by elmagoo

Glad you liked it .

I don't quit until I'm satisfied, and I'm a bit obsessive about getting the perfect take .
Benson

this r the main point that I should have

For yr infomation, more then 10 times I rewind your song.... try to learn the structure and dynamic of your song.

I will keep your thread n song for my reference.


thanks