Metal band looking for recording insights

[MetalHepple]

Hello, im new here. This website seems great so far.

Im in a metal band, I play bass. We have recorded three of our own songs in the past using just two microphones (A Sure SM58 and a Sennheiser E-835). We recorded everyting seperate but for the drums thats all we had

Anyway, we have bought some new equipment and are trying it again but this time we got a full set of drum mics, an AKG C1000S and an AKG D112

Have a bash at this recording, its not yet complete:

-No Vocals
-No Solo
-Drums not fully recorded. Only about half way through and just snare and kick.

If ya can help me with what we have so far that would be great. I will post the rest once it is complete.

Thanks

[brandondrury]

You've got a lot going on in the 400-600Hz region in this.

The drums have more of a 60s character than I would expect a metal band to want.

So did the drum just play without the cymbals?

Brandon

[fHumble fHingaz]

Very tight playing. The guitars sound is not really happening though - it sounds kind of one-dimensional - is it an amp modeler? Combining 2 contrasting guitar tones can definitely bring greater interest...re-amping perhaps?

[MetalHepple]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

... So did the drum just play without the cymbals?

Brandon

Thank you. No, were wanting every drum to have its own track in the mix. We have an M-Audio Firewire 4x10 which is a 2 channel input device, to record two tracks at once. So here we are recording just the kick and the snare first.

He did hit everything though which is why you can just about hear some cymbals and toms.

Originally Posted by fHumble fHingaz

Very tight playing. The guitars sound is not really happening though - it sounds kind of one-dimensional - is it an amp modeler? Combining 2 contrasting guitar tones can definitely bring greater interest...re-amping perhaps?

Thanks. We have recorded the guitars 4 times over for the left, And twice for the right, both panned hard 100%. Maybe that is why.

Not an amp modeler no. We used an AKG C1000S in 4 different positions on a Marshall JVM410.

What this you say about re-amping, Re-recording?

[fHumble fHingaz]

What this you say about re-amping, Re-recording?

It's something I'm only just getting into now, but the big guys do it all the time. You just record a DI'ed signal in parallel with the amp. Then, at a later time you can send that signal from the DAW through another miked amp (or any device you want). That way, if the amp sound you got during recording doesn't sit well in the mix, you can still use the same performance and change the sound to your liking. It's also handy for adding a contrasting sound to the existing one to enhance it a bit. But considering how you've recorded the guitars (Marshalls generally have a great sound), I would suggest panning them a little more across the stereo spectrum, & eq'ing each of them a little differently so that their sounds "interlock" rather than "fight" each other for frequency space.

[MetalHepple]

How about this? I messed around with the EQ like you said. There's a significant difference compared to the first one.

[brandondrury]

Thanks. We have recorded the guitars 4 times over for the left, And twice for the right, both panned hard 100%. Maybe that is why.

I'm a big believer in 2 guitar tracks. A lot of people get wound up about layering. You certainly CAN get a big sound with layering, but it takes quite a few variables to line up.

I can't think of any time in my recording life where combining two unideal sounds combined to make an ideal sound. To take it to the extreme, mixing piss and turds is not going to make ice cream. I'm not saying your tones are pee and poop, I'm just illustrating the concept. Certainly adding 6 different turds and urine samples together isn't going to get you any closer to ice cream.

So for guys who aren't robo engineers, it's usually better to keep everything simple. 2 tracks. The same mic placement. Even use the same guitar and such. If the recorded tone isn't badass, it's probably the tone coming out of the amp, but it could be mic placement too.

We used an AKG C1000S in 4 different positions on a Marshall JVM410.

OH! That explains it. You've got a total comb filtering clusterfuck on your hands. The nasally sound should have given it away to me immediately.

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend that you keep the mic in the same spot for the time being. I go into great depths on this comb filtering nightmare in my home recording book.

Brandon