Recorded My Friends Hardcore Band Completely Live. How'd I do?

JG96

JG96

Active member
Last saturday I finished up my friends EP. We recorded it live in a basement the week before. We were going for a gritty vintage sound but bigger. I think it came out pretty good. There is some weird cymbal phasing from the singer moving around with the mic but I think it captured the aesthetic of the band pretty well overall. I would love to hear your feedback.

https://stiflednp.bandcamp.com
 
I like it. I don't know what you're going for, but although everything is indistinct, the overall sound is fairly pleasing. It reminds me of Pixies with the buried , harsh vocals.
 
Thanks Bubba po! We were kind of going for a aggressive, analog type sound. Lo-fi but still big. The vocals were distorted on the way in due to the PA clipping so I just went ahead and distorted them even more.
 
I like it. You've captured the hardcore energy well.

However, I would have liked to hear a little more body in the vocal. It feels a bit thin and lifeless, even though the guy's clearly a dynamic singer. Not sure what to do exactly, but hearing both more low-mid and treble in his voice would be nice. And maybe even play with some slapback echo?
 
Yeah, its agressive. It has a real hard rock edge and power to it. A lot of energy. Sounds like the performance it pretty tight. If I had to nit pick it would be too much flange on the solo guitar that started the song and I'm not a fan of a buried vocal but those are both personal preference. All in all great recording man!
 
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah the vocal had a lot of bleed so some compromises had to be made. I contemplated getting him to overdub but I was afraid it that the energy of an overdub wouldn't have matched the live performance.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I'd like to hear the kick and snare more clearly to drive the music. Were they individually miked or just overheads/room? I also prefer a vocal that isn't buried, but it works for this. If you care about the lyrics at all, however, I would overdub and try to get him in the right mindset to match the energy. Cool!
 
The vocals could def be louder. They've got lots of energy and fair flair for the genre. Reminds me of our time in a practice room right next to Legion Of Death in the 80s...
One thing we used to do live that these guys haven't got...turn off the snares in the intros and turn on at the last minute. Avoids that annoying buzz that kills the guitar sound.
 
Thanks broken_h. I actually like the snare buzz. It makes me think of Sleep's Holy Mountain.
 
"Recorded live in Jeremy's basement"

Ha.

Definitely sounds very lo-fi. Vocals could have been a bit louder.
Sounds like one of those thrash demos that were passed around in the 80s.
 
+1 on the vocals. I don't generally like this style but i like the mix and the music. I just am left wanting more vocal in the songs. Especially with the the guitar on the right. Sounds like it is going to explode but it needs the vocals to help it really pop!
 
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