In my time of need

M

MaCi

New member
Hello there, I'm Alexander from Sweden and a new member at this site. Let's get straight to the point.

I wonder if there's someone in here who'd be insterested in helping me out to get my song/riff ideas and "pre-demos", or whatever you guys call it here, to sound a bit more appealing to both myself and the drummer I'm working with (not that he's ever complained but I'll get to it). We're not able to get together and play that often these days for different reasons, so I've just been sending him ideas for songs over Facebook and discussing them with him, trying to improve some for his liking for him to play along to and find his own touch.
I've tried to do some half-assed mixing as far as I know about the subject for the projects but during some ideas it just sounds like fucking crap to me and I don't want to send him anything since it's barely noticable what's even going on.
I'll give you the specs for what I'm using and I'll be happy to send recordings and stuff to anyone who'd be willing to give me some guidance, to hear and know what to work with.
Oh, and it's heavy metal music I'm talking about. A bit dark, groovy, melodic and quite roughly a mix between Metallica, Pantera and Opeth. B standard tuning.

  • Reaper
  • Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 36 Redbox (Guitar recording)
  • EZDrummer 2
  • XLN Audio Addictive Keys Studio Grand
  • Various free VST's and FX's (optional and not that important)
  • About to buy a simple bass guitar for writing (the one I have now is just awful so I've pitched down guitar recordings an octave and added a free bass emulator and EQ'd a bit to make it sound passable)

It's pretty much the guitar mix I can't figure out and it's hard to find some tutorials about those type of recordings. Anyway, just to have a conversation with someone who might be a bit experienced would be most helpful!
Cheers :thumbs up:
 
Hi MaCi and welcome. Unless I have missed them somehow I cannot see an Audio Interface or a means of monitoring your recordings?

You have questioned your ability to 'mix'? You cannot do decent work unless you can REALLY hear the results. This means some monitor speakers for preference but you could make some progress with decent headphones (looking at E50+) .

You really do also need an interface. If budget is really biting the best value I have seen is the Alesis i02 Express (sub e100) but better would be the Steinberg UR22 (e 120ish) Both have two inputs for mics or guitar, both have MIDI ports and both come with Cubase but that last is maybe not of interest if you are doing ok with Reaper.

There is also a good article about recording Hmetal in Sound on Sound, will try to find it.

As promised :Extreme Metal |

Dave.
 
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Thank you for replying guys. I actually finally figured out how to get the guitars and overall mix sound ten times better (or shall I say; absolutely passable) by myself a few days ago when trying out a free bass VST and buying an expansion for EZD on sale. Hadn't realized yet how important the bass is when mixing guitars. And yeah, of course I have an interface (Saffire 6 USB) and monitors (Tannoy 502) aswell but I'm still just so green in the science of mixing I just have no clue how to approach most things, even if it's just basic things for homedemos. But I'm slowly getting there, writing takes up most of my time.
I'll check that article out right now, thanks for that!
 
You'll get better, man. I think one if the most important things other than having good monitors us to KNOW your monitors.. Know what good music is supposed to sound like on them. When I first started out, I didn't really understand this concept but over time, you'll start to recognize things like 'muddy' or 'bright' or harsh or squashed and so on. U kind of train your ears.
Also, it's not as much about the gear or plugins u have. U can have the most basic eq and compressor but if u know how to use it, u can make great recordings
 
Oh, also try to describe what sounds so bad about your guitars... Muffled? Ear piercing? Weak?
 
MaCi said:
Thank you for replying guys. I actually finally figured out how to get the guitars and overall mix sound ten times better (or shall I say; absolutely passable) by myself a few days ago when trying out a free bass VST and buying an expansion for EZD on sale. Hadn't realized yet how important the bass is when mixing guitars. And yeah, of course I have an interface (Saffire 6 USB) and monitors (Tannoy 502) aswell but I'm still just so green in the science of mixing I just have no clue how to approach most things, even if it's just basic things for homedemos. But I'm slowly getting there, writing takes up most of my time.
I'll check that article out right now, thanks for that!
Click to expand...

If your listening environment is not properly treated, you are simply driving in the dark. $200.00 mons or $20,000.00 mons, it really makes no difference. Since you mentioned the "Bass", this is the hardest thing to control while listening and it is also the most misleading.
 
I'm so sorry for bumping this old thread but I just remembered I joined this site a couple of years ago to ask for some advice regarding my shitty guitar sound in basic home recordings and I just wanted to say that some months later I found out about a thing called Impulse Response :facepalm: That changed everything, of course, and I remember very clearly how I actually tried to mimic the EQ curves of the SM57 and MD421, for example, and apply them right after the raw signal of the Tubemeister amp. :laughings: Anyhow, we're all newbies at some points and I still consider myself one when it comes to recording and mixing but I've learned a shitton since those days. Cheers!
 
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