New Tune, A Tuning, Instrumental Metal, Opinions?

[monkeymanx]

http://www.soundclick.com/artist/4/a...tion_music.htm

Use the download mp3 instead of the hi fi stream. It seems like the playing that soundclick uses for their site plays at a slower spead, so everything sound really low.

I may add vocals to this one at some point, I may add to the other tune too. I think I made the distorted guitar sound a whole lot bigger on this tune. Well, what do you think?

[emergencyexit]

Snare sound is a bit too dull, like a cardboard box type of sound. The overall drums sound a bit too triggered. Unless those aren't real drums in which you did a great job making them sound like a real drummer.

I love the intro and part half way through, It brings back the old type of sound to newer metal like this. Guitars sound full. Good job.

Ben

[Wireneck]

Guitars are larger sounding this time around. The rhythms kind of have a nasty upper midrange sound. Its not terrible, I almost like it for this style but its boarderline for me. You could probably tweak the amps presence (or pod, these are direct right?) to get it sounding slightly cleaner. The leads are still too gainy/tiny sounding for my taste.
The drums are a little flat sounding Eq wise. I think part of that may be the fact that the guitars are so bright in the upper midrange. It creates a contrast that makes the drums sound more dull than they probably are.
The programming or keys kind of sound like an afterthought or like they haven't had alot of time put into their arrangement. The sounds on the intro kind of reminded me of "The Lengend of Zelda" not sure if thats good or bad haha.
Overall I think the idea of blending the atmospheric stuff with the Meshuggah-ish/Fear Factory styled guitars and drums is good. The sounds and execution (transistions etc..) just need more work IMHO. Keep them coming.

[monkeymanx]

Emergencyexit - The snare actually is a cardboard box sample, just EQed good... LOL... I see what your saying though, it lacks twang or something. Also, the drums are Drumkit from hell superior, so they are triggered. I'm actually a drummer too, so when I program them, I sit there and just think of what I would do, and sometimes even act it out. Old school metal riffs still have a place, I really enjoy alot of old school stuff.

Wireneck - It's the after EQ I put on the guitars that is giving it such a high midrange. The reason I like it though is because a such a low tuning, everything stays fairly defined and sharp. The guitars are definately eating up everthing between 3Khz and 7Khz though. The keys will get better in time, they are still fairly new to me, so I'm trying my best with them. I've been using it as more of a industrial style. I may turn the boost a 3 and 7Khz down a bit and listen how that works out. I'm really not sure what I should do to thicken up the lead track though.

Thanks for the input guys. I just have to go back and record Exponential Climb now using the technique I did on Angry Eyes for the guitar tracks.

[Wireneck]

I definitely think you have the right idea. The low tuning is going to require more midrange to stand out. The tone just has this scratchy digital sounding aspect to it on the top end. As I stated before, I think it works ok for your sound.
For leads I always try and pick a tone that is different from the rhythm. So if I used my Mesa for rhythms I will try and use my Marshall for leads, or vice versa. Once you find a sound that sits well within the context of your rhythms you might consider Hi-passing around 100-150hz and doubling in some situations. Working with the Pod for this type of stuff can be hard to make it not sound so direct. You might try some delay or a nice full reverb.
At any rate im no master but those are some things that seem to work for me and the bands that I have worked with.

[Dogman]

Man, I dig this tune. Nice and heavy, and good playing. The chuggy part around 2:00minutes, right before the clean part was way cool, then the transition to clean, and back was very nice. Cool contrasts. I love the guitar tones, and couldn't tell you how to make them better. Wireneck has proven to have some great ears for this, so his advice on those should be helpful. Me, if I got this kinda tune put together.....I'd be in heaven. Good job.
Ed

[metalhead28]

Dude, I like the guitars on this one a lot more! You're really going forward with this and it's cool. Really heavy, and I think this tone is working pretty well for this kind of stuff. As far as the lead sound, I would just emphasize a lower frequency range than on the rhythm guitars. Maybe the sub 1500 Hz area to get most of the fatness, and less high end so they sound smoother and less scratchy. Maybe some delay, but with a little of the high end cut out. Just an idea.

[monkeymanx]

I think the main thing I need to get down now is the lead tone, so I'll be experimenting with that. I'm gonna retrack either tonight or tommarow on exponential climb so the guitars have the bigness to them.

The chuggin part on the beginning and the faster part were cramping my forearm after doing the tracks over and over and over until I got them.

I think what wireneck is hearing is the boost at 7Khz. I'm going to mess around with it to see what kind of results I get.

Thanks for the comments and feedback guys.

[SnakeDog5050]

No additional recommendations, but man this a great tune! Love the clean part and then the solos at the end, very dramatic sounding. Great stuff!

[David Katauskas]

Nothing to add in the composition area. Nicely put together. The guitars are just slightly a little scratchy. One very easy way to minimize this is to run each frequency down 6db until you find the culprit that makes the scratch. N-Track provides a 62 band Eq and makes it easy to track down unwanted frequencies. Then maybe a little more mid. Otherwise, the guitars sound heavy and tight. Very industrial sounding.

[Wireneck]

I think what wireneck is hearing is the boost at 7Khz. I'm going to mess around with it to see what kind of results I get.

I could be way off but I might guess that its more in the 800hz to 3000khz range. The only reason I say this is because that typically where I boost on bass to bring out the upper string noise and thats kind of the "quality" or "trait" that im hearing on the distorted guitars. I suppose with a wide enough "Q" the 7khz boost could be affecting the midrange in that way. This is all speculation and late night rambling.

[monkeymanx]

Actually it could be the 3Khz boost I do then. It seems to add alot of attack to the guitars when I boost there. I use Voxengo CurveEq to shape the sound for my guitars because there are certain things I like to cut that don't seem to work with other EQs.