Rip this song APART!!!

[notredamer0789]

So i posted this song a couple of days ago... and NO ONE except two people (thanks guys posted about it! lol... I just really need some feedback.. i really want to get better at this and right now this is the only way i know how I really hope you guys will give me some feedback this time!

btw.. i know the intro is too long lol there will be a verse there

Thanks!

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=11905

[propman]

Well, it's me again. I don't know why nobody else posted. I thought it was cool. What did you think about my song subject suggestion?

[cello_pudding]

is there a compressor on the electric?

it seems that its thresh is a little low. there's slight distortion on it, but if that's what you're going for, that's fine. it just seemed like it might be taking some tone with it.

the electric guitar that is doing trem picking could come up more, and maybe retrack with less gain. i think it would fill out a bit more. where was the mic pointed? it sounds like it was more towards the outside the cone.

i think i would like the bass guitar up a good amount louder.

drums aren't my forte, but they sound as good as they'll be. maybe bring up the snare slightly, and they might be able to use a bit more compression. but really, i'm no one to judge...i've never recorded drums that weren't equivalent to cardboard and trash can tops...actually cracked trash can tops.

[notredamer0789]

Thanks alot man! Yeah we have to do some retracking.. more stuff than just that electric. It was on the outside of the cone but its also layered with a pingy guitar... I guess I forgot to take that out. And yes, Propman, I do like the suggestions we are going to work on it tonight.

Thanks guys!

[D_Vincent]

Sounds pretty good to me...like you said intro may be a bit to long however i think you did a great job on this song.

[steppingonmars]

Nice stuff. A few things

The drums Ohs are a little high in the mix, seems like they need more compression on them to get them in the mix maybe pull a little of the top end out them around 8k or take down the hh mic if there is one. Is there an exciter on the mix around 10k? I'd pull that down too. The snare needs to be tightend up too, with comression and maybe pull the eq up around 1k to get some snap into it.

It's hard to tell this mix without a bass guitar on too, If your adding bass, everything changes!

I'm thinking your a guitar player, this is what my mixes sound like. It's a good start for sure

[BHOD]

I do not think the intro is too long.
I like it and hope to hear an improved version with the drum compression and the bass sound improved.
My only complant is that while I listened to it there was jumps or micro dropouts.
It might have been me.
Dude, Rock On!

[g0dmoney]

mind if i took a stab at throwing some vocals on here for shits and giggles? i could hear a chorus ringing in my head.

[notredamer0789]

Originally Posted by g0dmoney

mind if i took a stab at throwing some vocals on here for shits and giggles? i could hear a chorus ringing in my head.

Sure go for it lol. We don't have words for it yet. Thanks for all of the input... we do need to comp. the drums a bit more and there is no hi hat mic so I will do what I can I guess. Thanks again guys!!!

keep 'em coming!

[Concrete_Lake]

Acoustic guitar on the left at the start sounds a bit odd staying permanantly on CM... I would change the chord along with the other guitars... eg CM, Csus4, Csus2, CM
Drums sound very distant in the intro...
Acoustic guitar on the L feels too far panned when the tremolo guitar comes in
I'd cut out the drum stick clicks before the drums come in.
Needs a lot more close mics from the drums IMO, for this kind of song.. especially kick and snare
Lacking in low end in general
HH seems a bit too loud
A lot more low end from the bass, and bass guitar up would be great

Not bad though, definitely has potential. Keen to hear an updated version.

[g0dmoney]

Originally Posted by notredamer0789

Sure go for it lol. We don't have words for it yet. Thanks for all of the input... we do need to comp. the drums a bit more and there is no hi hat mic so I will do what I can I guess. Thanks again guys!!!

keep 'em coming!

cool i'll play with it. if you like the lyrics you can just have them/change them/laugh at them... lol

[eyema_believer]

Originally Posted by notredamer0789

So i posted this song a couple of days ago... and NO ONE except two people (thanks guys posted about it! lol... I just really need some feedback.. i really want to get better at this and right now this is the only way i know how I really hope you guys will give me some feedback this time!

btw.. i know the intro is too long lol there will be a verse there

Thanks!

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=11905

Notredamer,

I've listened to your song a few times. I have some ideas, but I'm reluctant to pass out advice without knowing exactly how some of these tracks were recorded, and what tools you have available. If you would be willing to take the time to very carefully answer some questions, I'd be happy to help you with a plan to use the tools you have to make the best sounding mix possible.
So, I'll list some questions for you to answer, OK? OK!
What hardware are you recording to?
How many tracks are you able to record at once?
What kind of processors do you have? (compressors, delay, reverb etc)
Are you able to compress and EQ every track independently during mix-down?
How many/what kind of mics do you have access to?
What kind of microphones, and how many, did you use on your drums on this track?
Where were the drum mics placed during tracking?
Did you record to a click track?
If not, why not?
OK bud... start typing!

~Shawn

[notredamer0789]

lol this is gonna be long, but I WILL answer these lol

We recording into a Digi 002 RACK using a DMP3 preamp. using Pro Tools 7.3 onto my laptop.

I can record 6 tracks at one time (thats how many tracks have pres)
I do not (at the moment) have any outboard processors
I AM able to eq and compress every track though, I did NOT in this session
I use a fusion Audix drum set mic kit. (2 toms and a the kick) and a 57 on snare
I have a Naiant X-Q on the left and a Blue Bluebird (thats all i had..) on the right (OVERHEADS)
They were all close mics except the OHs
And yes WE ALWAYS use a click...ALWAYS.. THOUGH some parts may be kinda screwy

KEEP IN MIND WE ARE GOING TO RETRACK ALOT OF THINGS! lol

So there ya have it... not the best set up BY FAR! but I work with what I have for now and I hope I do an ok job with it.

Thanks for the patience and the time! Hope this list helps!

PS... We used a line-in on the guitar (GUITAR RIG) doubled with a 57 near the edge of the cone on my fender deville using a paul and an american tele. on most guitar tracks

[eyema_believer]

Originally Posted by notredamer0789

lol this is gonna be long, but I WILL answer these lol

We recording into a Digi 002 RACK using a DMP3 preamp. using Pro Tools 7.3 onto my laptop.

I can record 6 tracks at one time (thats how many tracks have pres)
I do not (at the moment) have any outboard processors
I AM able to eq and compress every track though, I did NOT in this session
I use a fusion Audix drum set mic kit. (2 toms and a the kick) and a 57 on snare
I have a Naiant X-Q on the left and a Blue Bluebird (thats all i had..) on the right (OVERHEADS)
They were all close mics except the OHs
And yes WE ALWAYS use a click...ALWAYS.. THOUGH some parts may be kinda screwy

KEEP IN MIND WE ARE GOING TO RETRACK ALOT OF THINGS! lol

So there ya have it... not the best set up BY FAR! but I work with what I have for now and I hope I do an ok job with it.

Thanks for the patience and the time! Hope this list helps!

PS... We used a line-in on the guitar (GUITAR RIG) doubled with a 57 near the edge of the cone on my fender deville using a paul and an american tele. on most guitar tracks

OK....
The good news is that you have everything you need to make a great recording, with the possible exception of drum overhead mics.
As far as I can tell, the 002R comes with all the plugins you could possibly need to mix some slammin' tracks. That said, the thing I don't know is if your computer is powerful enough to do all of the real-time processing you would need. All is not lost, if the computer isn't up to the task, as I'm sure you can do off-line processing if you really need to.

The sound of a track always starts with the drums. If you can get a good drum sound, and then add the bass to go with them, it seems like everything else just falls into place. The thing giving you the most trouble in your drum sound, I think, is your using the Naiant X-Q for an overhead mic. That mic is an omni directional electret condenser, and is giving you horrible results. While I'm no expert, you are lucky, because I used to use a very similar set of mics for drum overheads, and I found a way to get around the sound. With these omni mics, you get way too much of the room, and therefore you can only rely on them as a small portion of your drum sound. As an example, I dug up this old track from when I was using those mics as overheads, to give you and idea of what you can achieve http://www.box.net/shared/static/vdhtd2s46a.mp3 These drums were recorded with a 57 on the snare (like yours) and the electret condensers overhead mics. The one difference was the beta 52 we used in the kick, but the audix you have will give satisfactory results. If you listen to my track on some decent sized speakers, you'll see that I was able to get a pretty powerful drum sound. It's not the best sound by far, not the most organic, but it's in your face and kickin'. What I did was got most of the sound from the close mics. In my opinion, you need to compress all your close mics fairly heavily, and spend lots of time EQing them to get a good sound. Do this without listening to the room mics. When you have a decent sound going, add in a bit of the blue mic, panned center, to give you the cymbals.

You can take the sound from the omni and possibly get some cool results by using it as what I call a "geek mic." What I'll do some times is set it up and record it, and during the mix, compress the hell out of it, and then run it through some kind of emulated tube distressor, or a guitar amp modeler (to give it sort of a "pssst" sound when the drummer hits the high hats), with some distortion. Sometimes, if you play around with the EQ, it can make your drums sound like they're about to catch fire! Add just a little bit of this mic in the overall mix, and make sure to try reverb on it... maybe even a phaser guitar effect.. (think John Bonham, "Kashmir") You don't want to add so much of it that someone would listen to it and think to themselves... "hmmmm... I wonder why the drums are all distorted".... just a smidge to make things interesting.

In my opinion, the compressor and EQ are the two biggest tools you need to master in order to make your tracks sound like your favorite bands. Spend lots of time experimenting with them. Some folks seem to think that "compressor" is a dirty word. Well, to an audiophile, "distortion" is a dirty word. BUT, what would a modern guitarist do without it? To make our recordings sound like we want them to sound, we need lots of compression the way a modern rock guitarist needs distortion. Hopefully, this analogy means something to you, since it seems you are a guitarist.

So, lets work on these drums first. Work on them, and post a drums-only mix for us to listen to, won't you?

Peace!

~Shawn

[Coughmist]

I don't know much about mixing or equipment, but mixed right, and i think this could be a pretty cool song! drums do need some tweaking, though.

cool chord progs. but Iwould change that chord in the beginning to follow the progression a bit better. just a personal preference on my part. it makes some nice harmonies, but it might make the intro not seem so long to you with a bit more variation later in the intro.

the break around 3:02is cool, i like the pan, (and it is just my opinion... i think it would sound neat.) maybe pan that bit from left to right then center it before the rest of the music comes in.

[zazz]

i like this a lot.....acctually like the raw unprocessed sound on the drums ect...i would keep it ...in fact the whole feel would lose its charm if you tried to do anything too clever with it.....think its very indie cool..

would love to hear it with a vocal...

there was a bit just after 3mins where the guitar suddenly goes into cheap suzz box mode.....for me that loses it for a moment....in fact that middle eight if thats what it is is totall throwaway filler...needs something better....not up to the standard of the rest of the song...like somone else wrote it.

but the bass could be mixed up....and the lead guitar in the overdrive bit could be brought more to the fore.