Original song- "About You"

[dkerwood]

Okay, so I wrote this song this morning and went to go do a scratch track on my laptop so I wouldn't forget melodies, chords, etc.

Anyway, as I got it all out, I remembered that I hadn't really done any real recording on my new laptop- so the end result of the morning's work is this track. My drums are all up at church, so the track's a great deal more subdued than I envision.

I'm not satisfied with the lead guitar tone right now (or the rhythm for that matter). I guess the guitar amp plugin I was using on the old laptop must have been downloaded separately. I don't even remember what plugin it was, so I'll have to go looking again... but the end result is a totally clean rhythm track (Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow) and a "fuzzy" lead track from the same guitar.

I'm really pleased with how the vocal came out. I played with some delay effects, and it sounds nice to me. Very clean, very rich... although you may disagree. :-)

Anyway, let me know what you think about the song, the recording, whatever. It's mainly for my own reference and/or to send to band members when it comes time to learn it, but I certainly don't mind getting some ideas on how to improve my recording techniques.

Here's the link: http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/...Ca%2BwBnxyA%3D

If that direct link fails, try this: http://users.bandzoogle.com/leavethu...load?id=386056 and click through from there.

Thanks!

[doulos24]

this is to distorted do me a favor and send me a mix at -3 db without the added compression I want to hear your vocal this song is total crap garbage as it is
and if i could no percussion no bass you and the guitar at -3 db please

[dkerwood]

Originally Posted by doulos24

this is to distorted do me a favor and send me a mix at -3 db without the added compression I want to hear your vocal this song is total crap garbage as it is
and if i could no percussion no bass you and the guitar at -3 db please

Hmmm... strange. It did look way too hot, but through my headphones, everything stayed clean, despite looking clipped on the DAW. I'll look into it tomorrow after I sleep.

[dkerwood]

I think it might be an issue with your system. I've tried it now on four separate computers, and it's always come down clean- no distortion.

[Jeff_B]

it does sound like its too loud or something.
aside from that...

vocals sound really good.

very nice sounding song, not my style though, i need more energy !
maybe the drums will do that.

[dkerwood]

Originally Posted by Jeff_B

it does sound like its too loud or something.
aside from that...

vocals sound really good.

very nice sounding song, not my style though, i need more energy !
maybe the drums will do that.

Normally, I'd have pulled the master volume back, but I also have a tendency to do that too much, which makes my tracks significantly quieter than commercial. When I get the chance, I'll probably add drum tracks and replace the guitar and bass tracks.

I played through the song yesterday with some cats at church- drums, thick guitars, bass... We're doing a informal CD as part of our church songwriting class, so I'll post whatever the end result is (although I won't have any direct hands in the recording process).

It'll be an interesting CD- one girl wrote a song with a cool Evanescence-like vibe. My tune is cheating toward the Skynard-style southern rock, and another guy wrote a great tune which is ending up being Latin Rock (sort of Santana-like, with more mariachi influence). Round it out with a jazz rock tune and a straight jazz tune, and we'll have a really varied disc.

[Rokket]

Originally Posted by dkerwood

Normally, I'd have pulled the master volume back, but I also have a tendency to do that too much, which makes my tracks significantly quieter than commercial.

That's a mistake right there. You'll never get your mix as loud as a commercial mix. Consumer gear is rated at -10dB, while the "pro" stuff is rated at +4dB. The laptop and interface you are using doesn't compare to the AD/DA converters a pro studio uses. By adding limiters and compressors to your mix like that, all you are doing is creating a huge wall of noise. If it is clipping in your DAW, then it is waaay too hot. Get yourself into the mixing/mastering forum and read up on headroom and proper tracking and mxing levels. You have something that could be great, but your hard-headed "I need to be as loud as the crap that is being put out there" attitude is ruining for you.

[dkerwood]

Originally Posted by Rokket

That's a mistake right there. You'll never get your mix as loud as a commercial mix. Consumer gear is rated at -10dB, while the "pro" stuff is rated at +4dB. The laptop and interface you are using doesn't compare to the AD/DA converters a pro studio uses. By adding limiters and compressors to your mix like that, all you are doing is creating a huge wall of noise. If it is clipping in your DAW, then it is waaay too hot. Get yourself into the mixing/mastering forum and read up on headroom and proper tracking and mxing levels. You have something that could be great, but your hard-headed "I need to be as loud as the crap that is being put out there" attitude is ruining for you.

I understand that. I'm just saying that I didn't hear any clipping, so I didn't really care if my DAW was showing pegged meters. It's a visual representation designed to supplement what I actually hear... not to be confused with ACTUAL meters showing real data. If I hear it clip, then of course I turn it down. I assumed that since it was the first real bit of work I've done on my new laptop that the new sound card had more headroom. Did it clip on your system?

I really didn't do much in the way of compression- I added a touch to the guitar since it was naked and needed a little fullness, then I added a bit to the vocal to help even out some distance inconsistencies, and I added a good chunk to the djembe drum in order to hear more of the quieter playing that was getting lost. Is that really "too much"?

Heck, I used to compress each channel to taste and then compress it AGAIN after mixing down. I think I'm doing MUCH better these days. :-)