Zero chain - (hopefully final)

[joeym]

Hey guys,
had to re-record this one from scratch again, cos I lost all the old files....
Would appreciate your comments about what to fix, my ears are completely shot now.

the Zero chain:
http://www.box.net/shared/k7u9x2k65m

Cheers
Joey

[Supercreep]

Cool, Joey.

You have a great vibrato, sir.

I'm listening on cheap speakers, so I can't really hear much bass, but everything balances fairly well. Nice leads and guitar bits. Drums are appropriate and I don't hear any timing issues.

Stylistically, I can't comment much - I'm not knowledgeable in the genre.

I don't hear any problems, however.

Thanks for sharing.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by Supercreep

Cool, Joey.

You have a great vibrato, sir.

I'm listening on cheap speakers, so I can't really hear much bass, but everything balances fairly well. Nice leads and guitar bits. Drums are appropriate and I don't hear any timing issues.

Stylistically, I can't comment much - I'm not knowledgeable in the genre.

I don't hear any problems, however.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanx S!
Basically what I'm worried about is the bass and guitar tones, balance seems allright to me too. I might have a bit too much low end in the bass which might be taking away some definition.
Appreciate your comments!

[ObeseArmadillo]

Damn! Sounds great here on the nearfields. Excellent imaging! The clarity is impressive. The performance is impressive. Hell the whole thing is impressive. I don't hear anything that I would fix mix wise. If I had to pick nits, I would love to hear some real drums in there. The programming was killer, but nothing beats the real thing. Damn I really dig this tune... having another listen now.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by ObeseArmadillo

Damn! Sounds great here on the nearfields. Excellent imaging! The clarity is impressive. The performance is impressive. Hell the whole thing is impressive. I don't hear anything that I would fix mix wise. If I had to pick nits, I would love to hear some real drums in there. The programming was killer, but nothing beats the real thing. Damn I really dig this tune... having another listen now.

Thanx, man!
You're definitely right about the drums, nothing beats the real thing....hope to someday have the facilities to record a real set.
Glad you like it!

[joeym]

anyone else wanna holler, so I can put this away....?

[bendbones]

Hi man, I really love what you've done, guitars (what setup did you use?) and vocals are fantastic as usual and I like the drum programming...I do think perhaps the vocal is ever so slightly lacking in clarity however....I'd be tempted to try cutting some of the low mids....

I agree about getting a real drummer in - See if you can find one man! (I know such creatures a difficult to come by!) ;-)

Cheers,
Ben.

[joeym]

Thanks Ben!
I used both my EPI Les Pauls and my ESP Strat for rythm and lead parts. My amp is a VOX AD30 and I used 2 different settings. I mic the amp with a single SM57 about an inch from the grill, in the centre but off-axis pointing to where the cone meets the dust-cap. On this song I used my Sansamp Bass Drive DI for the first time and I must say I really like it. I'll check those vocal tracks out again.
Appreciate your comments!

[ocnor]

The kick drum seems to be all attack and no beef. It stands out in the mix too far forward and doesn't mesh with the bass guitar. The vocal also seems a little loud. If you lower the kick volume to the level of the bass and bring the vocal down just a hint I think that the mix would sound more powerful.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by ocnor

The kick drum seems to be all attack and no beef. It stands out in the mix too far forward and doesn't mesh with the bass guitar. The vocal also seems a little loud. If you lower the kick volume to the level of the bass and bring the vocal down just a hint I think that the mix would sound more powerful.

Thanx for the advice Ocnor!
I'l have another look at the kick and the voice. Is it the vox in the verse that's louder in your opinion or in the chorus? 'Cos they're on different tracks....Appreciate your comments!

[guitar zero]

I like to respond before reading other posts, so if this has already been covered, I apologize. First impression, sounds very good. Love the guitar tones and playing. Drums sound great to me. The only thing I might change is to bring up the vocals just a tiny tiny bit in a couple places where the guitar mix is pretty loud. Can't really find any gripes though. Good work!

[joeym]

Thanx GZ!
I think what the voice needs is some EQ tweaking. I'll be mixing again, anyway.
Appreciate your comments!

[CIRO]

Hi, Joey!

Only real nit (IMO) is the hihat sound and stage (too "centered") , and "playing"..., well, is not a real one, ok...

Comparing (I have the old version (PenDrive)),this is far better . Really good playing and sounding / better balanced mix.

Ciro

[joeym]

Originally Posted by CIRO

Hi, Joey!

Only real nit (IMO) is the hihat sound and stage (too "centered") , and "playing"..., well, is not a real one, ok...

Comparing (I have the old version (PenDrive)),this is far better . Really good playing and sounding / better balanced mix.

Ciro

Hi Ciro!
Yes, the hat definitely came out of the box...
The thing about it being centered is that that's the way it is in most heavy metal productions (at least the producers and engineers I've worked with did it that way....). I guess losing my old files was a good thing then if this sounds better....
Thanks for your comments, bro!

[rayc]

Joey,
Sound really good - you're a natural in this genre and your chops are AAA++.
I think you're right about the bass - either cut some bottom or try my usual reference - a small peak at 3kH to add some defintion. The bass is basically fine - and where there are spots for it to pop through it does very nicely thank you, but at other times it sits anonymously - just needs a little growl added.
Well done on the re recording - sometimes doing it all again means a better result - sometimes the magic doesn't visit - this one worked!

[nzausrec]

Excellent Skillz.
Great voice. Voice is a natural. Would be great to see live.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by rayc

Joey,
Sound really good - you're a natural in this genre and your chops are AAA++.
I think you're right about the bass - either cut some bottom or try my usual reference - a small peak at 3kH to add some defintion. The bass is basically fine - and where there are spots for it to pop through it does very nicely thank you, but at other times it sits anonymously - just needs a little growl added.
Well done on the re recording - sometimes doing it all again means a better result - sometimes the magic doesn't visit - this one worked!

Thanks for the advice Ray, that's what I wanted to hear about the bass 'cos I wasn't sure. I'll try the 3kh enhancement.....
Really appreciate the compliments! My style might be a bit dated, but it's what I love.....

[joeym]

Originally Posted by nzausrec

Excellent Skillz.
Great voice. Voice is a natural. Would be great to see live.

Thanks, man!
Singing is what I like to do most.....
Appreciate your time!

[CIRO]

Originally Posted by rayc

Well done on the re recording - sometimes doing it all again means a better result - sometimes the magic doesn't visit - this one worked!

This is a great point, Rayc.
Happens all the time with "demo ---> final" productions and sometimes the "magic" simply diappears (not in this case).

Ciro

[joeym]

Originally Posted by CIRO

This is a great point, Rayc.
Happens all the time with "demo ---> final" productions and sometimes the "magic" simply diappears (not in this case).

Ciro

I've seen that happen to me too in past bands. When you're doing a demo everything's still fresh. And then when you do the final recording you think you're gonna do everything better, but end up doing some things worse....especially if you're paying for studio time! With this one I was lucky that the original was recorded about 2 years ago, in the meantime I think my skills have improved a little (I hope...)

[joeym]

Ok, guys, here's a new mix. I've tried to tackle what was mentioned here, bass, kick, voice, hihat, mostly played around with the EQs. Would appreciate your opinion as to which mix is better.

http://www.box.net/shared/ns5r0mp31a

Thanx to all of you!

[GoblinInventor]

My speakers really suck at the moment, so they both sound good to me!

In fact

they sound so good,

I'm going to put them on my mp3 player

(think that's about the highest praise I can garnish as a broke college student with crappy speakers :P)

[ocnor]

The new mix sounds better but the Kick's beater click is still the loudest thing in the mix. It needs to be less sharp on the high end as to not draw attention away from the other instruments. I know it's futile to suggest EQ settings without having the track but I'll take a stab anyway.

use a parametric EQ on the kick

frequency = 10k
Q = 2
start at a level of -20db and adjust from there

That should give you more "thud" and less "click" which may require you to lower the level and/or roll off some of the low end.

As stated this is just a wild guess so use the suggestions accordingly.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by GoblinInventor

My speakers really suck at the moment, so they both sound good to me!

In fact

they sound so good,

I'm going to put them on my mp3 player

(think that's about the highest praise I can garnish as a broke college student with crappy speakers :P)

Glad you like it GI!
Hope you go on enjoying it.

[joeym]

Originally Posted by ocnor

The new mix sounds better but the Kick's beater click is still the loudest thing in the mix. It needs to be less sharp on the high end as to not draw attention away from the other instruments. I know it's futile to suggest EQ settings without having the track but I'll take a stab anyway.

use a parametric EQ on the kick

frequency = 10k
Q = 2
start at a level of -20db and adjust from there

That should give you more "thud" and less "click" which may require you to lower the level and/or roll off some of the low end.

As stated this is just a wild guess so use the suggestions accordingly.

Thanks Ocnor! I kind of like it the way it is, but I'll review it again.