can anybody give me suggestions?

[kylosius]

this is an un-finished song. it was originally done by a band called the stereo. i am recording on my 4 track and want to get used to all of the different techniques. i have a bass track, a guitar track, and the vocal tracks. all i need is one more guitar track and beat track. i am recording with a Peavey mic, a yamaha mt 400, aN Epi Les Paul, and a fender stage 100 amp. check out the mp3 at
http://www.geocities.com/en4cer2633/...onsmalfile.mp3

[crosstudio]

i guess geocities/yahoo hasn't updated your page yet, because i cant download the mp3.

since you have a 4 track, i'm assuming that you have 1 track for the guitar, 1 for bass, and 1 for vocals.

you mentioned adding a drum beat and additional guitar. i take it then that you are going to bounce the vocals and bass onto the same track so that you'll have a track left over for the beat and another for the additional guitar?

i would have recorded the beat, bass, and guitar first. then bounced the beat & bass to one track since they can both go down the center and are the spine of the sound.

then you would have two tracks remaining for the vocals and the second guitar.

[TexRoadkill]

You have to cut and paste Geocities links.

The guitar isnt half bad but the vocal sound needs a lot of work. I would worry less about stereo panning and more about signal quality and tone.

If you can buy, borrow or steal an SM57 or better it will make your efforts much more worthwhile.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Guitars aren't bad... for a start! They need more depth and space though...

Oh my... the vocals... lots of work needed here. For one, performance, performance, performance.... they are consistently flat in many places. Backing vocals and doubled parts usually have to be bang-on in terms of the timing of the phrasing, otherwise it just sounds sloppy.

The mic you used sounds like a low-grade dynamic.... it sounds muddy and indistinct. Careful use of EQ might help, but one future upgrade should be some flavour of condenser mic combined with a mic pre. Tex mentioned the SM57 -- although not a condenser, you will notice a definite big improvement over your current mic.

When you record, you constantly have to be thinking and planning for the space around your tracks, and how they will fit in the "stage" between your speakers. Use of EQ controls the stage positions on the vertical plane (lows to highs), PANNING controls the stage position on the horizontal plane, and DELAYS/REVERBS control the depth or front-to-back plane.


Keep at it -- the more you practice and familiarize yourself with it, the easier it becomes.


Bruce

[kylosius]

thanks for your help. how do i add space to the guitar? thats one of my big concerns. i thought the vocals sound fine (then again i still have fairly untrained ears. what are good ways to ensure a decent vocal track although i have a cheap mic (the mic and cable were $28 together). or is there no way to get a good vocal sound with what i have?

[cominginsecond]

what are good ways to ensure a decent vocal track although i have a cheap mic (the mic and cable were $28 together). or is there no way to get a good vocal sound with what i have?

I would say that the answer to that question is a big, fat nope. No way to get a good vocal sound from that mic.

Try looking in the mic forum for suggestions for a decent vocal mic. My first suggestion, since you obviously have a budget that's on the low end, is to buy an MXL V67 for $129 from Mars Music. It'll do a decent job on almost anything. MXL also has some lower end condensors for $79 at mars and zzounds.com, I think. Also, an SM57 would be a great mic for your guitar amp.

Blue Bears comments are pretty right on. Not a half bad guitar sound. Sounds like you have a nice amp. The vocal is pretty out of tune though.

[cominginsecond]

Also, I figured I should mention that if you decide to get a condensor mic, you'll need to power it somehow. If your four-track does not have phantom power (most four-tracks don't) you'll need to get phantom power to your mic, either with a cheap mic preamp (there's a very popular mp from ART called the Tube MP that you can get for around $60 on Ebay) or with a dedicated phantom power source (I've seen those for as cheap as $40). A mic preamp will improve the sound you're getting over the preamps in your four-track, while a phantom power source will just power the mic and won't really improve the sound any.