looking for some tips... ?

[Erich Arndt]

hi everyone, i'm a musician (primarily guitarist) with a half-ass setup in my attic for recording. i do everything myself (with the help of my drum machine) and my music is sort of hard rock with a pop-punk edge. not quite blink 182 but not quite new metallica... (i've always loved music with wide contrasts in style)

to get to the point, i recorded an album over the last couple of years of mostly original material.. ended up with 16 tracks (two are covers). the album is called "Much - by Erich Arndt" and a lot of it was recorded when i was a lot greener on the production scene and also not as used to singing as i am now. i got a lot of very good reviews from people and even got some local bar-owners to stick it in their jukeboxes... and a couple of DJ's play a song or two here and there on the weekends. (not radio DJ's.. bar DJ's) though i did get on a local-bands show twice with the CD at the radio station too.

the only bad reviews i ever got was that my bass rumbled too much (overall bass, not bass guitar or drums) and the overall level of the music was too loud. to the point where people had to quickly turn down their stereo when my music came on.. and then had to readjust EQ... and besides that.. after listening to my own album several billion times.. i started to pick up bits and pieces here and there... things that just bothered me a lot.. a bad note here, a ridiculously unrealistic drum-fill there... i'm sure you know what i mean.. so, having written a few more songs since the album was finished, i decided to re-do the whole thing from scratch, make it a double CD and do it RIGHT this time. so... what i was hoping is that maybe someone out there in the "home-recording" world might be able to give it a listen and tell me some of the things i've done wrong and how i can improve it the second time around. here is a run-down of the equipment that i used in recording:

COOL EDIT PRO (i have version 2 now, but all of these songs were recorded with version 1) WAVELAB (i only (over)used this for volume maximizing, which cool edit takes care of for me now)
i have a DOD tech 8 effects processor which i use for vocals, guitar, and bass... although i use cool edit's effects for the major stuff. i run my sampson (?) microphone into a four-track recorder, which is basically just a mixer in this setup, and from there into the "auxiliary 2" jacks on the external part of my soundblaster audigy card. when i record vocals, i run the mic through the effects processor before the mixer, but when i record guitar i run the mic straight into the mixer, and use the effects between guitar and amp. i rarely use effects on the bass, except for maybe a little distortion here and there. drum machine is alesis, but i forget the model...

i lay down the drum track first, then a couple of guitar tracks (i think i have songs with up to 8 guitar tracks) then the bass,
then a couple more guitar traks... lead... then the vocals... and harmonies... and after i have all the raw tracks... i start playing with them... and herein, i believe, lie many of my problems.

basically my biggest complaint is that next to other music.. my music often sounds empty somehow.. it's something i can't put my finger on and i was hoping for a little constructive criticism...

well you know what i've got to work with and my goals are simply... good radio quality music with the same audio dynamics as any other song you might here on the radio.. and i don't think i've acheived that... so i'm gonna try again hopefully with some new tips and tricks from you guys....

you'll find the majority of my music here: www.mp3.com/erich

listen to that, and if you want more, i have another original or two that aren't there... plus my two cover songs that aren't allowed on mp3.com

thanks in advance, erich arndt

[dachay2tnr]

Aside from the errant note and misplaced drum fills, it sounds like what you did wrong was not having the CD mastered.

Bass rumbled too much... overal volume was too loud... EQ adjustments needed... these are all things that should have been taken care of during the mastering stage.

If you did have it mastered, maybe you should be asking for your money back.

[Erich Arndt]

nope.. as far as i know it wasn't mastered at all... certainly not by anyone else anyway... no one besides myself has ever laid hands on those songs..

[dachay2tnr]

Pretty standard course of events - even for the pros - track it, mix it, and then master it. Seems you left out a step.

Several of the problems you mentioned with your recordings likely would have been fixed at that stage.

[Erich Arndt]

okay... so i need to have it mastered... now i've read the articles on mastering on this website.. and it sounds like generally getting all your songs together and matching them to each other sound-wise... wouldn't that mean that any single song from an unmastered album would sound great as long as you didn't play it right next to another one from the same album? i'm sure you'll have a pretty good answer to that question so i'll just move right on to my next one... i have no budget at all and all my tracks are recorded and edited and mixed on my computer... so i have a lot of files on a hard drive and not a single inch of tape in my house. so my question is... is it possible to master the music with software (i.e. cool edit, wavelab, soundforge) and if so, where would be the best place to start?

[littledog]

Originally posted by Erich Arndt
okay... so i need to have it mastered... now i've read the articles on mastering on this website.. and it sounds like generally getting all your songs together and matching them to each other sound-wise... wouldn't that mean that any single song from an unmastered album would sound great as long as you didn't play it right next to another one from the same album?

hmmm... suggestion: reread those articles. somehow 90% of the key content just got lost in the translation.

[chessrock]

Originally posted by Erich Arndt
wouldn't that mean that any single song from an unmastered album would sound great as long as you didn't play it right next to another one from the same album?

Actually, that's not a bad theory. Along the same lines, I suppose one could say that just about any track could potentially sound like a masterpiece, so long as you didn't play it immediately before or after any really notable ones by guys like the Beatles, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay, Santana, etc.

I'm going to have to give this theory a serious test. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Lopp]

the overall level of the music was too loud

That's funny because that seems to be what most modern albums strive for.

To get additional helpful comments on your mixes, try posting them in the MP3 Clinic.

[closer9:18]

A friend of mine just got a mastering program called FreeFilter.

Basically, you give it a source such as a CD recording of your favorite band, and it will "Learn" the EQ average for the whole song. For example, we tried it with a tune off of Silverchair's new CD. (killer, by the way)

Then, you apply the EQ setting to your own song, and providing it was recorded and mixed well, and you will have a stunning resuilt.

I view it as cheating, but it was able to help us make a killer demo on a small amount of time. I wouldn'y use it for my final project, mainly because I don't know enough about it.

Check it out, it might be worth your while...

[deadleafecho]

Originally posted by Erich Arndt
.......scratch, make it a double CD and do it RIGHT this time. so... what i was hoping is that maybe someone out there in the "home-recording" world might be able to give it a listen and tell me some.....etc

Im just curious, what are you trying to acheive? A demo for gigs? Trying to start a band? just wanna make a cd? Me personally, i cant even stand double CDs from bands i like, let alone some guy ive never heard of. If you wanna spread the word on your music, i suggest you record all your songs and cut it down to like 9 or 10 songs.
Also, what do you monitor all this on? the playback that is....If you dont have decent monitors its no wonder you have EQ problems. Worst case play back your stuff on a vareity of systems (car,home,boombox,etc) then play you favorite bands cd right after, see how it compares....

[Erich Arndt]

i appreciate the comments and help i've gotten from most of you.
as far as what i hope to achieve... i guess just a collection of my music.. i don't care about getting signed and being on MTV or anything.. i've been in and out of bands and i've found it's best to keep my solo stuff to myself and just contribute writing to the band according to the feel of that particular band, which is never ever anywhere near the feel of my own stuff.
what i monitor it on... combination of headphones and high-ish end PC speakers.. though i'm presently working on my recording space to turn it into more of a studio type environment... my plan is to actually hook up a home stereo sytem to the computer... to replace the speaker system... and also it will reproduce the typical listening environment better... although the computer speakers have done fairly well for me.
this "free filter" thing... it really sounds like the sort of thing i need.. i'll be looking for it starting now... well, again i appreciate the input.. and more is still welcome...

[Lopp]

I like my GuitarSolo Filter.

I can run a guitarist's solo into the filter so the filter learns the style. Then when I apply the filter to my guitar signal, it makes me sound just like the guitarist.

I wasted all those years practicing...

[Henri Devill]

Originally posted by Lopp
I like my GuitarSolo Filter.

I can run a guitarist's solo into the filter so the filter learns the style. Then when I apply the filter to my guitar signal, it makes me sound just like the guitarist.

I wasted all those years practicing...

LOL...Funny thing is..Someones gonna come up with that someday
Prob. be a drum machine first though


Don

[nessbass]

Here you got it:

http://www.steinberg.net/en/ps/produ...ndex.php?sid=0

Any more questions?

David

[webstop]

Here is the drum machine: http://www.drumagog.com/

BTW, it really does amazing things.

[Henri Devill]

Talent.. I don't need no stinkin' talent!!

Back in my day{when I used to walk 10 miles in the snow to school} We had to really play anything we recorded


Don