First Home Recording

[TTE]

Hi, I'm Tom, and my band and I have just recorded our first little demo. We thought we'd start with something basic, so we chose Roadhouse Blues by the Doors. I know, it's been done so many times, but we plan on moving onto originals once we get a better grasp of the recording thing.

This is our first digital project, and our gear isn't really up to par. Here's what we used:

Pentium 3 Celeron 700Mhz
SoundBlaster Live! Value
n-Track Studio
Various free plugins
SM58s for EVERYTHING (the only mics we have at the moment)
Mackie CFX 12 Mixer

I know it's far, far from being good (drums especially), but I'd like to hear any comments about the mix or performance to help me out in the future.

Anyway, I know this place is frequented by some really good recording engineers (I've listened to a few songs and wow, you guys are good), and I hope this isn't too amatuer for you guys. If it's too bad, just let me know and I'll maybe post again when I've had a little more experience.

In any case, here's the link:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/...d=2198&alid=-1

Thanks to anyone who gives us any advice!

[Jamal Bucket]

dig the stereo spread on the vox.....great vibe too....man i wouldnt complain to much if i sounded like this?!?!....


great guitar work throughout.


jamal

[King Elvis]

THIS THING ROCKS BUDDY!!!

First recording???
Damn its good, makes me wanna get a case of beer and start drinkin...and I dont even drink anymore!!!!
Great sound, I wanna hear more from this band...PERIOD!!!

Rock On
The King

[chrisharris]

Originally posted by TTE
and I hope this isn't too amatuer for you guys. If it's too bad, just let me know and I'll maybe post again when I've had a little more experience.

BAHAHahahahaha... Good one. Dude, the moniker "homerecording.com" should tell you something about how amateur (most of us) are. I think some folks look at this place as a showcase for tunes that they have no intention of fixing, but most of us remix about 10 times for every post, so don't ever apologize for a post.

Especially not something this cool. My only gripe is with the FX on the lead vocal...sounds like a chorus or something. Pretty true to the original, though.

Man,...that singer sounds JUST like somebody...and it's driving me nuts...wait....

JACKAL... that's it. I bet you guys can do some bad-ass Jackal covers.

Peace and Harmony,
-nobody

[flash2ace]

very nice, its been along time since i played this song but this brings back great memories, if this is your first you are on the wright track man.
im gonna break out my old doors cds now lol. and chris your wright this guy on vox sounds like the singer from jackal. you guys realy should do a jackal cover. but anyway great job and looking forward to hearing some more from you. god bless tim pate.

[B.SABBATH]

let it roll baby roll! I played this song... you play it better

[David]

First home recording , wow i been doin it for ten yrs now...your way ahead of me already. Enjoyed it dude.

[Blue Bear Sound]

...BUT - not to take the fun out of it, there were some significant sonic issues on the actual recording........

- Distortion - on the vocals (too much gain on the mic pre? singer eating the mic?? too much level to tape??? poor mic selection/placement????)

- Severe Distortion - on the snare (same problems as the vocal??)

- Graininess - on the drum cymbals - very harsh

Mix wierdness - you did some sort of doubling effect (or small room ambience) on the vocal that was too obvious.... bass was undefined..... and the drums were panned somewhat strangely for my taste....

BUT - like I said, a good first effort anyways - you got the performance across - which counts first....... recording chops can come after! You're on the right track, anyways........!

[mixmkr]

Originally posted by Blue Bear Sound
...BUT - not to take the fun out of it, there were some significant sonic issues on the actual recording........

- Distortion - on the vocals (too much gain on the mic pre? singer eating the mic?? too much level to tape??? poor mic selection/placement????)

this might prove an issue (around here at least), once and for all.[of whether there IS a difference in sound]. NO TAPE was used...eh? (digital VS analog...etc?). We can hope the statement was used as a "generic term"....kinda like..."hey, have you heard my last album cuts at nowhereradio??"

[mixmkr]

this DOES sound like a tribute band doing a cover...in a live situation. The guitar sound is there. It seems like around the 2:00 mark..during the gtr leads, the tempo wavers ever so slightly.

this song is a killer choice to cover.
excellent first attempt!!

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by mixmkr
this might prove an issue (around here at least), once and for all.[of whether there IS a difference in sound]. NO TAPE was used...eh? (digital VS analog...etc?). We can hope the statement was used as a "generic term"....kinda like..."hey, have you heard my last album cuts at nowhereradio??"

Yes... when I said "to tape" I meant "being recorded", regardless of the actual format.... I thought my meaning would be fairly obvious, but I suppose there are novices out there who might misunderstand, and they'll be clipping digital signals to make 'em "warmer", eh?!?!?

[W.I.S.C.]

First recording ,Huh?...Great job ,anyway.Good guitar(my favorite part),A little distorted on the vox and the mix needs work,like the drum sound is a little overdriven,but you've already been told so I'll shut up.I like the stop,too.(homer voice)MMMMMMMmmmm...Beer.

[TTE]

Wow, thanks to everyone for the kind words, advice, and information.

Jamal - Thanks dude. The stereo spread is a tad too pronounced, but I like it too.

Elvis - Wow, that's truly an honor coming from the King himself! And sure, get drunk and take another listen... It sounds WAY better that way!

Chris - Awesome dude! Hahaha, we'll check out that group and maybe we'll take up your suggestion!

Flash - Rock on, man! Thanks for the kind words!

Sabbath - Thanks very much, Mr. Sabbath.

David - Glad you like it!

Blue Bear - Wow, you aren't as mean as they say you are! And you gave us some great advice. Yeah, we did clip some stuff as we went to "tape"... We were monitoring with really cheap computer speakers and didn't notice till we took the mixes home. And the drums... We recorded those with 4 SM58s, into the mixer, recording to 2 tracks. It came out pretty distorted, and we couldn't fix it afterwards... Our drummer's snare sounds like crap anyway! We screwed up the cymbals in the mix. Our ears were shot (we mixed that night - oops!) so we turned the highs up a lot. Then, we tried to fix it in mastering, but it just made them sound annoying! Definately would have been better to fix it in the mix. And the bass, I know how that happened... We used a plugin called "CamelPhat" to beef it up, but we ended up giving it a little too much depth, so that it sounds like a sonic blob. In any case, thanks very much for your expert advice!

Mixmkr - Thanks so much man. The tempo does change a bit. We were a bit sloppy playing wise on this.

W.I.S.C. - Thanks! We like the stop too!

This has been a great learning experience, everyone. We're gonna go back and check out our mix, follow your suggestions, and experiment till we get it right. We're getting some new equipment soon, and we plan on dedicating ourselves to recording. Thanks for getting us on the right track!

[Erland]

I love it. Its sounds really live like you guys were really having fun. just to say I cranked the volume up for this, nice...

[TTE]

Originally posted by Erland
I love it. Its sounds really live like you guys were really having fun. just to say I cranked the volume up for this, nice...

Thanks a lot, Erland!