New songs done on mr-8

[Bigsnake00]

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/...=2601&alid=537

here is some new stuff ive done....check it out..comments welcome

b

[bdbdbuck]

So far, so good. Only had time to spin a couple....I'll give em all a spin after church.



bd

[Bigsnake00]

I think that the guitar on new day sounds really good, my friends think seatbelt is the best though...

[gospel]

I listened to seatbelt and new day. I like seatbelt the best. It seems I'm always saying this to everyone who posts songs and it may be just because I'm a singer and not a musician. I think your vocals should be more present in the mix. It seems the guitar is over riding the vocals. But, as I said I am a singer and when someone can sing like you can I don't think the vocals should be hidden the least bit.

[bdbdbuck]

OK, here's my nickle's worth..........I spun these a few hours ago and had to go again. My favorite is "undisclosed", you are getting a great sound with that guitar. I'd like to know what you use and how you use it, in as much detail as you can give. That applies to all of the songs. The one negative I have is the drums in "our park", I think you need to do something to bring them into the mix. The crash is just kinda "out there", although I don't have enough mixing experience to help you out on this one....perhaps a little EQ? Overall, a very good job.

bd

[Bigsnake00]

Bd~ hey man thanks for the input

as far as my setup im using a MXL 990 condenser that i got from MF for 70 bucks! It is amazing...I cant belive the sound that comes through the headphones. I am just using an ART tube mp preamp straight into the mr-8. I use a martin d-28 for all the guitar work. I place the mic 7-10 inches from the sound hole...more toward the bridge of the guitar. As for eq, there is none. I just put it into n-track, add some compression and go to town. On undisclosed obsessions, i did beef up the compression and i think thats what makes it sound so good. The more compression i use, i will give the track a slight hi freq boost. thats about it for the guitar work.

as for the drums im still expirimenting, im only using three mics....kick, snare, and then the MXL 990 placed about 10 feet infront of the kick to get the cymbals....soon I will expand my mic collection and see if i cant make it sound better...

thanks for the feedback man,

b

[bdbdbuck]

I think that's the same mic my daughter is using. She's getting some good recordings too. It's the large diaphragm that does the trick. Course the guitar has a lot to do with it as well! I know I can get some more fullness out of my Ovation....still experimenting.


bd

[Bigsnake00]

Yeah I've found that with thoes large diaphram mics position is every thing. If I want more bass or a fuller sound, I usually just position the mic towards the bridge of the guitar, and scoot it back so that the sound of the guitar has time to develop. And yes, part of it is the guitar, that thing is so sweet, so responsive, and so loud. With good mic placement it is possible for me to make my $150 fender sound good coming through the mix. I would recomend a large diaphram mic if you dont allready have one.

peace

b

[mgchicago]

Sounds nice. I'm sitting here already decided to take back a 2496 sound card and a mixer I bought last week-too many problems with my computer. Don't want to buy a new computer at this point, and shouldn't hold myself up in my room getting overly technical with recording aspects of finishing my band's music or my own when I should spend more time writing and playing guitar.
I'm debating getting an MR8, it was actually my main choice before going the computer route.

The acoustic sound on the second two songs is really good. I play acoustic music/sing weekly in Chicago, I'm very used to what good acoustic mix sounds like.
Guitar Center has a good return policy, so I may check out an mr8 and if i don't like it I'll just return it as well.

Michael

[Bigsnake00]

I would strongly recomend the mr-8....and remember this thing was built to work with your computer. Best purchase ive ever made...

b

[morindae]

Hey Mgchicago, I was in the same position as you. I decided to go with the MR8 instead of the soundcard route. It was the best decision I could have made. Once you put yourself fully into the computer you are at it's mercy, and it can be a ruthless beast. The MR8 works incredibly well with the pc and makes the whole process a lot smoother. I have an old 350 Mhz pentium 2 with 128 meg of ram. It's not difficult to have 10 - 12 tracks running with effects on this system, and that can be increased if I render tracks to cut back on cpu usage. I wouldn't recommend the MR8 as a pure stand alone recorder because the it is seriously lacking the bells and whistles that you can get with other recorders. However, once you connect it to the pc it becomes a monster. So go ahead and get the 'wee red box', and while your at it, download the demo version of n-track. You'll be happy for quite some time.

[gospel]

morindae,
I don't believe I've ever heard you say what you are monitoring with? I'm very close to buying some, but still haven't made up my mind what to get.

[mgchicago]

Thanks for the praise of the mr8. Probably going to get one today.
Question: Can I record two tracks at the same time of vocals and guitar? What would be the optimal set up for this? I have all the guitar stuff I could need, effects, amps, etc. and a couple mics.
I'd love it if I could sit down and just have a guitar miced and vocals running in at the same time. That's what I'm hoping this will provide, among other things. To be able to keep this in our music room and then take stuff further on my comptuter in my room.

Fill me in. Thanks again,

Michael

[bdbdbuck]

Yes you can record two tracks at the same time. It would have to be either 1/2 or 3/4 or 5/6 or 7/8 because of the way the thing is set up internally. 5/6 and 7/8 are actually stereo tracks that can only be separated on the computer. 1/2 and 3/4 are totally independent of each other.


bd


BTW...lets give Bigsnake his thread back! Anyone listen to his tunes yet?

[mgchicago]

Yah, I did. Acoustic sounds really nice on songs 2 and three.
Got me interested in the thing again.

Michael

[morindae]

Gospel, I'm using M-audio sp5B nearfield monitors. I like them a lot and they have really helped my mixes. I purchased them a few months ago for $199. Of course, my opinion on monitors is not really anything to go by considering I was using computer speakers prior to buying them. On the other hand, I can definitely say one thing about them, they were worth the money. You might want to check in with bdbdbuck, he's using some M-audio monitors which I think are an upgrade from mine. It's a great feeling when you have half way decent monitors, the MR8, and a computer, quite a nice little home studio.
By the way, Bigsnake, sorry for hijacking your thread. I"ll have to make some time to download your stuff and enjoy listening to your songs on monitors that will actually give a good account of all the work you have done when recording your songs.

[morindae]

Bigsnake, I have to agree with some of the above comments. The guitar sounds wonderful. It's nice and warm with good presence. However, Gospel is right about the level of the vocal. It really needs to come up. I liked both Seatbelt and New day. Keep them coming, and thanks for sharing your work.

[gospel]

Thanks morindae. And Bigsnake, sorry for highjacking your thread. If I don't ask something when I'm thinking about it I forget.

[digitcallous]

Bigsnake00,

I've been very busy lately, but finally had a chance to listen to your songs. I think they are every bit as good as the best stuff I hear on popular radio. Like I mentioned previously, you've really know how to record your acoustic guitar. It just sounds beautiful. Your vocals reminds me of both The Cure and Green Day, and definitely has a modern sound to it.

Great stuff and keep up the good work. I just wish I have more time to do some music. I have not even found time to play my guitars, so recording is even further from the question.

DC

[Bigsnake00]

Hey..
thanks for all your comments, and its cool for other things to go on in this thread...I thrive on it. As for my music thanks for the positives and the suggestions, thats always a big help. I have gone back and started the process or remixing the songs(it always seems like it takes me a week after I record somthing, to really hear what Ive recorded) Either way, Ive boosted, and in some cases re-recorded my vocals. Im pleased with the results, and as soon as the songs are complete I will replace what I have done so far....

peace

callous, get on that guitar playing/recording man!!!!


b

[gospel]

Bigsnake,
I've learned that the best thing to do after recording something is dump it in the pc and don't even listen to it again for about a week. I think they call this mixing on "fresh ears".

[badgas]

mgchicago:

I've been tied down to the moods of my computer for three years. The other day I had recorded some nice tracks and POW, my 'F' partition blows out. That's where I would dump my waves after recording them through Sonar.
Their gone.

Now I have an MR-8, and some other hardware. I hope this eases my frustration.

[mgchicago]

Well, I got one this weekend, and it's great so far. Much happier. Just wish it had a tap tempo feature rather than going through menus for the metronome.

Michael