Am I starting out in the right direction?

[Andrew Keeble]

https://soundcloud.com/andyramone/skippin-blues

Right, complete newbie to all this, been trying to spend a little money on a little cheap gear over the last few months so I can finally record a few basic demos.

So, with my ultra cheap basic set up, I thought I'd post a really quick song I threw together a little while ago, just to see if you chaps think I'm going in the right direction?

The drums are loops from DrumWerks, it's all I could afford, and is OK for a basic backing track. Using Garageband for recording and mixing as it didn't cost me anything.

Everything else is me, acoustic guitar recorded through a Behrigner C1 and preamp, and bass through a Line 6 POD.

I haven't done a huge amount messing with anything, just a light EQ on the acoustic, and some compression on the drum samples.

I'm having problems getting the drums to sit in the mix. I know this is an inherant problem with pre recorded samples, but does anyone have any tips for using these kinds of samples in a mix?

Anyway, any thoughts, advice would be gratefully received.

 

[ido1957]

The guitar and bass are well played and sound pretty much done. I'd say work on your drum patterns as they are in my mind not always on the beat (second half) and the rolls are kind of all over the place. There's a big volume difference on the two drum parts. I'm not sure about that....

 

[Andrew Keeble]

The guitar and bass are well played and sound pretty much done. I'd say work on your drum patterns as they are in my mind not always on the beat (second half) and the rolls are kind of all over the place. There's a big volume difference on the two drum parts. I'm not sure about that....

Thanks for the input.

This is the problem with the drums. I haven't sequenced them, they are pre recorded from 100% Pure Drum Loops and Drum Samples from Beta Monkey Music.

They are imported as Apple loops, and should stay in time when I set the BPM. But some of the loops do seem to have to odd beat out of time here and there. Not sure why that is, and I was going to email the company and ask why they provide drum loops that aren't actually in time! but lost interest in the end because it only cost £15 for 700 samples.

It is possible in Garageband to amend the timing on the actual waveform, which I've done a few times to some success.

To be honest, I'm just 'making do' as far as the drums go. Just getting something passable so I can record demos. It's the guitars and vocals I'm focusing on at the moment. I'll definitely go back to the drums and play around with the levels though.

If anyone can recommend some reliable drum loops to purchase, and any tips on using them in a mix, I'd appreciate it

 

[TripleM]

I thought the guitars sounded pretty good. They could use a little more detail in the high end. But still pretty good. I liked the playing.

The bass sounded decent too. It was a little indistinct - one note kind of blended with the next. But still sounded pretty good.

The kick is kind of loud in the first half of the song. It also has some low end spike that's annoying me a little. Like maybe around 100hz. Getting rid of that spike might get it to sit at the right level too.

Rhythm got a little sloppy around 2:45 - 2:47. Again just a bit at 3:11. Couple more minor spots.

There is one chord you're playing in there that doesn't sound right. Like one note is off. Or was a string out of tune?

 

[Andrew Keeble]

I thought the guitars sounded pretty good. They could use a little more detail in the high end. But still pretty good. I liked the playing.

The bass sounded decent too. It was a little indistinct - one note kind of blended with the next. But still sounded pretty good.

The kick is kind of loud in the first half of the song. It also has some low end spike that's annoying me a little. Like maybe around 100hz. Getting rid of that spike might get it to sit at the right level too.

Rhythm got a little sloppy around 2:45 - 2:47. Again just a bit at 3:11. Couple more minor spots.

There is one chord you're playing in there that doesn't sound right. Like one note is off. Or was a string out of tune?

Thanks for the pointers, will try out some of hat you've suggested.

Yeah, there's a bit of sloppy playing in there, and the guitar may be slightly out ( I desperately need to get it set up.) Like I said, I just threw it together in a couple of hours, so is by no means a finished product, hence the sloppy parts. Should be getting my guitar set up this week, so that should help with tuning issues.

 

[Wonka]

This is the best recording I have heard this morning. Would love to hear this with some dueling guitars and a country girl wailing about how he broke her heart. If you are just starting out you are going to do great.

Drums off - slopping guitar - whatever - you were riding the vibe and you did a good job of keeping the memory.

 

[ocnor]

This is the problem with the drums. I haven't sequenced them, they are pre recorded from 100% Pure Drum Loops and Drum Samples from Beta Monkey Music.

I was going to email the company and ask why they provide drum loops that aren't actually in time!

Don't bother. I emailed the guy years ago about the many problems with his crappy drum loops. The dude was a complete peckerhead and he ignored me after 2 emails. He wouldn't even give me a refund after I proved to him that the loops were faulty.
You would be much better off with Toontrack - EZdrummer®.

 

[Andrew Keeble]

This is the best recording I have heard this morning. Would love to hear this with some dueling guitars and a country girl wailing about how he broke her heart. If you are just starting out you are going to do great.

Drums off - slopping guitar - whatever - you were riding the vibe and you did a good job of keeping the memory.

Hey thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Don't bother. I emailed the guy years ago about the many problems with his crappy drum loops. The dude was a complete peckerhead and he ignored me after 2 emails. He wouldn't even give me a refund after I proved to him that the loops were faulty.
You would be much better off with Toontrack - EZdrummer®.

Thanks for the heads up on that. It's a shame, because the loops are actually pretty good, if the timing wasn't such a problem.

Will definitely check out your recommendations