Opinions on original metal song?

F

FadeToMuffins

New member
Hi guys, this is my first post in any of these forums. My name is Stephen, I'm 19, and currently a college student at UC Santa Cruz. Nice to meet you all, It's so awesome that there are places like this out here for all of us to get together and talk music. Now that I've introduced myself...


I'm basically looking for any feedback people would be willing to provide on my mix before I get ready to record vocals. I'm pretty proud of what I have, but if you spot something that you think can be improved/changed, by all means, please let me know, I'm just trying to get better at what I do. Basically the only known issue is that the bridge lead guitar parts need to be re-recorded because they sound slightly out of tune.



(ns4 means new song 4, haha)

Again, nice to met you all and thanks for the listens/comments!!
 
Hi FadeToMuffins,
Your song sounds good to me, I'm new too & really can't help you because it seems you're way ahead of me already. From what I can hear (on phones) sounds good, might need a tad of bass, but like I said I'm on phones so...

Couple of questions though??
What do you use for drums?
What do you record your gtrs with? Amp? POD?

Thanks & keep at it, sounds like you've got a great start!!
 
Hey Minerman,
Thanks for listening! The way I record my drums is I first write them as a midi track using this program called Tabit (very similar to guitar pro). I actually write the whole song in tabit, and then export the drums, bass, synth, whatever non-guitar tracks I will need. I then use Reaper as a VST host for EZ drummer, which is what I use to record my drum tracks.

As for recording my guitars, its almost completely amp. I'll use my toneport for lead guitars sometimes, but never for rhythm. I start with my trusty ole Vox AD30t, which is miced with a Shure SM57, pointed straight at the paper, just outside of the cone of the speaker. An important part of my line is my Ibanez Tubescreamer (best guitar pedal I've ever bought). It literally brings my guitar to life in the context of the mix.

But that's just for rhythm guitars, I'll play around with it for the lead parts, or even just use my Line6 toneport if I can't seem to get a good tone. I also use the tonport for the clean part at the end.

*phew* sorry if that was confusing, I hope I explained myself ok!
 
Hey FadeToMuffins,
Not confusing at all, I thought you used MIDI. They sound good to me, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the people here use real drums. That's the only way to go (if possible, for me it's not:)) Also thought Line 6 when I heard your gtr tones. Sound good to me, but don't take my word as gospel or anything like that, I've only been recording about 5 months now. Keep at it!!!
 
FadeToMuffins--

Welcome to the board--good to have you here. This sounds pretty darn good. I like the sound of the drums, but I'll let some more experienced drum folks speak to their realism. This isn't really my style so I don't know how "human" they sound relative to other music in this genre.

I like your guitar sounds as well. Nice and thick--really using the stereo field well. I'd agree that maybe the mix could stand a bit more bass. I'd really like to hear some more bottom end driving this thing.

As far as the music goes (as opposed to the mix) I really like the way you've used a strong sense of classical melody in the guitar riffs of such a heavy piece. Sounds sweet...

Nice work!
 
Thanks for the feedback WhiteStrat,

I will take a look at the mix and see if I can turn the bass up. I get hesitant to do it because I'm using crappy soundfonted bass...I really need to find a decent bass VST, or come into possession of a decent bass rig in order to do this stuff the right way.

As for the music, I've always dug the heaviness of metal/hard rock and the melody and harmony of classical music, so I try to always combine them when I write songs and I'm glad you noticed that about it, since it's a big part of my mental process when writing songs.
 
Great tune, love the guitar work!
Guitars sound a bit roomy to me, I wish they were closer, is there a reverb on them? Sound is nice and full and I like the Maiden-like riffs. Kick could do with some more click in the sound, sometimes it just sounds boomy. I'd like to hear this with vocals (not cookie-monster, I hope....:D) Well done!

Joey :):):):)
 
Good to hear something on my side of the spectrum! Though I'm not a metal/thrash fan, I like:

-the structure
-the drums
-the harmonies

I think you can improve:

-guitar tones (I think some treble would make them sound better)
-bass (I can't detect any)
-the last lead sounds a weee bit dirty with the pick plucks (but some effects can change that, like muffling it, and it would fit)

Good work!

ajmauburn
 
I think the song is great. Cool arrangement, and great playing.

I don't think the guitars sound quite mean enough. They feel a little to soft. It's not a matter of needing more distortion, I just think they should feel a little more up front and a little meatier. I know those words don't really mean much.

I've banned the guitarist in my band from using a tube screamer because it doesn't tend to give the growl that a metal distortion should have.

I would also suggest getting a real bass, even if you only pay $50 for it (that's what I did). You can go direct, add some compression and heavy filtering and it can sound pretty close to descent.

I'd also spend the time to compress each drum separately from EZdrummer. It's kind of supposed to be an all purpose kit, so it needs some massaging to get it to sound like a metal kit. Not much, but just a little. I also always give the standard advice not to use the bottom snare mic in ezDrummer for metal. it makes the snare sound too poppy.
 
First off I kind of drifted away from metal music about a decade ago.

But I must say, you did an outstanding job with this song, I'm extremely impressed. (Caveat: I reserve the right to retract this statement if cookie monster is your lead singer :p)

I thought the guitar tone was excellent, but I'm not a metal aficionado.

The only criticism I have is that kick drum blast that comes up a few times in the song sounds a bit phony. The rest of the drums sounded convincing enough though.
 
Hey man...nice chops! Only 19 too, you are on your way.

I agree with alot of what the other guys have posted. The kicks need tightened with more click and less boom. The bass needs more boom. Add a little eq around the 80-150mhz area and it should add a little girth without giving enough definition to alarm the listener that it is un-human. As it has already been said, get hold of a bass.....a cheapy at a pawnshop will do. I personally always do bass direct through an amp sim and with some compression and eq get pretty good results. As has been said, if there is some kind of room reverb on the guitars kill it. Give the guitars a litttle boost around 250-300mhz.....a cut around 500-700mhz (not much though or you'll get muddy)...and a boost around 2500mhz (as much as you can without making it tinny)...and then shelf off everything past 10,000mhz. I would like to hear a tad more compression on the drums and also a little more crispness and volume on the cymbals. Pump up the 5000mhz eq on the kick for a nice snap, and give the cymbals a slight boost around 8000mhz with a shelf up to fill in the void you just made by shelving the guitar eq off at 10,000mhz. EQ and compression are your friends. Don't be afraid to use them.
As for the composition itself, With the exception of the bridge solo (which you pointed out yourself needs work) everything seems tight and well executed. Just my 2cents.
Keep up the good work.
 
Wow guys, this is some really great and useful feedback. I will definitely look at all this stuff as soon as I get the chance to work on this (I'm in class right now XD)
 
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