Zombie-esque Psudo-Metalism

jeffmaher

jeffmaher

New member
Something in the works. Slung the guitar low, on 11.

First try at this. Still workin' out the drum thing. I was supposed to have a real drummer tear this up. No show. So I did it myself. Sub par, fer sherrr.

Anyway, the eq is wonky...but it's all raw, except for some limiting on the BD. I cheated a little on tom fills...at which I suck a lot.

Any things you can tell me...like the most egregeous errors, are welcome.

SoundClick artist: Jeff Maher - page with MP3 music downloads
 
What a great listen. You're covering a lot of styles. I'm hearing a mix of Sabbath, Steve Hillage, Gary Moore, Billy Gibbons. I really like all the different tones. Some nice drum fills too.
If I had a slight nit it would be that the snare is a little light. Think how Bonham or Bill Ward or Taylor Hawkins would jam to these guitars. The snare sounds good, could just use some more weight.
 
Interesting. A little unusual how it switched between styles like that.

No complaints on the mix from me.
 
You never cease to amaze me sir :eek:. You managed to capture the studio sound and musical vibe of Sabbath's first album and then spiced it up with some killer, Rush type riffage! Yea, it's all very live sounding and drums a tad distant, but it works for me :D Yea, if you wanna rock my socks off, crank that kick n snare :spank:
Great performances all around man and an interestingly raw audio perspective :D.
 
man that sounded big...you say its a cover??



mix sounds good to me, my ears are still running on 50% but id say the kick could come up a tad, and maybe a little more crack on the snare but really could be this head cold muffling them..sounds like a great jam

solid performance, nice guitar tone, and loads of interest
 
My favorite part is just before the end, Houses of the Holy Zepplinish. As was stated it would sound better with a drummer that hits harder, but not bad at all for a backup drumming try.
 
That's some awesome guitar playing you've got here, Jeff!
Yeah, the only thing I would go for is a better kick and snare sound, but if that's the sound you were going for, that's cool. How did you record the guitars? They sound great!
Mix and arrangement are tops. Way to go!
 
Welp, I used a Peavey Bandit amp, and miked the bottom, enclosed speaker with a Shure PG52 bass drum mic to try to get some chunk and boom in the otherwise whiney transistor amp's usual screechy sound.

There are two guitars used: the 79 Strat with whammy, and a short-scale Ibanez humbucked GAX70 that I got for $40 at a flea market. The opening is the Ibanez. The Strat is on part two. Strat part 3 (that will go CTR, later) , and the end is the Ibanez playing the riff L&R, and the Strat doing the slide solo CTR....with the wah way down in 'w' territory.

I think I can get a better snare sound (a cheep, no-name chrome Marching Band unit) by ticking up the top head sound...and editing-in the occasional good hits I accidently made. At least I'm hitting it in the center more!

I'll try putting a spike on the BD eq for a little slap? All that'll wait until I add the synth parts.

I'm going for Zombie-as-anything sound.

The piece is arranged for a one minute and/or 30 sec commercial for Colonial Roasters "Zombie Killer Coffee". The story is a guy in a rumpled suit with a briefcase stumbling to work in the early morning dark...drooling like a nearly dead zombie....lost [part 1]. The second part is the owner of the areas' franchises driving to work [part 2]. He sees the zombie guy about to cross in front of his car; owner skids to a stop (he apparently likes to be in his own spots), zombie walks into the side of his car and falls down semi-dead.
Owner gets out and gives the pathetic zombie businessman [part 3] a chug of his new Zombie Killer; zombie awakens, straightens his tie....sun rises.....sunglasses on...and trucks off to the office like the POTUS. [part 4]

[the name of the product and the desired result don't grok in my head, totally. Wadda I know??]

That's the rough idea on the story-board.
I gave the producer extra time for editing down to his tastes.

This is my try at landing something with this little startup production group. They're starting to have a bit of success, and they can't afford to be caught 'borrowing' music for the ads...they're sort of getting on-radar. If they grow and prosper, maybe I can go for a ride.

These guys like heavy guitars and synthesized everything...techno garage rock, I guess. I haven't done anything like this since throwing together a recording studio. Didn't know if I could stumble around on a drum kit well enough to make it sound like it was done by someone who kinda knows what they're doing. The guy who I had committed is supposed to be amazing. I gave him the CD, he said he'd be there. Crickets. Maybe the extra beats and turnarounds threw him. Or maybe he's a typical 24 year old. :^)

Thanks for the crits. And the encouragement.
 
The drums are kind of a trainwreck, but it's still pretty cool. Nice weird timing and stuff. I like the darkness of the guitars and bass. Just get the drums better in playing and sound, and you're good to go. Love the rocking ending riff.
 
Jeff, There are a few guys around here that have a studio ready drum setup and are decent players and might want to get in on something like this....just a thought :)
 
There are a few guys around here that have a studio ready drum setup and are decent players and might want to get in on something like this


Yeah...that occurred to me lots of times. But I just decided to keep at it...no pain, no gain, etc.
I's nice to just be able to do stuff... and the only way is to do it, keep doing it, and know it'll get better every time I sweat. And it works. My non-guitar tracks might be weaker, but the pleasure of the pursuit of mastery of other indtruments is the reward. I get a kick out of getting eight bars of cello after 2 hours of shedding. Next time, I'll be able to keep the thing between my knees....and onward. I like the learning.
 
SoundClick artist: Jeff Maher - page with MP3 music downloads

OK. Here's the final. Worked on the snare sound...mostly cutting back on the bottom head mic. Added a little HF to the BD. Added cello, reggae guitar in part two to fill a groove gap. A little editing. A little panning, and four masters to get here. The car test has the bottom end sufficient. Sounds a little light on the mp3 at SC. Any advice for the next one in the psudo-metal genre?

TX, Jeff
 
Yep, some evil stuff going on here :cool:
I agree about the drums, the song(s) would benefit greatly from real ones :cool:
Cheers
Phil
 
Ummmm...

That's a real Ludwig kit with real mics. What it needs is a real drummer playing them, someone un-me!

Only I could make a real kit sound fake!!:D
 
Golly, TX!

Funny, BS: I had to learn the lesson again: don't f*ck with the tracks.

After EQ-ing the bass, BD, slide solo, and snare, I posted the master here earlier today. Then I went back to the first version and discovered how shitty I'd made it. So I went back to the original, un-screwed-with tracks, and got the BD thump back, and the growl ...what there is of it...in the bass.

Then I ditched all the fancy verbs...and just went with a single mastering medium room verb. Simple sounds best, I think. And then there was the missing guitar track in the earlier version. I hate it when that happens. I think this is the final. As good as it gets, with what I got.

Glad you think it's good.
 
Excellent. I like how you mix styles and instruments in a truly convincing way. I have one minor nit: the cello is cool, but to me it doesn't seem to gel as nicely as the other instruments. Could very well be me. Great stuff, enjoyed it a lot.
 
Yeah...not so sure about the cello, either. First recording I've done with it....wanted to break it in. It kinda fits the storyboard idea...the sad part. And nothing's sadder than a cello...sadly played! But, yeah: Maybe something wrong with it....too unusual.
 
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