Things to keep inmind before first recording

[theguitarfreak]

Hi, I am a newbie. I have done a couple of small tracks before but this time im starting on my band's demo for an EP. So what are the things i need to keep in mind before starting off?

Gears i am using are: M-Audio Fast Track Pro
Good enough PC
Sennheiser HD201 headphone for mixing ( I cant afford a studio monitors right now)
POD X3 for amp modelling (dont tell me to get a tube amp, we dont get them here so modelling is the only way)
Superior Drummer 2.0 for the drum track with Metal Foundry Pack. Can anyone provide me with some good samples?
The vocal track will be done in a studio with a condenser for the clean vocals and a dynamic for the growled vocals.

Someone was suggesting me to record the guitar clean and then use revalver later for the tone. Im still confused whether to use POD X3 or Revalver.

The main problem i have faced before is the final volume level of the mix stays too low compared to other songs and i still dont know how to fix that. Is that taken caren of in the mastering stage? Because the track will be mastered by a professional guy. I could have asked him to do the mixing but i prefer to do it myself.

 

[FunkDaddy]

Hi, I am a newbie. I have done a couple of small tracks before but this time im starting on my band's demo for an EP. So what are the things i need to keep in mind before starting off?

Don't get frustrated when it doesn't sound perfect. Since you have no experience recording a band (it sounds like), it likely won't sound great. I'm assuming you're recording it yourself either to save money, learn or both. So just take your time to experiment and have fun with it.

Superior Drummer 2.0 for the drum track with Metal Foundry Pack. Can anyone provide me with some good samples?

Uhm...do you know what Superior Drummer is? You've already got samples mate

Someone was suggesting me to record the guitar clean and then use revalver later for the tone. Im still confused whether to use POD X3 or Revalver.

Well you have the POD, so try it first before you spend money on something else. There's no rules.

The main problem i have faced before is the final volume level of the mix stays too low compared to other songs and i still dont know how to fix that. Is that taken caren of in the mastering stage? Because the track will be mastered by a professional guy. I could have asked him to do the mixing but i prefer to do it myself.

Yes, that is part of the mastering stage. But you should have a decent sound level to begin with, when tracking, aim for around -18 dbfs on your meters. Since I've started following this guideline, I've found my mixes sound much better after being put through a final "mastering" stage because I give myself the headroom to play with the overall sound.

 

[theguitarfreak]

Yes, that is part of the mastering stage. But you should have a decent sound level to begin with, when tracking, aim for around -18 dbfs on your meters. Since I've started following this guideline, I've found my mixes sound much better after being put through a final "mastering" stage because I give myself the headroom to play with the overall sound.

Isnt 18db too low? All the recordings that i have done till now, my guitar through the POD X3 was somewhere between -12db and -6db. Even that sounded very low and i had to increase the volume of the speaker a lot to bring it to normal audible volume compared to other tracks.

 

[FunkDaddy]

Isnt 18db too low? All the recordings that i have done till now, my guitar through the POD X3 was somewhere between -12db and -6db. Even that sounded very low and i had to increase the volume of the speaker a lot to bring it to normal audible volume compared to other tracks.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9548755

Everything on that track was tracked below/averaged around -18db with maybe a few peaks here and there popping slightly over that. I think the final mix has a great volume, if I do say so myself

-18db will sound a bit low through speakers, but that's the point. It can also be WHAT you have recorded, a full-on distorted, gain at 10 electric guitar track will be perceived as louder at -18db than a lightly fingerpicked acoustic. You want to give yourself a good mix at that level so when it goes to the mastering stage or "mastering" stage (I quotate because I "master" by sending my mix through a few effects to sweeten the overall sound, actual mastering is a lot more involved than that) you (or your mastering engineer) have the headroom to play with the volume, increase frequencies, etc.