bluesy thang

wfaraoni

wfaraoni

ear art's not a science
I put a real quick something together because I wanted to try out a few Ideas. The playing is not together as all tracks are quick tracks to see what Ive learned here lately.

I'm mostly interested in the bass sound as well as the drums and I tried an little something to widen the lead up a bit.
Everything went through an mmp mic modeler preamp and was converted to digital there.

This may be OK but I cant tell cause Im deaf:(

Bluesy Thang

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1644&alid=-1

Thanks
All comments appreciated, Yes, I already know the playing sucks but before I take the time to lay something down right Id like to get some mixing and tone skills which are still lacking.
Bill
 
The solo guitarsound seems to run a little hot at times, it crackles and distorts.

The basssound could use some more definition. Perhaps less lows, more high mids? On the other hand, for blues music a big fat bass sound is good. Perhaps you just need a bit of compression. Perhaps you shouldn't listen to me...:)

Drum sound: definitely not the type of music for fake drums, but it eq-wise it sounds fine. The kick gets kinda lost in the bass sound. Noodle around with eq until you've found a spot where both sounds 'get along'.

One other thing on the programming:

Try to make the snare 'fills' a little more dynamic, if you can (at 1:32 for instance), it might improve....eh.....overall naturalness (yeah I know...that's not a word...LOL :D )

Btw, your playing definitely doesn't suck. :)
 
howdy neighbor,
you used just enough verb that it makes it sound live in a decent room without actually having the verb up to where its so noticeable, thats cool work. I`d love to sit down with you and pick on some of that for a while.
Doing good on the drums, they sound natural, but can tell theyre programmed for now. The bass is nice and round, just a little more compression would smooth it more for you. The tone relationship in that little triad of "kick, bass, snare" is a real booger to square away. I think you just about on the mark with it, maybe take everything below 50 off the bass and a little away from around 100 to 120 and give it to the kick, then around 800 give a little more to the kick, the snare seems to know what to do most he time. From there it should be ready for the wall studs and ceiling joists to go up.. :)
I like how you started gettin all emotional sweaty on the lead guitar after the 2nd verse.
 
Nice chops Bill!
Guitar tone is really good,is it the Johnson?

How about some down and dirty vocals to go along with it!:D

I use a drum machine too,and one thing I learned is,no fills or rolls.
Gives it away every time.

Cool stuff,what's your new setup?

Pete
 
Pedullist, Toki, Muzeman
The lead was an experiment with getting a wider sound by splitting 2 tracks from a pod out of phase and 2 tracks in phase. To my ears It kind of worked. Sounded different than a straight centered recording. Yeah its real sloppy and a little hot at times but as I said this was supposed to be experiment time not something to post but I figured, what the heck, my wife can only say things like, " its just not right" with some handmotions but has no clue how to express it , and of course I am deaf but dont need a hearing aid YET. It feels good to just get back to playing something, anything! As my back has been out since Feb 10. and playing has been real limited:(


Drums, well they are NOT programmed they are a yamaha electronic set but I had them set up in the corner all crowded with equipment and kind of went over and started banging just to see what kind of sound I could get If I input through the Roland preamp to digital. Hit them half standing and half sitting just to see what the sound would be like. Lots of bad hits and out of time but who cared! Its just a recording experiment right. I really should have taken some time here to get a better indication of what they could do and I will pretty soon I hope. The kick and bass do need some separation and Ill try that next.

The bass I tried going through my regular pod, once again , just to see, there is some string buzz but thats out of the guitar not the effect.

I was pretty surpized that it all came out somewhat presentable and tried to tweak some sounds and got frustrated and figured Id ask for help.

Used here---

Yamaha dtxpress kit
roland mmp-2 mic preamp
hagstrom bass
american standard strat
pod 2.3
sb audigy with drivebay
sonar 2

Thanks for the replies
Peace
Bill
 
I thought some of the playing was pretty good.

The guitar was "buzzy" as if it had been clipping during tracking. But maybe that's how it sounded. It was a little abrasive in small spots - but not too bad.

You could probably nudge up the bass a bit and give it more of a defined attack with an EQ boost somewhere in the neighborhood of 800hz (play around of course). Just a thought.

Good job.
 
Triple m: Thanks for the response. This only comes together purely by accident at about 20% of the time the other 80% has lots of issues:eek: I was trying to get some raw sound down before I did an actual recording. I got frustrated with it and figured Id ask for help. :D The guitar issue may be a result of my experiment as stated above 2 tracks out of phase 2 tracks in phase.
I also had problems with the drum SOUND:eek: EEK , it seems a little muffled or something to me.
Theres a few buzzes in the bass but overall that came out pretty acceptable ,I think.

Within the next few weeks I hope to actually do a blues song with vox and all.
Mostly I needed feedback on whether the settings would work together before I spent the time to record something. Playing time is only available at a premium these days.

Thanks for your input
I promise I wont post any junk like this before I post an actual song.
Peace
Bill
 
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Cool guitar sound. Like the style, real Buddy Guy type thing going on.

Guitar is permanently clipping on my system. It sounds like it's clipped on the way in, not the mixdown.
Drums are a little clumsy. Those fast snare rolls don't fit at all.

The general sound of the bass and drums is pretty good. The drum samples sound a bit on the synthy side.
 
Real nice guitar tone aside from the clipping. The rythm guitar seems to wander around a bit. But a fun listen!


Twist
 
I think what's not right is the drum pattern. It's a bit eratic and doesn't lend itself to a solid "pocket" ya know what I mean? You need something more meat & potatos to solidify the rhythm section, then I bet it would come together. Cool chops dude.:cool:
 
nice playing! .....the main thing I noticed was the "buzzing" from clipping (I believe....).....other than that I'd agree with Track Rat's comments on improving the rhythm section....bass sounded fine but the drums need some work
 
mac 2, track rat , twist and doug H

Thanks for listening I appreciate the compliments on the playing but it sounds like crap to me:D The drums and composition seem to be the weakest point here so Ill work on that before I spend time on the actual recording of a blues tune. I figured that blues is technically simple enough that I should be able to put together something half decent with a little effort.;) I dont hear the clipping but then again I dont hear over 6-k at all! :( I will take your word on that and tame it some in the future.

Once again I apologize for posting such a dissconnected piece.
Hopefully The next one will be worthy of your time.

Peace
Bill
 
electronic drums

I did a search and found this tread,I like the sound. I see your using yamaha electronic drums. Whats the best way to hook them up. I try it direct but it sounds poor. I cant hear the bass drum much on yours much either. If you figure it out pls let me know. I also have a similar setup.
 
as said, some great blues guitar playing.........the track distortion needs to be worked on, but might i say again....solid playing
 
oooo watch them meters, man. That lead guitar track is distorting badly.

Actually a lot of this sounds like it was tracked too hot. The drums sound overly processed. Are there more natural settings available to you?

I might suggest you take advantage of the dry recording challenge. Post something with no processing and see what people have to offer for advice. The playing is pretty good...particularly the guitar. I think you need to work on your tracking more. Keep them meters just below 0dB and you won't have to worry about that distortion.

That's all for now...good luck.

Tom
 
Re: electronic drums

band 4 hire said:
I did a search and found this tread,I like the sound. I see your using yamaha electronic drums. Whats the best way to hook them up. I try it direct but it sounds poor. I cant hear the bass drum much on yours much either. If you figure it out pls let me know. I also have a similar setup.
Click to expand...

Keep an eye on the mp3 clinic and when I figure out something or if you hear me post somrthing with good drums then ask again. I'll let you know. Of course you can do the same if you get it down first.

Peace
Bill
 
Powderfinger: Thanks for the compliment:) Im working on the noise.

Sluice: you said--"oooo watch them meters, man. That lead guitar track is distorting badly.
Actually a lot of this sounds like it was tracked too hot. The drums sound overly processed."

I was experimenting with my pod which I'm learning to use and I tried an experiment with taking 2 cloned lead tracks and setting them out of phase:o .along with 2 in phase tracks.. I did this to try and get a wider sound on the lead:( I guess that either that did not work or the output from the pod was dirty. The meters showed at least - 6 db when I recorded it.

I went and removed the 2 out of phase tracks from the mp3.
If anyone listens to this now please let me know if you still hear excessive clipping on the lead.

Also, I will take your advice on the drums over processed sound as well.

Peace
Bill
 
It's tricky fattening up a guitar lead. I tried to do it with the guitar I did for my cover of Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms. Poor results, but it was poorly tracked. I'm not really familiar with POD's because I record an amp. How are you panning your clones? I'll give the tune a listen after someone else's tune is done downloading.
 
Sluice: Im panning the clones 2 at 25% l/r 2 at 50% l/r. It does sound less centered that way to my ears. especially if you have some variations in eq and effects.
I had tried the 2 out of phase experiment at 100% l/r which really widened it but I think was probably the main culprit in the distortion which you and the others heard. though the pod sound was set pretty overdriven.

I think the pod is going to work for me as an easy sound shaping device. There is no way I could mic the amp and get as good a result ,due to the ongoing hearing difficulty I have. Eq work is a nightmare for me because I have to try to match things to sound like others seem to sound in the mix. And thats tough if yor range only goes to 6K.

I sure wish some of you talented senior guys who have got this down could post some individual tracks along with your posts so we can see the tone shaping which makes it all happen and come together in the mix. That would be a great help for those of us who struggle.

Maybe that could be one of the future challenges:D

I didnt post in the dry recording challenge because I havent been able to play for quite a while and I was anxious to use some of the recent tools which I obtained.

Thanks
Bill
 
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