Introduction: My struggle with home recording

I

IHateHomeRecording

Member
Hello everybody.

If you couldn't tell by my UN, I'm really having it tough with trying to record music at home. Can't even begin to describe my frustration. I'm on the verge of giving up.

I started learning about recording about 2 years ago when I purchased Studio One 5 as part of a bundle with a blue yeti mic I bought. Since then I've gradually been learning more and more about how to use the DAW, plugins, how to record etc...

Right now I'm trying to write and record my first complete song, after which I hope to keep going until I've got a complete album. I'm sticking to strictly VST plugins for this project since I feel mic'ing amps is a whole nother artform in itself to learn.

But here's the problem. It's not that I don't know how to use the DAW or any of the equipment. I'm fairly well-versed on that stuff now. My problem is that I just can't seem to get anything to sound good. Everything I've ever tried to record just sounds like utter crap no matter what I do.

I've tried everything it seems. I've bought every amp sim out there for my guitar you can think of (Amp Room, STL, ML, Neural DSP, Amplitube, etc...). Nothing ever sounds right.

Every time I export something it just sounds like a muddled, flubby, wonky mess. Nothing ever sounds crisp, clear, tight, up front, etc...

The guitar sound is always brittle, muddy, and just terrible.

I'm trying to write as I record. I want program a groove, hit record, start playing, and listen back to myself until something catches my ear, then go from there until I've got a song going.

The genre I'm playing is like hard rock metal similar to Van Halen and other bands of that era. I'm going for a specific tone and sound, which I never seem to get.

Everything I write sounds weird when I play it back, which makes me wonder whether I just don't know how to compose music properly, or if the DAW just makes things sound so bad and weird that nothing comes out like it should.

It's really starting to fatigue me mentally and frustrate the hell out of me. I know I'm a good guitar player. Very good actually. But I cannot for the life of me figure this recording thing out. What seems fairly intuitive to most people I see seems damn near impossible for me.

I'm looking for someone who can show me what I'm doing wrong. I'm soliciting for help. I would love to compensate you for your time, but I'm afraid I can't offer it. It would just have to be out of the goodness of your heart. I'm really just trying to learn how to record a simple, guitar/bass/drums song, mix/master it, and get it to quality worth releasing for the public to hear.

Thanks for any help!
 
We are all here recording music. Youre going down your path. Only you know what you want. It is a struggle sometimes.

Watch some Tech tip video's if you are familiar with the DAWs. Waves, has some excellent tutorials. Plugin Alliance has those guys from Brainworx, their tip vids are extremely useful.
 
Post something, I can't advise on anything whatsoever without hearing something.

If you say your guitars are muddy and brittle at the same time then you haven't got enough mids though.

And miking up a real guitar amp can be much much easier to get a pretty damn good recording than tweaking vst's. Unless you want a specific tone that your amp is not capable of.

Getting frustrated and wanting to give up is expected if you want to get good at this stuff.
Just wait until you start mikin up acoustic guitars, especially with budget mics that boost a crap ton of unleasant 5k. Your laptop speakers are going to love it
 
So in 2ys, you've never got a song recorded? Why?

A few things come up all the time.

Using your guitar, processors and amps - can you get the sound you want? If so - then your problem is the sims? Or, maybe you can't get the sound you think the sims should be able to produce with your guitar. Other questions are to do with your monitoring. You've got big gutsy speakers I assume, so you can't get the wall of sound metal thing big speakers do. I assume you've played Van halen on your monitors to make sure he sounds the same as he does usually on your system.

In fairness - just post a clip of what you are not happy with and we can instantly assess what the problem is. Beware though - we tend to speak as we hear. Nothing ever meant, but we'll tell you what we hear.
 
All we know of OP so far is that he has a guitar, a DAW and a Blu Yeti mic (is that a USB mic? If so UGH!) Has mic so presumably miccing an amp? What? Need a good'en chap.

And of course we NEVER get told how these recordings are listened to FFS! The best AI and mic and amp in the world will sound **** on **** speakers (yes, peeps do use headphones, I am not a fan for 'proper' monitoring)

He(?) mentions "drums" to go with guitar so he will need something with decent bass delivery and that can be expensive.

Then there is the room? Discuss!

Dave.
 
Well, first of all metal/hard rock easily sounds like muddy sh*t if it is not played perfectly on time. Also, there is a huge difference between a good guitar sound while practicing (tons of base and distortion make it sound cool) and a good sound in a band context.
In order to get a good rhythm guitar sound you need to double the tracks (i.e. record twice, pan the tracks left/right) with not so much distortion. Also tune down the low frequencies so it does not overlay with base and drums.
 
I see lots of YouTubes on EVH's sound with AmpliTube 4 & 5 but you may need to buy some extra gear within AmpliTube to achieve the sound. None I've watched tell exactly what's in the chains so it's difficult to nail down the appropriate pieces of gear and/or preset bundles.

Google "amplitube van halen" to watch some.
 
Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with home recording. I can understand how frustrating it can be. I've been recording music for about 10 years, and I still have days where I struggle.

The first thing I would suggest is to take a step back and figure out what it is that you're struggling with specifically. Are you having trouble with the DAW? Recording? Mixing? Mastering? Once you know what your specific struggles are, you can start looking for tutorials or ask for help from other forum members.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that you're able to overcome your struggles soon!
--
Jason Hook. Audio Enthusiast and Software Developer
Remove or Isolate Vocals from any Song 👉 https://www.UnMixIt.com/
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
That is a common problem with the majority of those types of videos.
Click to expand...
I did stumble onto this one which, though it only shows amps and cabs (no stomps or racks), lets us see the settings used on each, and the sounds are not perfect but enough to get you well into the ballpark if your chops are there. I did rummage through my Amp 4 & 5, selecting these pieces and some were not available - so they need to be purchased, along with who-knows-what else. Could get expensive.

 
Can the OP get to this level of shitty?


no guts no glory

14day trial of the SE-100 Suhr
targeting -8 peaks
most of it is in -12--16
I put the Free BX Masterdesk in the mains(I guess thats a compressor?) Not sure..
Its just the SE-100 preset.
 
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Raw as can be. no masterdesk in the mains.



with echo, that should do it...some echo...bammm VH


no.. just...no.
 
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You have to post a sample man. From that we can likely hear what your issues are.

I get your frustration though. It takes time to get to a point where it get easier to get things to sound right.

Post the sample first! :-)
 
rob aylestone said:
So in 2ys, you've never got a song recorded? Why?
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Bruh.

I haven't been working on this constantly, every day for two straight years. I first started tinkering with Studio One 2 years ago, and have gradually been learning it off and on, taking breakings, coming back to it, etc. since that time.

As for the samples. the first one here is probably the best mix I've done thus far. It's the intro to a instrumental I wrote called Spitting Nails. I actually wasn't a big fan of this song, so I haven't released it. It was too "thrash" for me. I'm going for more of a hair metal sound. But I kept this sample just to share to people for things like this:



These videos I made today. I was just tinkering with my Marshall amp trying to match Warren Demartini's Out of the Cellar guitar tone:



 
Here's a list of my gear:

Computer: Custom PC
DAW; Studio One 5 Artist Edition
Microphones: Shure SM57, AKG P120, Yeti (The Yeti is now broken and I never used it for recording anyway)
Guitar Plugins: Amp Room, ML800, Amped Roots, Neural DSP Fortin Cali Suite, STL AMPHUB, Amplitube 4, Guitar Rig 5,
Drum Plugins: EZ Drummer, Perfect Drummer
Bass Plugins: EZ Bass
Interface: Focusrite Solo
Monitors: Mackie CR3 Limited Edition
Headphones: Mackie MC-1000
MiDi Controller(s): AKAI MPD218 MiDi Pad
Guitars: EVH Wolfgang Special, Jackson SLX Soloist, Charvel Sand Dimas, Washurn N2
Guitar Amps: EVH 5150 LBXII, Marshall DSL40CR
 
jimmys69 said:
Now record that guitar part twice and pan each opposite.
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Do you keep the levels of both left and right the same, or do lower the volume on one or the other? Also, does it have to be re-recorded, or can it just be a duplicate of the same track? I've tried re-recording them before when doing pans and they just sound weird.
 
I feel your pain! I want to open a studio someday. It feels like I’m a million miles away from being comfortable asking people to pay for my services. I’d say it’s anything but intuitive. Keep at it!
 
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