Introduction: My struggle with home recording

guitar tone is good, recording is good. It's just really mid range pronounced and is sitting on top of the mix again dominating it. turn it down and if it's still poking out a little scoop somewhere 800-1500 maybe to sit it down. It's a rhythm guitar part, it's not going to sound the same as cherry pie because there is wailing vocals over that guitar and is mixed in properly probably with a scoop to clear space for vocals. It might be double tracked also, this in itself can make it sound much more like a record. The guitar might even be high passed fairly high and has a bass guitar following the riff for a more consistent meaty low end.

it's a nice exercise to download a multitrack of a song with lots of guitars, and then re-play them with your own amp, it's easy to work out the parts because you can just solo them and then you have a target, and then you can mix them in along side professional recorded tracks/drums etc. You'll learn more doing this than an engineer could teach you in a time frame imo. You'll know you are on the right track if your tracks sound in the ballpark to the reference stuff, you should be able to get a professional mix with your recorded guitars, there is nothing inherently wrong with them, a bit piercy that last one, just tame around 2k a touch aswel. using a de-esser around 2k is ultra common. as is using a multiband at 120-240hz to control those chugs, or boom.
 
No no no. It's none of the stuff you guys are talking about. I'm not even talking about the objective quality of the recording necessarily. Its just that it sounds.....off. Like nothing I play sounds like a legitimate riff. It just sounds like some weird sound coming from another dimension. Something that sounds like a riff, but not a riff at the same time. Idk how to explain
 
Sooo.. it's like you need to pick someone like EVH and learn his riffs solid. He would lock himself in a room for days and weeks at a time to work these things out. Takes practice.

Here's some tips to at least pick up his sound :

Van Halen "Brown Sound" tips and setting with Guitarist Jeff Fiorentino

Get VH Brown-Sound tips & settings from the net's best source for the Van Halen guitar style and brown sound, Jeff Fiorentino & the legendary JFRocks.com
jfrocksguitarlessons.com jfrocksguitarlessons.com
 
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spantini said:
Sooo.. it's like you need to pick someone like EVH and learn his riffs solid. He would lock himself in a room for days and weeks at a time to work these things out. Takes practice.

Here's some tips to at least pick up his sound :

Van Halen "Brown Sound" tips and setting with Guitarist Jeff Fiorentino

Get VH Brown-Sound tips & settings from the net's best source for the Van Halen guitar style and brown sound, Jeff Fiorentino & the legendary JFRocks.com
jfrocksguitarlessons.com jfrocksguitarlessons.com
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I know all this. I've been playing for years. I think I'm honestly just losing my touch or going nuts. One of the two.
 
Well, we're all a little nuts around here.. so we can drop that one ;)

If lots of practice isn't getting it done, maybe you have lost your touch. But barring some crippling disorder you should be able to reapply yourself and get back in the groove. I had this problem writing songs in a different genre where for about 3 years every time I picked up a guitar I'd try to strum some chords, then stop and think "what's the use.. it ain't there". Depressing it was. Then one day it just popped right back into me and off I went writing away. Comes and goes.
 
Something is dead fucking wrong with me. I've been in this mental rut for months. Can't shake it. Everything I play sounds dead and lifeless to me. I used to turn on my phone memo recorder and play shit all the time that would perk my ears up. I'd be like "Yeah hehh that's some good shit right there!" Now everything just falls flat, no matter how much stress, pain, and fatigue I put myself through to write/play stuff. I'm on the verge of giving it up.
 
IHateHomeRecording said:
Something is dead fucking wrong with me. I've been in this mental rut for months. Can't shake it. Everything I play sounds dead and lifeless to me. I used to turn on my phone memo recorder and play shit all the time that would perk my ears up. I'd be like "Yeah hehh that's some good shit right there!" Now everything just falls flat, no matter how much stress, pain, and fatigue I put myself through to write/play stuff. I'm on the verge of giving it up.
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Taking a break is not a bad thing. I’ve taken a long guitar break before and started playing a different instrument. In my case, it was the sitar. When I got back to guitar, I was actually worse (go figure), but I had much more fun playing again.
 
I can't I have to press on. I have a timeline when I want to get this out.

It's weird because I will use other good riffs as blueprints and just alter a few things about them to not make it sound like a direct ripoff, but it never comes across the same as the riff I'm ripping off. It always sounds like this bizarre bullshit. Maybe I just suck
 
Sometimes the inspiration won't come. I would suggest going back to basics-if you aren't doing vocals then start with a simple melody without distortion, even hum or play on a different instrument. If you are doing vocals, dig back in old notebooks to find something to start with.

Next is doing the work. Not all songs are created from sheer inspiration or with a specific riff or chord sequence , for example almost all Nashville stuff is pro writers sitting and slogging through writing a hundred songs to get two verses that can be worked into a hit song with or without a co writer.

Once you have a start like a melody, play with different rhythms until you find a couple that work with the feel .

Now start to add chords and by this time you should have a basic outline that you can riff off of and hopefully find some cool hooks. But if not then it's time to go to tried and true arpeggios and/or runs in spots to add some color.

Eventually, you will be inspired again.

One or to oddball things to try-pick up an instrument immediately after you wake up. You are still half in never land and it can be very helpful at times.

Or eat a spicy meal (small one) before bed time and listen to music or even a television show as background while doing something else, before you go to sleep.

Talk a walk with earbuds and listen to random stuff that is different from your normal choices and really listen-what is that sound? why did they choose that reverb? Pick stuff apart instead of listening to the whole.

Good luck and let go of the stress cuz that's a creativity killer.
 
I do some of that stuff already. I will get out, take a walk. I like to export what I just recorded and walk around outside listening to it on my phone. It's a different headspace.

It's weird because last summer I was messing around with this same DAW, same plugins, and same guitars, and was coming up with riffs that sounded cool, and the plugins themselves sounded different. They don't sound the same now. Not sure why they keep changing in how they sound but they do.

I think I've let the frustration get to me, so that even when things sound good I still hate them because I'm just pissed. It has distorted my perception. Idk
 
Why is it that it will sound halfway decent inside the DAW coming through my monitors, but when I export it and play it on my external PC speakers it sounds like this little brittle, thin, hunk of crap?

EDIT: This is the Cherry Pie/Roud&Round type riff I mentioned. Sounds like complete crap.
 

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JamEZmusic said:
A long pre-delay doesn't bring it forward, it just doesn't push it back as much as a short predelay.

Funny enough saw this the other day.
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Right, short predelay pushes back one part to the back, mid-length predelay (12-6 msec) puts it a little less back, and the longer predelay 18-24 msec) pushes it back the least. The effect is the same to our aural perception.
 
I hate this kind of music. Not because it’s f any reason than I simply just don’t like it, BUT, I hear lots of it, and have some friends who only play that music and my honest opinion of that clip is that:
1. it sounds like commercial music of that genre in playing style (i.e player competence), and
2. it’s recorded appropriately, and again should work perfectly well in the mix.

it leaves me with the feeling you are beating yourself up for absolutely nothing. In artistic and technical aspects there’s no issue whatsoever to justify the craziness, panic and anxiety you are feeling. Nothing!

in the old days everyone would shout at you to pull yourself together, get a grip on reality, make some decisions and well, it’s only music, not like heart surgery……… but nowadays we have to be nice and consider people’s feelings, but in the music business, it’s probably best to be blunt. No point in trying to polish a turd was the old expression, but this is the opposite. There is nothing wrong artistically or technically, so it’s your judgement that’s faulty and that means something is wrong we cannot fix on a forum. Forgive me, but a post sequence like above, every three minutes, makes me worry about you. Something is wrong, and it’s not music. Even worse, what you record now doesn’t sound like you think it should have, played on your computer monitor speakers. That’s normal.
can I ask why you are doing this sound honing stage at the point where all you have is the one riff. If you are happy you are recording it OK, then surely this tweaking gets done when you have tracked and assembled the song and you can make judgements with bass and drums and other guitars there. I can’t imagine this depth of anxiety ever at the tracking stage. One time when fix it in the mix is, for once, the best bet.

finally a question. In metal music writing, is it normal to write songs with loads of slightly different two bar or four bar riffs? Does this mean you then have to learn dozens to fill the song up? I thought you worked out the basic riff, the played it for three minutes in the verses or whatever?
 
IHateHomeRecording said:
c. I have no musical talent
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You seem to be experiencing some sort of emotional thing..Life has its hurdles. Know any women? They are pretty good with that shit. Work it out. If no, go grab a beer. Clear your head. Think about the things you got right.

JamEZ made a good point with the doubling.
Rob is on to something.
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
Know any women?
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No, and thank God
rob aylestone said:
I hate this kind of music.
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I usually hate the kind of music that people who say they hate my genre like
rob aylestone said:
it leaves me with the feeling you are beating yourself up for absolutely nothing.
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Probably true tbh. I'm just going for something uber specific that I can't describe or seem to achieve and its pissing me off.
rob aylestone said:
finally a question. In metal music writing, is it normal to write songs with loads of slightly different two bar or four bar riffs? Does this mean you then have to learn dozens to fill the song up? I thought you worked out the basic riff, the played it for three minutes in the verses or whatever?
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Well I think the difference in those two things is what separated the more gimmicky radio bands from the more serious players of the day who played in that style. You've got bands like Great White who would write a whole song off of one riff, then you'd have bands like Extreme, which truly separated themselves from the rest of the pack in terms of guitar and composition.
 
Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling so much with recording music at home. It's definitely a challenging process, but it can be so rewarding when it all comes together.

I started learning about recording myself a few years ago, and I can understand how frustrating it can be when you're just starting out. But don't give up yet - with a bit of practice and perseverance, you'll get the hang of it!

--
Jason Hook. I enjoy remixing old songs using Audacity together with UnMixIt for vocal removal or isolation
 
You guys are just wrong. It has nothing to do with the mix, or EQ, or panning, or double tracking, or any of that stuff. I just flat out can't write music, and I can't record.

A drum beat should sound like a drum beat. A riff should sound like a riff. It should come across normal and decent even before mixing. I'm just a special freak of nature where everything that comes out of me is off-sounding weird crap.

I know people who record at home on much shittier gear than I've got and their recordings always sound fantastic (not people I know very well who I could call up to ask), but some people I've met and am acquainted with. I know these two guys in particular who run a cell phone repair shop. They record in their store on a laptop using free amp sims and drum plugins and their songs and recordings sound like a million bucks. They don't even have monitors or a headset. They use one of those old ipod speakers for their monitor. Their stuff sounds close to professional.

You guys told me that that little clip I posted above which I said sounded god fucking awful sounds normal and fine. NO IT DOESN'T! I've listened to other people's recordings. They never sound anything like the dog diarrhea that I always seem to pop out.
 
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