looking for some reviews

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By_Sundown

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my band needed something to put up on the myspace, so we decided to dabble in recording.

now, I Love it.

It's so much fun, and I'm really getting interested in it.

I've been using audacity software, with a tascam us-144 to try and get something halfway decent, until I can get an actual setup.

so, here's a song we recorded, and I'd just like some pointers, thanks guys!

http://www.4shared.com/file/236297751/c57c93da/Get_buried.html
 
I don't get that kind of music at all so I'll pass to comment but it does sound the same as everything else in its genre, soundwise! If that helps.
 
thanks man, I think that was a compliment, lol.

if anyone who listens to metal has opinion, good or bad, please share, and help us grow!
 
Everything is way too distorted/clipping. Lower your recording levels or if your interface has a "pad" option use it.

And no, it definitely doesn't sound like "everything else in the genre".
 
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alright, I can try to do that.

uhmm, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

how do you guys feel it is musically?

pick it apart, what needs work, what is working?

any help is appreciated.
 
Well, the quality is definitely pretty far below the audio quality standard in this genre, unless you are talking about bands that don't get beyond making a MySpace. This is your first stab at this, so that isn't an insult just a fact. Honestly, the quality is too poor for me to tell you much about what I think about the song/musicianship, but you shouldn't come here for that sort of feedback. Honestly if you are happy with the music your band makes then that your goal should be on capturing that sound in your recordings properly.
 
alright, i gotcha.

i really have absolutely no experience with this sort of thing whatsoever.

im really just trying to see what I can learn to do with the budget I have.

audacity, shure sm58, and a tascam us-144
 
Ok, so what was the tracking process? You list a single microphone, was everything done track by track with that mic?
 
The music is played well, for sure. The one thing that really stands out is the background noise. I use CoolEdit to remove line noise and Sony Acid 7.0 for final mixes, so I'm not sure what Audacity offers there, but you should really look into that. It sounds like it's being played on a very old record. Which might not be a bad effect necessarily, but for your kind of music, you don't want it.

At least you're having fun with this, and that's all that matters. Well, except it sounds like one of you got possessed by a demon and it started screaming into your microphone. That's a shame.
 
It sounds pretty good, but too much clipping. Make sure when you're recording nothing goes into the red and also bring all the tracks down in volume. All that crackling and static is one of the main problems. You'll be able to bring the over all sound level up after it's mixed anyway with some "mastering".

Everything else is preference. There are a 1000 different ways you could mix any song once you capture the audio within reasonable quality.

Maybe try different mics for the vocals as well. It sounds like the vocalist is cupping his hands around a dynamic microphone amd like he pulls away from the mic for the high screams.

Gotta Dead Horse feel to it at the end.
 
First and foremost, the clipping that you have is really bad, it makes the song difficult to listen. Solving this issue is your number one priority I think. Secondly, you need to find a way how to mic up the guitar amp better - during the faster passages, it's really hard to make out the guitar rhythm at all; I'm sure you'll find plenty of material on how to do this on this board alone. And finally, I probably don't need to tell you, but you need to work on the vocals - being able to do it half right just draws unwanted attention to the vocal.

By_Sundown said:
how do you guys feel it is musically?

pick it apart, what needs work, what is working?
Click to expand...
I think the attempt at humour at the end is really out of place. I know metal bands usually get criticised because they take themselves too seriously, but I've always hated bands that do things like that, even though I may have liked the music (Type O Negative totally ruined "October Rust" for me with their shit for example, and it's a great record), especially since it usually comes from fear of criticism and rejection - it's easy to say you were just screwing around anyway. The only time it worked that I can remember is on Garage Days Re-Revisited, and knowing exactly how far you can take things is what propelled Metallica to the status they had in the early-to-mid 90s.

Second, I've always been into progressive song structures, but they have to make sense, and yours doesn't (and it isn't even all that progressive). In two minutes and a half, you make way too many changes and play too many parts. I think that repeating everything in series of four is a good rule of thumb that you should break only when you really know what you're doing.

On the upside, I think you show a lot of promise - the music is properly brutal and energetic, you can play your instruments and even this song could be made to work with not too many changes, so I look forward to hearing more from you.
 
Pretty much what everyone else has said:
Turn the levels down when tracking so you don't get so much clipping.
Your noise floor is pretty high. You might be able to deal with that by turning down your interface and (while still avoiding clipping) turning up your amps.
The laughing and talking at the end makes you sound a little like a bunch of teens who aren't trying too hard. If I were a venue, and you gave me this demo, I probably wouldn't be so enthusiastic about that.
 
Get buried...

By_Sundown said:
so, here's a song we recorded, and I'd just like some pointers, thanks guys!

http://www.4shared.com/file/236297751/c57c93da/Get_buried.html
Click to expand...

Sounds like old SUFFOCATION / DEICIDE / W / a touch of newer CANNIBAL CORPSE.
Drummer is good, but needs tightening up a bit,..a little loose with the guitars.:spank:
Just as everyone else said,..lower your levels. Too much clipping.
Also, ..Try riding out on "ONE GOOD RIFF" for a bit, and then change,..I understand where you guys are tryin' to go with this,...But, if you practice riding out on that one good riff for a bit,..when the time change comes,.it'll make it that much more powerful.Try listening to some "OLD" CARCASS,...check out their structures in their songs,..kinda like what you guys are doing,..but they add more measures to the "riffs".
NOT more riffs to the measures.
All in all, a good attempt at a first recording,..I've heard alot worse.
Keep on, keepin on and you'll get where you want to be.:D
 
all right, thanks guys.

I dont really understand the attempt at humor thing, because I was being completely serious, I wanted it picked apart, but I also wanted to know what was working well.

thanks for the few jabs at "a demon" but that's opinion, so I accept it.

the laughing and stuff at the end was more for the few friends we sent it to, that know us personally, I didn't even think to take it out for this forum, it's just kind of a local scene thing, if that makes sense.

any tips on how to do the "chant" at the end better?

the reason its so clippy is because we did turn it up loud, because we didn't know that you could turn it all up when you master it, so thank you for the info.

the vocals were cupped for lows, but not around the mic, it was in front, screaming towards it, so in hindsight it makes sense that the highs would come out to soft.

We'll try to do another session, and see where it gets us, again guys, thanks for the feedback, and hopefully the next run is better!
 
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