My First Band Recording

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DigitalDon

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Ok here it is. My first attempt at recording a band. Name of the band is "No Stigma". Name of the song is "Feel Real". The recording (instruments) was done in my kitchen and the vocals dubbed in later. Flanging on the lead vocal is intentional as that is what the band wanted. I would appreciate comments on technique (mix) and on the song itself.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/9/1292/singles.shtml

I'm not sure, but you might have to register as a "listener" at the nowhereradio.com homepage first.

Thanks,
DD
 
Don,

I am listneing now. The Vocals sound like they were recorded well, but seem to be slightly out ahead of the mix. The drums are too distant. Very little dynamic range between the bass drum and snare. The guitar solo was well recorded and cuts through very cleanly. The vocals drown out the portion of the song where the distorted guitar comes in. Sounds like all of the elements are there. I know that you didn't write the song, so I won't comment on that. I think that if you found away to bring the drums out in the mix, it would be far better. Thanks for the listen.

Fangar
 
The intro guitar and vocal can only be described as murky.... the drums also seem "disconnected" from the rest of the mix in terms of sound....

The vocal needs to come out more and I would lose the chorus-type effect throughout the song - do it only during the intro....

just got to the part before the solo --- now the vocal is just out there! and when the solo comes in the guitar is a lot more quiet than the vocal that just stopped!

You need to get a handle on overall track balances to get them to "fit" together more appropriately.

Good first effort - now take it to the next level!

Bruce
 
Thanks guys for the comments. Those were basically my first impressions too but I listened to the song so much my perception became biased. Thanks for opening my ears back up.

I didn't mention the setup because I didn't want it to influence what you heard. It will explain a lot of the problems with the mix since I'm very limited equipment-wise.

1. Kick drum was mic'd with a borrowed AKG D112 thru the hole (drummer didn't want to take the front off).
2. Remainder of drum kit was mic'd overhead with an Audio Technica AT3035 small condensor (also borrowed). Mic pre/phantom was an ART Tube MP. You can imagine the EQ tweaking I had to do just to hear snare, hihat and cymbals have somewhat of a separation.
3. Electric guitar was mic'd about 3 feet and in the sweet spot of a Crate Blue Voodoo 4x12 with a Shure SM58.
4. Bass was direct in.
5. Vocal was dubbed in latter with a CAD E100 large condensor again using the ART Tube MP for mic pre/phantom.
6. All tracks (except vocal) were recorded on a Tascam 424 MKII then loaded into Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 thru a Yamaha AX44/DS2416 DSP FactoryDSP Factory
 
very nice, warm guitar intro. I'm hearing some sort of phase effect on the vocal but the vocal is general nice.

The level is low and I think that the kick could come up a bit. The distorted guitars could be panned out . Snare sounds a bit dead.

NIce effort.
 
I don't think the problem is that you didn't take the head off the kick I have gotten some good kick sounds through the hole with an AKGD112.
I just think the drummer didn't play the kit loud enough.

You have to really play the kit to get a good sound out of it. Only bad drummers blame engineers for bad drum sounds :)

Keijo
 
Just had a listen since I finally got a little time to.

Dug it, definately, only real complaint would be the drum sound.... Very close to artificial sounding it's so quiet. In the first 10 or so seconds I do hear one good thump, that's about it (almost as if it was a tom that was set just right, and then turned down to match the rest of the set)

Around 1:30 when the lead guitar kicks in, I might add a tiny bit more chorus and a lil echo on the vocals during the heavy section, need more of a hold to carry them notes so a touch of delay.

I think the lead guitar, when kicked into distortion could be a little bit more rich, even a second layered track with a ms delay behind it. Definately need a notch up on the bass guitar, or two.

The ending is very abrupt! Maybe drop a faded note or something there, or is it just the encode?

Overall, if the drums are matched up, the mix will improve 10 fold, the rest will help a bit.

Definately a great song, would love to get my hands on something like this to play with ;)

W.
 
Thanks again everyone for the input. The general consensus seems to be work on the drums. Part of the problem, believe it or not, is the mp3 encoding. The drums carry a lot better in my Cakewalk and on CD. Still, they do need some work. The 4 tracks at a time was really killing me. I'm seriously looking at the Aardvark Q10 because of this.

Actually this song wasn't the best of 4 songs we recorded that weekend. The guys in the band said I could upload it to get comments. I'll see if they'll let me load some more.

Waldo - Whatcha mean "get your hands on something like this to play with?" Got anything particular in mind? :cool:

DD
 
The song itself is right along the lines of something I would be doing.... Was just kinda dreaming and drooling of having enough time to write, practice, perform, and record a tune.....

W.
 
Waldo,
I don't have the talent to write, practice and perform but I enjoy the music more than anything. I guess that's why I record. Then again, I'm a gadget freak. I have this thing about LEDs, buttons, knobs, dials and meters. In my day job I work with a lot of electronic test equipment, lasers and fiber optics. None of that compares with the fun I have recording.

DD:D
 
I actually liked the vocal effect....but not all the way thru either. and I agree with Warlock....beat the sh*t out of the drums if you're just using a single mic and one out of the kick....ya know...john bonhom style!!! ..turn the sticks around....get the drums to resonate. ...at least, this is what this song seems to want[need]. Nice singing too. I'd move the guitar mic in closer...get more of a "thump" going with some more low end on it. Some of the song changes are abrupt too...like when the solo comes in, etc. ...need a little better seque into the different sections of the song. In the kitchen, eh??...near the fridge??....and the beer lasted all the way thru the tracking sessions??:D
 
MixMkr,
I really can't wait to get a mic kit on the drums to give me more control. A kick and overhead mic only just doesn't cut it. I need to learn more about volume envelopes in Cakewalk too. Riding the faders during record automation is awkward. Also, I haven't done any compression (except slightly on vocal). Didn't want to get into that until I had things sitting better in the mix.

DD
 
Well I disagree about the not getting good drum sounds with oh and kick mic. I have heard some KILLER drums recorded with just three mics: a well placed OH pair and a kick mic.
But what you need is a good drummer.

It has taken me a long time, but I have finally understood that if the drums don't sound good to your ears when the drummer is playing, it doesn't matter how many mics you clip on the set it will still suck.

You can get killer drum sounds with one mic from a good kit and a good drummer.

Keijo
 
I'll talk to the drummer about the kick next go round. In the meantime, I'll have more mics/tracks available too.

DD
 
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