My modest effort

D

digitcallous

New member
I put together this simple 4-track piece and like some opinions on it. The drums are done with a drum program. The guitars and bass is me done on a cassette 4-track.

Thanks for listening.

Digitcallous

 
I liked the music and the playing is done well. There were a couple of spots where the lead guitar sounded out of tune but it could just be you recording medium.

The actual recording itself (the overall sound) is pretty uh... Bad. The drum machine sounded pretty bad also. But hey, your trying and recording with what you have and that's good. There alot of folks around with a buttload of gear that can't play worth shit (me), So keep it up.

What was your recording chain? ie What ger did you use?

Good Work
Dennis
 
Gotta echo Rusty here. Not a bad tune at all, it sounds like your gear might be holding you back a little my friend.
 
I liked the overall tune, it kept me listening all the way through.

Quality wise, the noise (hiss) was the biggest issue, then the low drum level, all I could really distinguish was a hi-hat and a little bit of snare. I liked the parts you arranged for the guitars but they were obscuring each other early on, the lead probably needs slightly more volume, or maybe a little eq would make it stand out more - it got better later in the song, the lead levels seemed to come up a little.

Don't know what the convention on panning is but I would have liked to hear the rhythm part in both ears with a slight delay on one chanel, and then put the lead line in the middle of the mix.

My comments are pretty subjective, you've got good musical sense, would love to hear more of your stuff.
 
Thanks for the responses

You guys pointed out some of same things I noticed myself. A few things I want to explain and perhaps get some advice:

1. I don't play drums so it is hard for me to figure out how to put together a good drum track with good use of different pieces of a kit. The drums are recorded from the computer soundcard line out to one of the tracks on the 4-track.

2. I'm not having much luck reducing the hiss on this cassette 4-track. I'm thinking about moving to recording on a PC, but I would need a more powerful PC to do that. And then there is the question of software. I also kicked around the idea of a digital 8-track. The new Fostex MR-8 is cheap, but I don't know how good of a job it'll do.

3. The 2 guitar tracks and the bass track were all recorded through a J-Station into the 4-track. I'm not into heavy distorted sounds, so all the instrument tracks were pretty much dry with fairly minimal effects.

I play music solely cause I enjoy it. I have no commercial ambitions with the stuff. I do like to do more recording because I enjoy the process of layering the instruments on to create a whole.

Thanks for listening.

DC
 
hello,

After a quick read of the previous posts, I'll try not to repeat

If you can, try tracking the rhythm git twice and pan those tracks L and R then throw that lead git in the center.

The rest of what I've to say, i.e. hissy backround, clicky drums and such, has been taken care of.

I don't play drums either and I use loops to create D tracks. It is a chore and sometimes I can't get what I want for the life of me. Persistance pays off to a degree but, I've gotten used to wishing for real drums:(

Pretty cool piece. Nice writting.

Peace,

Theron.
 
Cool tune!
Kind of dark and moody.
I dig your playing,nice sounds from the J station.

I'd definitly say,money wise,go for the DAW.
The 4/8 tracks they have out now are dirt cheap.
The beauty of digital is,easy layering.
No degration in sound.

Are you sure you can't use the computer you have though.
Have you actually tried it?
A lot of companies let you demo their software free.

I use a drum machine,longest most frustrating part of recording for me.
I think you need to just mix it up a little more.
Some breaks and stops mabey?
If I can help in any way,just PM me.

I really liked this tune,thanks.
Pete
 
Digitcallous: just wanted to mention that I recorded on a casette 4-track for years & it sounds like you're doing pretty well for what you've got. I'd say a big part of your hiss problem is that you're using your computer's soundcard to connect for the drums, & I'm gonna guess you're just using the card which came with the computer, in which case it's probably doo-doo. Also, if you're connecting the 4-track to the computer again to convert the tune into a file that can be posted here, that's gonna add more noise.

Personally, my opinion is that if you're mainly interested in having fun recording, but would like more quality than a casette 4-track can produce, one of the digital hd recorders is the way to go.

There's a mess of them for under $400 & you don't have to hassel with readying your PC for recording which can be kind of a daunting process if you've never done it. Believe me, once you go digital you'll be kicking yourself for not having done it sooner. Play with some in the store and see for yourself.

good luck,
Chris
 
I'll just echo everyone else. Definitely a lot of potential.
As long as you're using a cassette....cut everything hot That'll help with the hiss. But you should look at the new cheap digitals. I saw this neat little 8 track Fostex at Musician's friend for $300. I'm thinking of getting one for location recordings. And for a couple hundred more.....you can start to get into fairly serious machines.
 
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