Newbie looking for advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jared3000
  • Start date Start date
I was pleasently surprised. Sounds pretty good. First tune is very cool, too. I'll check out the others later.
 
Listened to the first three.

Adrian Belew

????

The Doors.

Those are the influences I'm hearing.

What hurts the most is the drum programming. Fake drums usually don't bother me a lot...but the programmed rythms are really plane-Jane. The rest of the stuff is thick and slow...and inventive drums would be the thing to make the records work. It's a percussionist's field of dreams.

What hurts next most is lack of feature stuff filling-in during vox hollidays. A bit boring. But not too bad: the strength of the music cuts you a lot of slack.

The last thing that hurts is the breakup of the bottom end of the guitars. Low freq 'fuzz'. Definition would be a real boost. Don't know how to make that happen...exactly.

But it's good stuff. If you had more whiney Belew-esque art in the guitars, it wouldn't hurt. Got to keep interesting music happening, I think, to get these records happening. MHO
 
jeffmaher said:
Listened to the first three.

Adrian Belew

????

The Doors.

Those are the influences I'm hearing.

What hurts the most is the drum programming. Fake drums usually don't bother me a lot...but the programmed rythms are really plane-Jane. The rest of the stuff is thick and slow...and inventive drums would be the thing to make the records work. It's a percussionist's field of dreams.

What hurts next most is lack of feature stuff filling-in during vox hollidays. A bit boring. But not too bad: the strength of the music cuts you a lot of slack.

The last thing that hurts is the breakup of the bottom end of the guitars. Low freq 'fuzz'. Definition would be a real boost. Don't know how to make that happen...exactly.

But it's good stuff. If you had more whiney Belew-esque art in the guitars, it wouldn't hurt. Got to keep interesting music happening, I think, to get these records happening. MHO
Click to expand...
Jeff is pretty spot on as usual. What I hear in the guitars is just too much distortion creating a bug fuzz ball. Whatever you're using, pod6, guitar rig, whatever, just turn down the distortion a little. There's good distortion and there's bad distortion. This falls into the bad category. Can you replace the fuzz with some good sounding tube break up?
 
This distortion sound is an all tube(6L6) Laney GH50L half stack mic'd with a shure sm57. I agree with you though, maybe backing off will get me a bit more definition. And as far as the Adrian Belew thing, I never heard of this guy until this post. But hey, I will take it as a compliment. My influences are mostly 90's grunge/hard rock/metal. What about the mix? does it sound ok as far as levels? Panning issues in the vocals or guitars?? I like how it sounds but I always appreciate input because I want to make it better. Thanks for the replies dudes.

Jared
 
That's a good amp. When was the last time you changed the tubes? And what are you playing through it?

I wouldn't worry about panning or anything else until you get those first three things squared away.

Adrian was a guit player w/ Zappa...went on his own and cut a solo album. The vox and some of your guit work and comping remind me of his solo record. But he did some REALLY interesting work on the guitar.

Seriously:
1-drums....do some listening to good records, and make some life-like things happen on the kit.

2-inject some artful guitar features and rythms. Gin up interest [listen to Adrian, maybe. He's unique.]

3-Change your tubes. No reason for Professor Laney's circuits to sound that way. Had one. Killer w/ Celestions: standard, or used to be, in the 4X cabs. Maybe cheep pickups and electronics on a cheep axe??

I think other stuff can wait.

btw...the I used the Laney five or six nights a week for several years. Hard use. If I didn't change the tubes every 6 months, I recall, it sounded like crapp. I'm going back 30 years...but I seem to recall a similar break up in the distortion like yours. That was when I could buy tubes for six bucks. Sixty, now? Yikes! I've been told by someone who knows that a couple years with light use..once a week...and it's changeout time. The demise sneaks up slowly...don't notice the badness...then y' put the new ones in, and it's joy all over.
 
thanks

The Laney amp is almost 20 years old and the tubes are at least 10 yrs old! (I know). My guitar I use most is a G&L Rampage Jerry Cantrell tribute. I think a lot of the problem is my recording method. Like I stated in the first post my initial recordings have been using stock pc soundcard and using adapter jacks to go from 1/4" to 1/8" (no interface). I mic'd the cab with a shure sm57 and ran the mic to either a ibanez tube screamer pedal or an acoustic B200H bass amp with direct out. I used these as a preamp to get the signal loud enough to record into magix music maker 11(old). All this is just trial and error broke- ass recording. All things considered, I think its a pretty decent sound. I have recently ugraded to magix 15 and bought a Lexicon Alpha interface so my guitars should be able to come up to par on my next song. Again thanks for all the replies.

Jared
 
Sounds like AIC. No diss there.

Problem for me was that the vocal mix was in too much of a different space than the instrument tracks. Too loud, and too different. You've got to try for some kind of complimentary ambiance.

The drums sound a little out of time here and there. That may not be a show stopper for you.
 
I dont think anyone else addressed this, but I hear buttloads of compression. I think that's part of why the vocals are taking up too much space. I noticed that when the vocals get loud there is some noticeble pumping going on. Back off the compression you are using on your master and eq the vocals a bit. I would start cutting them around 1500hz to 3000hz a tad. Also, add a little ambient reverb to the master as well. There isn't any breathing room in this mix. (the song I listened to was "Old Habits")
 
Mixing and mastering

After spending some time on this site and hearing what you guys have to say I realize I am going about tis all wrong. I have been using the mastering section (compressor, eq, stereo meter) right from the start of my recording process. I went back and shut all that stuff and mixed it the best I could. I tryed to make it sound good before I ever even touched the master controls and then sparingly added comp and eq. I think I am headed in a better directon now. I did have tons of comp and eq in there before. I am going to put my newer versions of "old habits" and "feels broken" on my soundclick.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top