Recording Demo in July...help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Iggs
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Ah I know what he means, but I am using the do each instrument on it's own method because obviously with a soundblaster live I can't do live recording and then edit individual tracks. It takes a few takes to get it right using my method but it's ok.

Any comments on the recording?
 
First thing I notice... everything is thick and muddy.... heavy distortion (not the good kind) on cymbal splashes.

Vocals start off completely buried in the mix... when they pick up they are completely distorted (again, not in a good way!)

There is no punch or definition to any of the individual tracks, they are all kind of smushed and muddied together........

The entire mix starts breaking up into distortion towards the end... you pushed all the levels way too hard, giving you that nasty digital distortion.

This really needs a remix - maybe even retracking if the distortion is actually part of the track...............

Keep at it, and stick around on this forum picking up on people's advice - you'll get better at it!

Bruce
 
That distortion is mostly because of not having the tracks loud enough...yeah i've got a lot to learn still, thanks for the comments though. Might just wait and go to a real studio with someone who knows what they're doing.
 
Your recordings are a good start but once you start to really trouble shoot your tracks and mixes it just opens a huge pandora's box of technical pitfalls and equipment needs. Thats what takes a lot of time and money.

The main reason I recomended a real studio wasnt to insult your ability. It's more a matter of economy. It takes about 3-5 grand minimum in recording equipment to get results that would be considered professional. Some people can pull it off for less but it is not easy.

So if you want to wait a year or two and spend the money on equipment than home recording is a cool way to go. If you want a polished demo sooner than that you can do it for less money and time in a studio.

Only do home recording if you like to do engineering. If you just want a cool demo of your band go to a studio. Or better yet pay one of us ;)
 
I've been recording the same way .....(mixer out to Soundblaster in) it wont be a pro quality demo recording but it will record.
you can record 2 tracks at a time if you pan one left and one right
then once you got the recording you can copy the tracks in your editing software to make them stereo. Works pretty well for recording Jam tracks.....as far as getting a quality demo out of it........good luck.
 
So what it comes down to:

With your soundblaster you can record 2 mics at the time. This is ok for doing a demo the quick and dirty way: mic all instruments, to your mixer, make a mix and record the mix. Listen back, do some adjustements, and try again.

Or you can go the slow and dirty way (dirty actually is the part of having that soundblaster in yer setup :D): record everything seperately... Drums are the problem here. For drums, I like to use a minimum of 4 mics. (2 overheads, one snare, one kick) So, for drums you'd still have to go the quick'n dirty way, make a mix, record, see if you need to change something, try again.

With a multitrack soundcard: well, you just mic them seperately and record them, mixing can be done afterwards in a controlled environment...

What 'they' haven't told you yet: for each of this method you need monitors too. Not good stereospeakers. Stereospeakers are meant to sound good. Monitors are meant to sound accurate.

Then there's good mics. That's gonna cost ya a bunch. What do you have at the moment? And what mixer, can you use the pre's in there?

And you need a whole bunch of experience. Especially if you want the quick'n dirty methods to give good results. EQ is hard as ever. Finding the good reverb is harder.
I've been recording for over a year, mixing live for 3 years, and the EQ part still troubles me, and hardly ever found the right reverb.
These guys aren't being mean, they are offering good advice. And they can because they are either (semi)pro's that know how long it takes to get it all together, or amateurs that are still amazed by how long it takes before they get it all together.

Nice to meet ya. I'm the smart guy around here. :cool:
 
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