Recording Power Metal

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metal_god

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Okay I need to record:

2 Guitars/Overdubs
- Bass
- Drums

I will add keyboards with Reason and possibly enhance the drums with Reason.

Now recording at home you get different quality recordings well sounds. For example my guitars will sound rubbish and the Reason keyboard sounds will sound perfect. As well as extra drum hits will sound great compared to a half decent sound recording.

What is the best way to blend these sounds or make the sounds equal to eachother in quality. Mixes sound completely rediculous, as if half the kit was recorded in a studio and the rest was recorded in a toilet or something.
 
metal_god said:
Okay I need to record:

2 Guitars/Overdubs
- Bass
- Drums

I will add keyboards with Reason and possibly enhance the drums with Reason.

Now recording at home you get different quality recordings well sounds. For example my guitars will sound rubbish and the Reason keyboard sounds will sound perfect. As well as extra drum hits will sound great compared to a half decent sound recording.

What is the best way to blend these sounds or make the sounds equal to eachother in quality. Mixes sound completely rediculous, as if half the kit was recorded in a studio and the rest was recorded in a toilet or something.
Click to expand...

Well...it seems the obvious answer would be to avoid having the one half sound like it's in a toilet. I would concentrate on that instead of trying to blend the two together. ;)

What sort of an answer are you really expecting here?
 
metalhead28 said:
Well...it seems the obvious answer would be to avoid having the one half sound like it's in a toilet. I would concentrate on that instead of trying to blend the two together. ;)

What sort of an answer are you really expecting here?
Click to expand...

well with limited equipment and money theres no way of correcting the other half. I was excpecting more techniques than oh go ansd buy this thousand pound mixer and all this gear. I want the best out of a cheap setup. I don't want a sound that will sound good but put me in debt.

here take a listen www.myspace.com/metalguardians

i need to improove the sound
 
yeah too many people here just say to buy some expensive gear instead of giving advice to a novice on how to get a better sound out of what they already have. I'm sure this person hasn't reached the limits of his gear seeing how he is new. I'm in the same boat as you man. Wish I could give you some advice on getting a better sound. I would suggest reading a few recording books.
 
what did you use to make that recording? It is very low fi sounding. Does the site lower the sound quality a lot? If you people to help you as much as they can, I suggest telling everyone what gear you are using.
 
metal_god said:
well with limited equipment and money theres no way of correcting the other half. I was excpecting more techniques than oh go ansd buy this thousand pound mixer and all this gear. I want the best out of a cheap setup. I don't want a sound that will sound good but put me in debt.

here take a listen www.myspace.com/metalguardians

i need to improove the sound
Click to expand...

Well having no idea what gear you're working with, and what sort of budget you have in mind...there is not alot that anyone can tell you. There is a certain amount of gear that is sort of a minimum for achieving anything that sounds remotely good. Judging by the songs on the link you provided...I have no idea what you're working with but it seems pretty minimal. Let's start this off with a proper listing of your equipment and perhaps a budget you have in mind for improving it.

Good recording techniques can make up for lacking gear to a certain extent....but it can't make up for having absolutely the wrong gear or no gear for the job.
 
metalhead28 said:
Good recording techniques can make up for lacking gear to a certain extent....but it can't make up for having absolutely the wrong gear or no gear for the job.
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that I definately agree with. If this guy is recording his band with a boombox set on record in the middle of the room, he is just not going to get a good recording no matter what techniques he uses.
 
metal_god said:
Okay I need to record:

2 Guitars/Overdubs
- Bass
- Drums

I will add keyboards with Reason and possibly enhance the drums with Reason.

Now recording at home you get different quality recordings well sounds. For example my guitars will sound rubbish and the Reason keyboard sounds will sound perfect. As well as extra drum hits will sound great compared to a half decent sound recording.

What is the best way to blend these sounds or make the sounds equal to eachother in quality. Mixes sound completely rediculous, as if half the kit was recorded in a studio and the rest was recorded in a toilet or something.
Click to expand...

I just checked out your MySpace site. Cool music, fellow metal head. ;)

I do see what you mean by the challenge of audio quality. What exactly is your budget? You MIGHT be able to multi-track using a 4-piece drum mic set and using direct input for your guitars/bass.

Cheers!

Lance Zielinski
Fatalis - vox/mgmt
Waking Hour - vox
 
my recording setup is just my guitar/bass running directly into line in on the sound card. (which isnt amazing btw). Drums are professional samples therefore i don't have much gear unless your think guitarwise I use Jackson cheap - mid range. All synths etc are just made up in Reason save one track which is just GM pulled out of Guitar Pro.

And whoever it was saying : that I definately agree with. If this guy is recording his band with a boombox set on record in the middle of the room, he is just not going to get a good recording no matter what techniques he uses.


I would disagree with I know you can get a good sound out of anything having recorded with a similar setup previously when its all you have you stretch it. I'm just after other people opinions here and theres no budget as im broke if i had money id go to a proper studio.
 
metal_god said:
my recording setup is just my guitar/bass running directly into line in on the sound card. (which isnt amazing btw). Drums are professional samples therefore i don't have much gear unless your think guitarwise I use Jackson cheap - mid range. All synths etc are just made up in Reason save one track which is just GM pulled out of Guitar Pro.

And whoever it was saying : that I definately agree with. If this guy is recording his band with a boombox set on record in the middle of the room, he is just not going to get a good recording no matter what techniques he uses.

I would disagree with I know you can get a good sound out of anything having recorded with a similar setup previously when its all you have you stretch it. I'm just after other people opinions here and theres no budget as im broke if i had money id go to a proper studio.
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So somebody said that you can't really get a good sound with a boombox recording and you disagree with them? :rolleyes:

If you ask me, you definitely fall into the category of "having too little gear to realistically get by". However, If you do in fact know how to get a good sound with a boombox in the middle of the room, you obviously know more than I do so I'll just leave you to it. :D

By the way...nobody is being snobbish when they recommend gear to you. There is simply a minimum amount of gear that is necessary for decent results. I get the idea you don't want any of that advice, so as I said....I'll leave it at that.
 
Here is what you can do. Play the good sounding midi stuff through a boombox and then record that audio with a mic. Mix that with your guitars and then the whole thing should sound like it was recorded with the same equipment.

Things you must have to get a 1985ish sounding 4 track demo in the PC age.
1) A windows XP computer with a 16-bit 44.1khz capable sound card.
2) A 50 dollar microphone. Or steal one if you can't afford it.
3) Multitracking program (why not use cubase) to interface with your stolen copy of Reason.
4) Magic
 
SuicideNote said:
Here is what you can do. Play the good sounding midi stuff through a boombox and then record that audio with a mic. Mix that with your guitars and then the whole thing should sound like it was recorded with the same equipment.

Things you must have to get a 1985ish sounding 4 track demo in the PC age.
1) A windows XP computer with a 16-bit 44.1khz capable sound card.
2) A 50 dollar microphone. Or steal one if you can't afford it.
3) Multitracking program (why not use cubase) to interface with your stolen copy of Reason.
4) Magic
Click to expand...

i was after the other way around really, i'm thinking just DI my guitar/bass though id need to spend but the project im working on in college i got great reasults micing up the guitar amp which was hooked up to a firewire interface so maybe a cheap usb interface would be good.

Everyone thinks you need the best equipment and you don't I know people who had such limited money they had to program there own simple plugins (due to lack of internet acess to download free ones). Obbiously theres a limit by equipment but its not to say you cant get a decent recording out of a shit setup afterall you can make a better recording with a shit setup if you know what your doing than a decent one if you havent got a clue!
 
metal_god said:
i was after the other way around really, i'm thinking just DI my guitar/bass though id need to spend but the project im working on in college i got great reasults micing up the guitar amp which was hooked up to a firewire interface so maybe a cheap usb interface would be good.

Everyone thinks you need the best equipment and you don't I know people who had such limited money they had to program there own simple plugins (due to lack of internet acess to download free ones). Obbiously theres a limit by equipment but its not to say you cant get a decent recording out of a shit setup afterall you can make a better recording with a shit setup if you know what your doing than a decent one if you havent got a clue!
Click to expand...

Who here said anything about needing "the best"? You're getting too defensive too fast. You don't need to spend 2,000 dollars but having nothing but a computer and an onboard soundcard does not even constitute a "shit" set up. Even for a shit set up there is some sort of investment involved. Until now you seemed contrary to even considering that.

Get yourself an "entry level" USB interface with a mic pre/DI built in. Download some free plug-ins...you obviously have internet access...and there are some good ones out there. Get yourself a cheap mic for vocals and there you go.
 
metal_god said:
I would disagree with I know you can get a good sound out of anything having recorded with a similar setup previously when its all you have you stretch it. I'm just after other people opinions here and theres no budget as im broke if i had money id go to a proper studio.
Click to expand...

metal god, (are you really that good?)

The answer you are looking for is.....CONSISTENCY!! And you CAN get a decent sound out of "crap" gear. All you have to do take the time to find the voice that is inherent in the gear you have. Forcing a certain sound out of cheap gear will only make things worse. Slow down, focus on the details, work on your own playing, dial in a good guitar sound and STICK WITH THAT SETTING, muti track each part, spend alot of time on your drums, and if you use effects on the drum samples, use the same effects at the same level for the whole song. Try to be consistent from beginning to end.
 
yeah I was hoping someone else had ideas but i'll just keep at it myself i'm not doing bad so far, i managed to get a good guitar sound through the line in by using a gate to reduce all the sound card noises.
 
ericlingus said:
that I definately agree with. If this guy is recording his band with a boombox set on record in the middle of the room, he is just not going to get a good recording no matter what techniques he uses.
Click to expand...

Man that is below the belt. Don't just call it a boombox. Call it a tape cassette recorder or all in one studio. Somebody told me the wall was recorded with a cassette recorder (the kind you seen the teacher use in grade school). I'm all tape buddy.
 
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