Where is My Mind (Pixies Cover)

[XtenanetX]

So, first thing first, I'm literally awful. I pretty much have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to mixing, and I'm also not the best player.
Decided to try and find a moderately simple to play track, and I recorded all the parts and "mixed" this in a little over 4 hours.
I want feedback because I'm not even sure what kind of things I need to do to a track to make it sound decent, so feel free to rip this apart if you have the patience to do so.

Also, no vocals cause I can't sing.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/c...RhCaGc91d9VhHXMtwEWJCKM3G3RNt1LccUlMgI5J/file

(not sure if that's how to dropbox, so here's soundcloud)
https://soundcloud.com/xtenanetx/where-is-my-mind-pixies-cover

 

[XtenanetX]

Welp, the file name was a joke and I thought I changed it, guess not

 

[Robus]

I'm getting a link to a screen asking me to register for Dropbox. Not going there. Some don't mind downloading files from unknown sources, but others will not. You will get the most responses if you post a link to a streaming site like Soundcloud.

 

[Greg_L]

I'm getting a link to a screen asking me to register for Dropbox. Not going there. Some don't mind downloading files from unknown sources, but others will not. You will get the most responses if you post a link to a streaming site like Soundcloud.

Do you even read posts before responding? He's got three different links up. One of them dropbox, which is not an "unknown source", one is soundcloud, and one is hosted here. Jeez dude.

 

[Robus]

No, he actually edited his post after I replied. What's your trouble Greg? If you must follow me around the forum dropping your silly facepalm icon after every post I make on any thread, have at it. But how about keeping it off people's track posts on the Clinic?

 

[Robus]

Not terrible for starters. The guitar on the left is not entirely in time, especially that lead part. To me the guitar could come down a bit. Give the vocal a go.

 

[Greg_L]

No, he actually edited his post after I replied. What's your trouble Greg? If you must follow me around the forum dropping your silly facepalm icon after every post I make on any thread, have at it. But how about keeping it off people's track posts on the Clinic?

No trouble at all. I was just correcting you. You didn't even bother listening....at first. Follow your own "advice" and keep it to the music. Thanks.

 

[XtenanetX]

Not terrible for starters. The guitar on the left is not entirely in time, especially that lead part. To me the guitar could come down a bit. Give the vocal a go.

Might be out of time mostly because there's actually only one guitar track that has reverb on it xD
I should probably record a second though.

 

[Robus]

No, it's not that. You have a tendency to rush when you're coming up on a change. There are a few instances in the rhythm guitar, and a very noticeable one on that lead line that begins around 2:00. It's a common problem and easy to correct once you become aware of it. Otherwise your time feel is fine.

 

[XtenanetX]

yeah that solo worked out pretty bad. Out of curiosity, since you'd know more than me, there's something that I'm not completely sure how to fix. Mostly on the lead, you can hear a "crunching" from when two notes are playing together (mostly the... 1st and minor 3rd?). I mean, turning down the gain reduces that, but I really don't want a completely clean sound. I honestly just don't know how to match a tone similar to the one in the original track

 

[Greg_L]

I wanted to listen to this because I love The Pixies. Um, you got the jist of it pretty much, but it's a long way from home. It sounds like you clipped the input on some of those guitar tracks. It's harsh. First thing you'd need to do is redo that guitar part and don't come in so hot.

 

[Robus]

Sounds to me like you're clipping. Notice how the wave form maxes out at just that point? Turn down your input level when you record. No need to run your signals hot in the digital world. What gear are you using?

 

[XtenanetX]

I wanted to listen to this because I love The Pixies. Um, you got the jist of it pretty much, but it's a long way from home. It sounds like you clipped the input on some of those guitar tracks. It's harsh. First thing you'd need to do is redo that guitar part and don't come in so hot.

A big issue I gotta deal with is the fact that my interface picks up a crap ton of noise (mostly from 1k up past 10k), so everything I record through it has to be lowpassed like crazy and then I hope distortion makes up for the missing high end. But my second form of dealing with this is that I've turned the volume of the interface in Windows down like crazy, and then I had the input gain knob on the interface itself turned up as much as possible without it clipping (or so I thought. It has a little light on the front that's supposed to say when it's clopping, but I should probably turn it down more).

 

[XtenanetX]

Sounds to me like you're clipping. Notice how the wave form maxes out at just that point? Turn down your input level when you record. No need to run your signals hot in the digital world. What gear are you using?

Forgot to answer the gear question. I got a Behringer U-Phoria UM2 interface and I'm using FL Studio 12 on Windows 10. Pretty much it, other than the guitar and bass (and I'm also having issues with high end on the bass for some reason but not a big deal).

 

[Robus]

A big issue I gotta deal with is the fact that my interface picks up a crap ton of noise (mostly from 1k up past 10k), so everything I record through it has to be lowpassed like crazy and then I hope distortion makes up for the missing high end. But my second form of dealing with this is that I've turned the volume of the interface in Windows down like crazy, and then I had the input gain knob on the interface itself turned up as much as possible without it clipping (or so I thought. It has a little light on the front that's supposed to say when it's clopping, but I should probably turn it down more).

Something is wrong with this picture. Troubleshoot your noise first. I'm guessing it's coming from your computer, monitor, speakers, etc. Are you recording while sitting right in front of your monitor? It'll cause that. Low passing to kill digital chatter isn't going to get you to the tone you want. Once you've got your noise issue sorted, set your input gain to something reasonable so that you are well clear of any clipping.

Are you micing an amp or using a sim? If you are micing, find a way to get the amp out of the room where you are monitoring. Just setting up in the hallway outside your studio room and passing the cables under the door will let you hear better what is being recorded.

EDIT: Cross post. I haven't used a Behringer but I can't imagine you shouldn't be able to get a clean input signal if everything is set up properly. How are you recording guitar and bass?

 

[Bubba po]

Not too bad. How did you record the guitar? It needs to be through a crunchy amp or a decent sim. Drums are a little crispy. Bass sounds quite good.

I assume you're not limited to the tracks you've used? Firstly I'd make the rhythm guitar part cleaner and play the entire song. Then I'd dirty up the guitar with a nice crunch and record those parts. Then I'd dirty it up a little more, record those verse parts again and pan them opposite. Finally, I'd REALLY dirty up the guitar and play just the solo itself.



Not so terrible after all!

 

[XtenanetX]

Something is wrong with this picture. Troubleshoot your noise first. I'm guessing it's coming from your computer, monitor, speakers, etc. Are you recording while sitting right in front of your monitor? It'll cause that. Low passing to kill digital chatter isn't going to get you to the tone you want. Once you've got your noise issue sorted, set your input gain to something reasonable so that you are well clear of any clipping.

Are you micing an amp or using a sim? If you are micing, find a way to get the amp out of the room where you are monitoring. Just setting up in the hallway outside your studio room and passing the cables under the door will let you hear better what is being recorded.

EDIT: Cross post. I haven't used a Behringer but I can't imagine you shouldn't be able to get a clean input signal if everything is set up properly. How are you recording guitar and bass?

So pretty much, I just got the interface which is a simple USB plug and play type situation, and I just plug straight into that from the instrument (super cheap set up, don't really have a quiet enough work space to mic an amp). So I mean, position shouldn't really matter right? I dunno, I'm really noobish at this kinda stuff, and this is a problem nobody has been able to solve in quite a while of searching for answers. First I thought it was a ground loop, so I got a power-line conditioner which didn't help. I've tried playing with many settings and stuff to no avail. At this point I'm assuming its just an issue from the USB.

 

[XtenanetX]

Not too bad. How did you record the guitar? It needs to be through a crunchy amp or a decent sim. Drums are a little crispy. Bass sounds good.

Not so terrible after all!

Thanks for the kind words. You can look to my last post for a simple explaination of how I'm recording. As far as what I'm using for a sim (at least I'm assuming this is what a sim is), the lead is using a VST called le456 by Poulin? (free thing, but I've heard good things from moderately educated people about his amps), and then its EQed and has a reeverb on it.

As far as "crispy" on the drums, I'm assuming you mean a bit of high end? I actually thought the same thing it was just an edit I've been forgetting to make. My drums are actually a free VST as well, surprised I hadn't gotten any criticism on them haha

 

[Robus]

So pretty much, I just got the interface which is a simple USB plug and play type situation, and I just plug straight into that from the instrument (super cheap set up, don't really have a quiet enough work space to mic an amp). So I mean, position shouldn't really matter right? I dunno, I'm really noobish at this kinda stuff, and this is a problem nobody has been able to solve in quite a while of searching for answers. First I thought it was a ground loop, so I got a power-line conditioner which didn't help. I've tried playing with many settings and stuff to no avail. At this point I'm assuming its just an issue from the USB.

So you're plugging straight in? Not using an amp sim at least? If you're going to go the DI route, you should investigate some sims. I don't use them myself, but judging from what I hear on the forum you can get good results with care.

How about post a clip of the noise you are hearing. My guess is that your guitar is picking up interference from your computer or monitor. Does it help when you back away?

 

[XtenanetX]

So you're plugging straight in? Not using an amp sim at least? If you're going to go the DI route, you should investigate some sims. I don't use them myself, but judging from what I hear on the forum you can get good results with care.

How about post a clip of the noise you are hearing. My guess is that your guitar is picking up interference from your computer or monitor. Does it help when you back away?

I'm assuming the issue is just with the interface because it makes the noise even if an instrument isn't plugged into it. Here's a sample though (with some amplification): https://soundcloud.com/xtenanetx/noise

During the recording I'm moving the gain knob, and the noise only really gets louder at the last... 1/8th of a turn? Also, when that pop happens, that's from me turning off the +48V switch on the back, just to see if there was a difference.