Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

You Guide My Way - Practice cut on my profile now.

Made some changes in my recording parameters, and would appreciated some input from "fresh Ears".

A few things I have noted already.

Snare is still too hot.
Kick needs to be hotter.
Bass guitar needs to be more up front in the mix.
Distortion / Lead guitar, a little more up front ?

Overall I feel this is a little better recording production than I have done to date.

Opinions ??

I don't even hear a bass in there... r u sure it's there? ok I hear it now... barely.

like the harmonized part.

yeah drums are too loud...

like the gtr sound ala 'revolution'.

afa vocal... I suggest you do several overdubs of the lead and then go back and fade in fade out ones where you don't end up in unison (it happens).
this could make up the volume you need and strengthen the vocal overall.

nice work.

Thanks for the listen and critique.

We need a session of doing nothing but setting and mapping all volumes and levels.
Individual instruments and amps / pedals, PA Gain of each channel, EQ's, Etc.
Would be a big help to have a baseline of setting to work from.
The learning curve is a circle.

I'm not a technical wizzard, but all the professional studio work I've ever done was basically having the band play live, put each amp and drums in a completely isolated separate room. Each band member had headphones on so they could hear everybody, and the vocals were a scratch track (not recorded) to keep the timing of the band together. What I'm getting at is you need to have each part on its own separate track and be able to adjust each track to meet your criterion for the song. We've always gone back and dubbed in lead vocals and instrument leads. Occasionally the first take is good enough that certain parts don't have to be dubbed back in. What was nuts about our last studio experience was my voice was projecting (the scratch track) so loud it was bleeding onto the drum track. The studio tech kept moving me further and further away from the drums. He joked I'd have to record from a different zip code.
It's really beneficial to record at a pro studio. I know money is tight these days, but if your band could possibly swing a ten hour block of time at a pro studio it might save you a lot of aggravation and produce superior results.

I got a better chance to listen. I agree there's little or no bass. Lead vocals need to be brought way UP in the mix. Other than that it's good and clean. The song is excellent by the way. A really good professionally recorded version of any of your excellent tunes would do wonders for you.

Thanks for your input Bob.
My intent on my home recording has evolved as I realise we MUST go to a professional to get something truly presentable.
I continue to tweek my live recordings for basiclly three reasons.

1: These recordings are off the stereo output on our PA system, and therefore represent a baseline of what will be presented to the public via our mains. I know each venue will require tweeking and EQ, but I feel a well mapped baseline of input levels will simplify this process greatly.

2: It gives me something at least listenable for my bandmates to use as a reference tool to improve our individual performances.

3: I consider the feedback I get here to be priceless, and consider my Bandmix profile to be more a tool for that purpose than a public display of our band.

I intend to continue this process here, even after obtaining pro recordings.
I will simply differentiate between, studio and practice cuts in my postings.
Only studio cuts will be on our band website in the future.

Sans, have you ever used a hand-held spectrum analyzer and ran a pink-noise generator through your PA? It could be a real eye-opener and show the weaknesses and strengths in your PA as far as which frequencies are depressed and/or elevated. Recording through the stereo out doesn't really give you an idea what the frequencies are doing all over whatever room you're playing in. I used to have a spectrum analyzer and pink noise generator but one of my ex band members stole it from me years ago. No PA is accoustically perfect (obviously) and no room is accoustically perfect (obviously). If you run the pink noise through one of your channels and walk all over the room and look at what 's happening to the different frequencies on the spectrum analyzer you'd be amazed how different parts of the room change the frequencies. This is a great way to learn what's really happening with your PA. It also might help you (slightly) when you record through your PA stereo out. It also might help you record live in the room by strategically placing recording microphones in places where the frequency response is the greatest. We did some live recordings that way years ago and got some decent results. Many years ago we often recorded through the PA and had wildly mixed results. Some of the recordings were quite good, but most were mediocre. It's very difficult to really get a professional result. I think you guys are ready to go into a pro studio. You need to "let go" control a little and let a real professional record your band. It's too bad you're not in the Kansas City area. The place we record would be perfect for you (Soundworks, Blue Springs Missouri). Actually the owner is doing a lot of work now for people all over the United States. People in California are sending him recordings for him to mix. The owner is Andy Oxman. The man knows what he's doing. Anyway, get into a pro studio. Ask around and find out from pro bands who they recommend. You're ready my friend.

Thanks Bob.

I have not used an analyser. I will do some reseach on this.
The only thing keeping us out of the studio at present is the funding.
We are putting every dime we make into a "studio fund" now instead of splitting it amoung the members. We did not vote on it. The boys told me thats what they wanted to do with their band income after our last paying gig.
I tried to give them their share, and they would not take it.
I think they may be nuts, but I can live with that kind of insanity.

Frankly, I don't think you really need to go to a pro studio. You can do some damned fine recordings with amateurs who know their way around their own equipment, & save yourself a lot of money for a demo.

It's tough to get a good recording when you're doing it all yourself.

Separate tracks for each instrument do help a whole lot, esp when your song needs some tweaking in the mix, or whatever. Cuts out the bleed-over factor, too.

Find someone who's done some stuff at the local level, & see what you can come up with, there, with them. It's a good dry run before going into that expensive pro studio, too.

Thanks Phil.
My wife has met a retired gent whom is interested in working with us.
He was into recording and broadcast professonally at one time.
I just havent got off my butt to go meet him yet.

"Expensive pro studio" can actually end up being the least expensive in some ways, especially the time and aggravation it can save you. The last time we did pro studio work it took all of thirteen studio hours to come up with seven CD quality songs. It cost us $650 divided by four people, a little over $150 per man. A really good studio technician with superior equuipment should be able to get you the results you want much faster and maybe even save you some money.

As often as I screw up it my cost us $650.00 a song.