Could Use Some Feedback

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MetalTeK
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2011/10/22 15:03:50 (permalink)

Could Use Some Feedback

This is my 3rd attempt at a song.  I'm having major difficulties with clashing frequencies when trying to Master.   Everything sounds pretty good until I export and start trying to master.  I've ran direct and tried just about every amp sim that exists.  Still can't get the guitar sound quite the way I want.

Anyway, I tried to take a lot of the bass out of the guitars and bass drum and keep the drums more "clicky" to try to separate the instruments a little more.  I think the snare is a little too spacey and hollow.  And the solo is a bit sloppy.

So, I'd really appreciate any feedback.  The song is "Suffer To Speak".

Thanks.
post edited by MetalTeK - 2011/10/22 15:06:18

 
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    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/22 23:13:14 (permalink)
    The guitars sound just about right for this genre. 

    I have to agree on the snare..... it sounds hollow, like you said. Try soloing it with the kit. 

    I have always had a hard time getting the right sound with an amp sim.... they all sound to distorted and bright for my ears. Although I did use one today and I let the track ride. 

    Yeah so the big thing in there is that squanky sounding snare. 

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    Guitarpima
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/23 10:15:04 (permalink)
    That snare is not happening.

    Other than that, it sounds pretty good.

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    Thatsastrat
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/23 14:54:43 (permalink)
    It sounds like a squealer type snare. Try substituting a 14" snare into the kit if you can to see what that sounds like. Craig Anderton did an article about taking the fizz out of amp sims that I will try to find for you to read.
    Found it. 
    http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=2081179&mpage=1#2082197
    post edited by Thatsastrat - 2011/10/23 19:59:22

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    Mesh
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/23 19:43:57 (permalink)
    The song is pretty cool, but the drums were a bit too distracting. It sounded (imo) like a plastic drum kit and didn't do the song any justice. You may want leave it the way before trying to make it "clicky" as the low end seems to be lacking. Using something like Span from voxengo can helpwork on keeping all the frequencies in their proper places so they won't clash. If you plan on remixing this, I'd like to hear any changes you do. (I was listening through earbuds on my laptop and all that I said may very well be useless).

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    MetalTeK
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/30 14:16:00 (permalink)
    @Guitarhacker - Thanks for the insight. The fact that u think the guits sound decent is nice to hear. @Guitarpima - Lol...."not happening". Yea, I'll definitely take care of the snare. Thanks. @Thatsastrat - Thanks a lot. That article sounds like exactly what I need to read. Going to check it out directly. @Mesh - No, you're probably right. I took some of the bass off of the drums to try to let the bass guitar come through more. I'll definitely be remixing. And I'll try to check out "Span". On a side note. I just made the big transition from MC5 to X1 so I'm going to remix all my music. Just opening up my music in X1 and it already sounds a lot better and I haven't even done anything to it yet. Having a little trouble getting used to the interface though. Anyway thank you all very much for your time and comments.
    post edited by MetalTeK - 2011/10/31 12:19:50

     
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    MetalTeK
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/30 14:25:08 (permalink)
    I apologize, but I've tried to edit several times but my reply keeps getting collapsed into one paragraph.

     
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    ProjectM
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/31 10:52:50 (permalink)
    The tune is pretty cool. Will it remain instrumental? I don't really like the solo guitar tone but I see your voes here and hope you'll find the tone you want. What are you using here? It sound really DI'd to me.

    But I really did the groove and I could actually imagine the snare to work. In my ears it's the buzzy guitar sound that makes the snare not work... or something. It's a bit In Flames-ish. I would leave it in there but layer it with a more "traditional" snare and mix it down a little. What are you using for drums?
     
     
     
    By the way, I really dig your song:
    Grey Goo Ecophagy
     
    It's sort of in the metal genre I dabble in (check my sig if interested - a band of mine)
     
    Are you planning to just do instrumentals?
    post edited by ProjectM - 2011/10/31 10:54:21

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    MetalTeK
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/31 12:01:36 (permalink)
    Using Toontrack Superior for drums. The snare didn't sound like that originally. It just kind of got Eq that way when I was trying to master the whole track. Yea, the guitar is DI and I used GTR 3 on this song. I've used a different amp sim on all 3 songs and they basically sound the same, buzzy(like ****). And I agree on the solo too. It's muddy, sloppily played and not loud enough. THATSASTRATs link above, will help a great deal I think. Suffer To Speak and Forgotten Dreams were both written with the assumption that vox would be added. But not by me. I checked it out again but I remember checking out your music and commenting before. I remember liking the Classical and the Metal song a lot. Still sounds good! Anyway, thanks for checking out my stuff. I'll try your suggestion for the snare. As I said, I just switched to X1 yesterday and I'm remixing everything. Its sounds a lot better already.

     
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    ProjectM
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/10/31 19:09:50 (permalink)
    Hmmm... I'm listening to headphones now. Sounds a bit like your guitars are mainly in middle but your drums are panned nicely out in the stereo field. Some of the guitars melodies seem to be a little more spread out tho. I would imagine that if you double track the guitars and leave them in the middle it only adds to the buzz - like it's all getting a little cramped in there? Actually, as far as I can tell, I think the Solo is played pretty cool. It's just the tone. But then again, I love a solo with feel rather than perfection (if that makes sense). BTW, do you have a cab simulator switched on in GTR? Reason I ask is because it sounds a little like back in the days when I plugged the guitar straight into the interface with some distortion stomp in between. I still do that sometimes for the effect of it. But that link Thatsastrat posted looks good. I think I'll read through it myself.

    So that snare is just EQ'ed like that? Man that's awesome! I thought you'd found the craziest snare drum sample in the world. I seriously think it's cool sounding. Probably because it reminds me of the snare on Reroute To Remain album by In Flames which I was addicted to for a few years. SD2 is great though. Is it the NY Avatar kit you're using?

    I really like your stuff. It's interesting. I hope you find good use for X1 - it really made my life more fun and easy Perhaps a new tool will give you some more ideas too.

    Soon I'll post some more stuff. Just need to find time to finish some stuff up that I am alowed to post. Yeah, I remember you comenting on my stuff before. But did you check out my band Black Comedy? I think you might like it. Anyways, I really enjoy listening to your songs and there's some great potential in your songwriting. I'll keep an eye out

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    mgh
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    Re:Could Use Some Feedback 2011/11/01 05:43:37 (permalink)
    some more info regarding how you're recording the guitar would be good. also what you're doing to master the thing. guitar sounds aren't too bad, but it's all quite thin and 80s thrash metal sounding. the guitars are a bit phase-y too. for metal guitars you need to AT LEAST double track, and sometimes quad track, and you have to physically play each take...no cloning (yeah i know you can clone and offset a few ms but that is just lazy!). then you need to pan the guitars left and right. just doing that should take away some of that fizz and phase. I'd look at the guitar sound you have; sometimes you can decrease the gain and add some mids from what sounds good as by itself, because once you double-track it'll beef up nicely. certainly applying a high-pass filter to the guitars can help to leave more room for the bass and kick. with the snare, it's a matter of choosing a good basic sound, but then adding/subtracting eq/compression/verb to get a good final mix sound...i know it's difficult, when i record the drums sound horrible at first, but i kinda know once i'm done it'll work...other than that, the track is good, i like the solo, again it needs more mids in the sound though! sorry for the lack of spacing, i'm on FF...

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