sane_mind

Hi! ..i present you my rushed & newbie recording lol...  this goes against all your principles probably lol (all the songs I have heard in this forum are just excellent quality and great overall.. very different styles too!).. so this is a  'grunge' >:) ; something that pop'ed a few days ago... i will be working in a more melodic & user friendly next but wondering what you think of this lol (i recently have caught the bug to record so this is my pre-debut to you musicmenship!~ i will take more time next time... this is 3 guitars, 1 synth, few voices & AD! ...enjoy if possible :)
https://soundcloud.com/pokeabrain/sanemind
 
 
 

Hi Andy, thank you for the recommendation! I will try the 'guitar doubled and panned almost hard left/right'; you are right with stuff going in the middle.. kinda trying to get a strong busy noise sound but definitely up to make it better... uhm i'll check tracks for clipping; my eq skills stink lol...
I do like Nirvana so I take it as a compliment... few differences but i'll take it! lol... yea, I hope other shift's people recommend stuff; I want to get better at this recording business which has always been a sweet & sour affair for me lol.

I like the song.  I think it reminds me more of Alice In Chains, but Nirvana's not far off either. :)
 
One thing I noticed right off is your tracks (especially the rhythm guitars) are clipping hugely.  Not sure if it's coming from your track FX or the original recordings themselves.
 
Here's a tip for you, as a beginner studio engineer: whenever recording with a mic, always check your levels at every point on the way into your computer.  That means if you're using any preamps, or outboard effects, make sure they don't go above 0 db (unless they're analog tube based, but even then you want to be careful to listen at each stage to ensure there's not too much clipping happening before passing the signal to the next point in the chain).  Then on your computer input, if you have a gain control, turn it down until the signal stays below 0 db.  Some computer interfaces may have a software mixer application, and/or you may have a physical rotary dial on the hardware interface, or maybe it's just a switch that says -20db (to reduce gain if you're hearing clipping).  Use it. :)
 
Some people like to even go lower than 0 db, like maybe -3 or -5 db, just to be sure there's never any clipping on a passing transient.
 
This also applies to mixing your tracks.  You should make sure your master output bus doesn't hit 0 db.  If it does, turn each individual track down by a few dbs, and keep doing so until your master bus doesn't clip.  If necessary, turn your computer's output volume up a little, to compensate for the reduced volume of your mix.
 
Once your mix is done, you can apply compression and limiting when you do mastering on your final stereo mix file.  That will give you your perceived "loudness" back.

Your sample rate (44.1 khz, probably) is fine.  Changing it to 48 or 96 isn't going to make a significant difference, compared with proper gain staging techniques.
 
On the PODs they have settings for your intended output, i.e. if you're sending to an amplifier (for live performance, or microphone recording), you can put in what your amp is, and it'll adjust the sound to sort of "neutralize" the sound, compensating for your amp.  In your case, you want this set to STUDIO (or Direct), which is just a flat output response, uncolored by your hardware amplifier in the room.  It's fine to use the POD's cabinet emulations as part of your sound if you want.  I'm talking about the OUTPUT section on the POD.
 
Next thing to do is to check what signal level you're getting at your Focusrite's inputs.  Open up your MixControl software mixer on your computer, and make sure your peak values for that channel are below 0 db.
 
Having done the above, you should be able to solo one of your guitar tracks in SONAR and it should not sound "clipped" (which is usually considered a bad kind of digital distortion).
 
After recording cleanly, you can use compression and limiting on each channel (i.e. Boost, or other FX) to make it sound the way you want, but make sure to reduce the output volume of each track if it starts going over 0 db at any time.  And if your master bus starts going over 0 db, again, reduce the volume of ALL tracks.
 
Once you have a mix you're happy with, export to WAV, and then bring that WAV into your mastering program.  This might just be a separate SONAR project, or it could be a different program entirely.  For example, I use Sony SoundForge for mastering.  When mastering, I recommend using multiband compression (i.e. Cakewalk's LP-64 or equivalent), and some kind of limiter (or just a good stereo compressor, set to a very high ratio).  Playing with the effects' settings should make it pretty easy to find a good volume level for your song, before you export a new mastered version of the WAV (or mp3).