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 Paul,
 
I'm listening right now, on my trusty headphones as usual.
 
I like the song... Very Nirvana, if you don't mind me saying so...
 
For a first draft it certainly showcases your ability with your instruments. But I feel that the finished product needs a bit more work. It would be well worth spending a bit more time at the mixing desk methinks.
 
I think the main rhythm guitar could be doubled and panned almost hard left/right.
 
In fact, the whole track appears to be focused in the centre. So everything is fighting for the space there.
 
It also quite heavily compressed, although I'm only guessing there... May even be some clipping going on, I dunno...
 
That's all I can think of for now, so hang on in there and a professional will be along soon (I'm on the "early" shift).
 
cheers
 
andy

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.

synkrotron
Hi Paul, I'm listening right now, on my trusty headphones as usual....(data) .. That's all I can think of for now, so hang on in there and a professional will be along soon (I'm on the "early" shift). cheers
 andy

Andy could you try one more time and please tell me if it got worse or any better? :
https://soundcloud.com/pokeabrain/sanemind
 

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.

Waltenstein Studios
GOOD INFO!

Thank you for the feedback WS! yea, I don't know why the rhythm distortion guitar ended up sounding like that... im actually using the pod hd500fx to record directly to the focusrite i1820 (so no mics in front of speakers)... and it sounded great in the headphones while recording but once I play back from sonar the distortion which was 'sick' (for lack of term) now sounded more like fx'ie and clippy which change the whole dynamic of it... so I compressed it but now it sounds drowned and nasty...  I may have to re-record with another distortion effect that doesn't change much when being recorded.. im recording at 41khz. do you think increasing this may help 'catching' all the effects on the pod? or why would the sound have changed dramatically..?
sorry didn't mean to make it about 'help me!' but if you guys don't mind : )
...another question is are there any tricks to make the final mix louder (let's say you keep everything under 0 dbs and then you mix everything) but when you export the mp3 or wave; you notice you have to crank up all the volume in your media player... what can you do to increase the volume of the mix? (that one boost effect is awesome but that can go so far without adding too much ambience sound... are there others?)
Thanks!!

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).

pavlo0001
Andy could you try one more time and please tell me if it got worse or any better? :
https://soundcloud.com/pokeabrain/sanemind

Hi Paul,
 
Sorry I'm late... Dealing with a "family issue" at the moment and it's a struggle to get the time I'd like to spend in this forum.
 
What you have done is a step in the right direction.
 
Walt has covered a lot of stuff there, so thanks for that Walt 
 
I'm listening to your latest mix right now, and I can see you have spent some time creating some width, but I think you should try the following:-
 
The main grunge rhythm guitar is still in the middle. It is this track that, in my opinion, could be panned hard left, with a doubled guitar track, playing pretty much the same thing, panned hard right. You cannot make a copy and pan that to the right because they cancel each other out and sound like they are a single element coming from centre. But I'm totally guessing what you have done here, and it would be nice to have a more detailed description of what you have done to get this guitar part, or parts.
 
There are a couple of lead/melody guitar parts going on and, personally, I would pan those about 60% left and right, so that they don't fight with each other or the vocals. The main lead that comes in at about 1:42 is fine where it is in the middle, while it is on its own. I might even consider removing some of the guitar melody, where it sounds a bit busy, but you could just as easily leave it where it is. Sometimes, less is more, as they say...
 
Bass guitar, kick, snare and lead vocals are fine smack bang in the middle.
 
If you could somehow get me each individual track I would be more than happy to have a go at mixing it for you, as it is more experience for me. That way I would have a better idea of what you are working with. Let me know if you fancy that and we can discuss how this can be done 
 

Waltenstein Studios
I think it reminds me more of Alice In Chains

Ah, yes... I'm not that well up on the grunge scene LOL... I saw AIC at the Download festival in 2013... Excellent band 
 
cheers
 
andy