Feb 05, 2006 10:05 pm Good stuff. I'm a metal head, but not death or black, really ;)
Say.. where can I get a drum machine? I could certainly use one.
Calling all Metal Heads!!!
Posted on Feb 05, 2006 08:34 pm
Bloodsoaked
Death Metal Freak!!!
Member Since: Feb 05, 2006
I am brand new to the board and was wondering how many Metal Heads (Death Metal mostly) are doing some home recording? Maybe even with a drum machine? Sone one man/girl death metal bands recording in your home or apartment?
If you would like to listen to the first song we are working go here: www.soundclick.com/bands/...m?bandID=481840
This song has one track of Drum machine, two guitar tracks and two vocal tracks. This is still a work in progress and was recorded in my apartment. If you don't like Death Metal your not going to like it. But if anyone would like to listen to it and give me some feedback on the song/recording that would be great.
Peter
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Feb 05, 2006 10:05 pm Good stuff. I'm a metal head, but not death or black, really ;)
Say.. where can I get a drum machine? I could certainly use one.
Feb 05, 2006 10:54 pm I have been using this somputer/software based drum machine that you can get here: www.acoustica.com/beatcraft/index.htm
It is only like $40 and you cna make complete songs with it. I used it with the first song I recorded. I think it is great. Let me know if you use it and post some songs so I can hear.
Feb 06, 2006 10:28 pm This is a good first recording I would say. As a metal head myself, I would say that the snare sounds really cheesy and thus takes away from some of the driving power. Other than that, the drum machine does a pretty convincing job but could be better. I would reccomend something from the Boss line at least around the 300$ level or more will get you some good sound.
The guitar could have alot more power by implimenting some of the micing, double tracking, and panning techniques talked about on the site and in some of the recent threads. Lastly, I noticed a few plosives in the vocals which leads me to believe you have no pop-filter for your microphone. This is just a simple thing you can buy to improve your recording that much more.
Feb 06, 2006 11:54 pm Oh my. I love that drummer you suggested! I did a quick song on my site with it. (Goldenmean, maybe you can critique it like you did Bloodsoaked's one.)
www.soundclick.com/bands/...m?bandID=481743
Click on SF Clip (Edited)
Feb 07, 2006 01:41 am I am one of the few death/black metal guys on this board. We are using electronic drums right now (due to the fact that Pensacola, FL sucks for metal musicians!!!) Check out my two bands:
music.download.com/contro...ml?tag=bookmark
music.download.com/materi...ing_song_artist
Controlled Chaos is my technical death metal band (think Death or Atheist)
Materia Prima is my black metal band (with a badass female black metal vocalist)
I record everything in my home studio. I use Adobe Audition, HARBAL and LeafDrums as my software. I use 2 M-Audio 2496 soundcards a few different mics and other stuff (check my profile for an entire list)
I am still learning how to do everything I want in digital (started on analog equip) without it sounding "digital." It is all a learning process, and I love every minute of it!!!
Later,
Kerry
Controlled Chaos
Materia Prima
Feb 07, 2006 08:35 am Recorded some kinda metal stuff:
www.myspace.com/alpinefault (melodic metal)
www.myspace.com/upraw (metal, thrash)
will give a listen when I have some time and post some comments... eeek, so much to do, so little time. lol.
Cheers,
Michelle
Feb 07, 2006 09:07 am Hey Controlledchaos...I LOVED the Controlled Chaos music, total Death feel to it. Really cool old school death metal. I love the whole sound and recording you have. I think I have a long way to go to get that kind of sound. How long have you been home recording death metal? I have been playing for many years but just started home recording about a month ago. I would love to pick your brain about this stuff.
Feb 07, 2006 09:10 am Hey again Controlledchaos, I just checked out the Black Metal songs as well and another killer sound and recording. I am very jelous...
Feb 07, 2006 09:18 am Hey Goldenmean87, thanks for the feedback. yeah, I do not have a pop-filter for my mic, so from time to time I do get a few pops from my breath.
The song I have posted has two vocal tracks, two guitar tracks and one drum machine track. My buddy and me are going to record the song in the next week or two with my two guitar tracks along with his two guitar tracks and bass. The song online has no bass either.
I have been reading allot of the info on this site as far as micing and recording in general and it has helped allot.
What do you not like about the snare sound? To thin? I like the drum machine software I am using at this time as I am jsut learning how to get my hands wet with the home recording.
Also, how much difference will the mic make? I have Tascam mic that is for a 4 track recorder that I am husing to record everything. Would a Shure mic make that big of a difference?
Feb 07, 2006 09:21 am Hey dragonorchid, were all the songs recorded at home? They is a pretty goud sound, better than what I have. Did you record everything seperately or all at the same time?
Feb 07, 2006 09:23 am Hey Drizzt, what style of metal are you wanting to play?
Feb 07, 2006 01:13 pm I play a lot of Blind Guardian, D&W, Iced Earth, Metallica, and Iron Maiden.
Most of my stuff is from a long time ago before I knew anything about recording (even less-so than now) so I'd rather not upload them lol.
Right now I'm working on The Soulforged by Blind Guardian. Will have it up eventually..
(To answer your question- anything melodic... heavy, power, thrash.)
Feb 07, 2006 10:59 pm dragonorchid,
I really like the tone of the lead guitar for alpinefault!! (The song Requiem at around 2:30ish when the solo starts. wow!)
How did you go abouts getting such a good sound? What effects does Antony, assuming he did the solo, use?
Feb 08, 2006 05:12 am Hey Bloodsoaked:
Glad you like the music!!! Controlled Chaos is my main band (I do all the music/lyric writing) and is my real passion. Materia Prima is really the vocalist/bassist's band (although I did write some of the music) Materia Prima is about to release a new EP in March(which sounds WAY better than anything I have done so far) and Controlled Chaos is going to release a full length album in April. Gotta keep busy!!
Anyway, I have been recording metal for about 10 years. I used to use a 16-track analog system until about 1999 when I got a high-end computer and Cool Edit Pro and decided to start recording in all digital. It has taken me a few years to become comfortable with the way digital works, but the flexability offered makes up for the hassles.
Feel free to e-mail me and I will go into greater specifics about my "techniques."
Later,
Kerry
Controlled Chaos
Materia Prima
Feb 08, 2006 07:01 am Hi Bloodsoaked,
Those songs were recorded at my "Shed" (a big garage/workshop space), the drums are live, but everything else is overdubbed.
Drizzt, I think the lead guitars were done when I went around to Alpine Fault's house to record the violins and some guitars in a more "relaxed" atmosphere. The solo was recorded pretty much through his Marshall mode 4, I added an "echo/delay" on the "canyon" preset to try and fatten the sound in adobe audition.
I agree with Controlled Chaos - Adobe audition/cool edit is a really good program for mixing in digital, it's realy intuative to use, and affordable. Love harbal too.
Feb 10, 2006 09:28 pm Hey Controled Chaos, did you ever get the emails I sent to your hotmail account?
Feb 10, 2006 10:44 pm Hey Bloodsoaked. Well I have tried many different techniques for recording a good metal guitar. I would say perhaps go with a shure sm-57 and a condenser mic which is the most commonly used setup. However I really am not in awe about the shure sm-57. I truly think that a direct line from your amp (replacing the shure's role) and a condenser mic would work best but i have not tried it yet. I may try this tommorow and could try to upload the results. But this may pose a problem for you if you dont have a line out on your amp.
I have found that 3 guitar tracks sound pretty well when one is centered and two are panned about 80% to the left and right. It opens up the sound. (sounds much better when all tracks are recorded seperatly if you can manage not to mess up...but i know that can be difficult depending on the riff)
Anyway, its always a great thing to know your drum machine in and out so I'm glad you are getting used to it. I just think the snare kills any other good sound you have. I honestly think it has barely any more tone than a metronome click. In my opinion, if that were changed then it would be much less apparent to a listener that you are using a 40$ drum machine.
Just some suggestions :)
Feb 10, 2006 10:59 pm Hey Drizzt, I think the drums for your song are just fine. I mean of course anyone could disect the hell out of anything but they sound pretty good I would say. No obvious problems here.
By the way I like Menuetto In Fa-Minore very much. I am into symphonic metal, melodic death/black, Thrash, Tribal metal, some industrial and many different bands who mix these and other styles effectively.
You are doing a great job with what you have right now my friend. Eventually that guitar will need beefing up but that is pretty much everyones problem! Including mine! I fix one problem with the sound and create another. But if I ever discover some magical technique I will be sure to share :)
Feb 12, 2006 09:12 pm Hey Goldenmean87, I do have a line out on my amp but I have not tried it as of yet. So you would suggest going from the line out directly to the line in on my computer? If you have any sample like you said I would live to listen to them. Thanks for all the comments as I am open to listen to anyone about the sound.
Feb 12, 2006 09:53 pm ewe...what kind of amp are we talking here? Is there any cab modeling in it or anything? I have generally found taking the line out into the computer ends up with a very thing and very "up front" sound that requires loads of reverb to sink it back into the mix.
I am sure some people have gotten it to work, but I personally never have with any real success.
Feb 12, 2006 10:57 pm I have not tried using the line out on my amp yet. For recording guitars (Heavy Metal/Death Metal), is there a big difference in the recorded sound doing one of the other?
Also, do most people use a mixer/pre-amp for recording?
Feb 13, 2006 07:40 pm Well I forgot about what equipment you had. It is definatly no good to go straight into a pc from the amp. I was talking like a higher end amp head to a mixer. I tried the setup that I was reffering too earlier with a direct line and a condenser. I am sure it would work well but the prob is that when I plug in the line it cuts the sound from the cab so I can't do both at once. You could always try double tracking I guess. I mean there are a million ways to go about it.
However as far as the PODxt goes, I have one and although I am not a pro with it, I definatly have found nothing close to the real metal sound I had hoped for. Many people have different perceptions about metal guitar sounds and I think some that find the PODxt to be a wonder in that department may have a taste for a thinner or grainier sound than I do.
And Bloodsoaked, I dont know of anyone who makes serious music with just a pc sound card. I think you will find having a preamp, mixer, or both to be advantagious.
Feb 13, 2006 08:45 pm I tried the line out to the line in tonight and the sound was pretty bad. I played around with it a bit and still could not get a good sound.
I have a Marshall MG Series 250DFX for my amp. I have tried micing it (with a Tascam mic) and still do not get a great sound. I have been using a Tascam 4 track recorder for the preamp to give the signal a boost before getting it into my computer. Still not having much luck.
Would something like the Eurorack UB802 Mixer be a good investment and would that work as my pre amp as well as the mixer?
Feb 13, 2006 09:56 pm Bloodsoaked, the TAscam mic may be allright for somethings, but miccing a heavy guitar sound is not one of them. I suggest trying something like a Shure SM57 or the like. See if you can borrow a mic from someone and give that a go.
Feb 13, 2006 10:10 pm Bloodsoaked: If you can afford it, I'd probably get the UB1204 instead. Yes it counts as a preamp too :)
Thanks for listening to those songs, Goldenmean87 :)Yea those guitars were very old and recorded poorly, but I managed to get some good stuff out of them through mixing! But thanks to all the tips I've gotten from this forum, my sound has improved TENFOLD and the song I'm recording right now sounds MUCH better!
You said you had a POD XT? I've heard some pretty good things about it, and also some good metal sound clips from it.
Of course, I don't know whether they used it for the effects then mic'd their amp, or whether they connected it to a good soundcard, or went through the USB output..
When you've used it, what did you find gave the best results? How was the USB? Have you tried going into a soundcard instead? If you did, did you go through a mixer first?
Who else has a POD XT? How have you been connecting it? How does it compare to the V AMP2?
Feb 15, 2006 04:09 pm Well Drizzt I would really like to hear your improvements so post that new song when its ready.
The USB for the PODxt sounded good as I can recall. I havent used it in a long time. I put my PODxt through the mixer and my chain which goes into the pc preamp. I think the PODxt is great for everything except metal in my own experience. I have been told to try the software editor and other things but I havent gotten to that yet. However even the samples I have heard on the Line6 website of metal guitars sound pretty weak to me. It sounds like they had everything at absolute optimum capacity with a kickass guitar player just to achieve the so-so samples.
If anyone gravely disagrees with me then please do send a good sample, I would be more than happy to be proven wrong but I just don't think that will be the case.
Feb 15, 2006 07:26 pm I posted it in a different thread, but in case you missed it, I finished the song! Go to the link I listed above. :)
Regarding the PODxt, I'm really considering buying one- but I hear many people talk about a clicking/popping sound when they were recording through the USB.
The only real reason I want the PODxt, aside from the large range of tones, is so that I can avoid buying a new soundcard, and just record using the USB... but I want to find out before hand whether or not I'll get that 'clicking' and latency problem so many people are having.
Feb 15, 2006 10:43 pm Drizzt, no popping or clicking here at all. And the POD xt is all I use. Excpet now maybe the TonePort UX-2, which is basically the same as the POD only bigger. It does bass amps, mic pre's and all kinds of goodies. Oh ya, acoustic amps as well. And it works great vai the USB. Check out the review on the fron of HRC.
Feb 16, 2006 10:51 am Looks like I need to get one ;)
I think the problem with the popping was a lot of people were using up too much of the USB ports on their computer and it was tieing up the hub. They'd have their mouse, printer, keyboard, removable HD, etc hogging up the juice, so to speak.
This could happen with me, so I may have to get a USB PCI card, but I don't mind.
Feb 16, 2006 10:36 pm Thats how mine is plugged in. A seperate USB 2.0 interface card. And its the only thing on the card. As well I run mine through my old PC and just record the analog outputs anyway. But the USB works great as well.
Feb 19, 2006 09:57 am That new song is great Drizzt. You should try writing your own music so you can really call it yours when its all said and done.
Feb 19, 2006 09:58 am btw are you using a real drum set or a machine. If its a machine lemme know which you are using. Thanks.
Feb 21, 2006 02:35 am Thanks!
I'm using the one that Bloodsoaked suggested up above. Beatcraft!
I've written a few things, but I don't think I'm going to bother recording them until I can get a POD ;)
Feb 21, 2006 02:20 pm Drizzt, for your cover of Thorn, how did you go about mastering this? Did you do it yourself or send it out?
If you did it yourself how did you go about doing this?
Feb 21, 2006 05:08 pm I did it myself using Cool Edit. There are a bunch of cool features you can play with in the filters. They have some good presets under the FFT filter that involve mastering and expanding. It made it sound much better!
Feb 21, 2006 07:05 pm Well that sounds great, I have the program but its 1.0 I believe, which version are you using?
Feb 21, 2006 08:03 pm Version 2.1
Keep in mind, that for my 'clean' Thorn, that was just recording in Audacity without any post EQ or anything fancy.
The regular Thorn is the one that I used Cool Edit for.
Feb 21, 2006 08:11 pm well I have used 2.1 before and it really does not have many differences in the way of the effects or filters, so might I ask which preset you used for this song? I did some fiddling with the FFT on one of my songs and it really did not seem to be much of any help in the way of mastering.
Feb 21, 2006 10:27 pm Hmm.. If I can remember correctly, I added a chamber reverb... I think maybe a bit of chorus... then under the FFT I think I chose the "Mastering - Gentle And Wide" preset. I may have used the graphic EQ's 'premaster' setting before hand, too.
Then after that, I think I went to the Amplitude setting and did a Mastering Width.
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