MY FIRST BAND RECORDING! NEED SUGGESTIONS!!!!
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Posted on May 14, 2006 01:54 pm
musicdreamer7
Member Since: Nov 10, 2005
OK so yesterday for the first time i recorded a full band. It was my friends band and im helping them put together a 4 song ep. this was my first experience with recording drums and vocals. i want any and all suggestions you guys have about mixing and eq'ing for this track. im quite proud of it!
download.yousendit.com/A0820EB11E5B9D0C
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 14, 2006 05:23 pm Well first thing is to sort out the EQ of each instrument to make them have their own space in the mix. The guitars have way to much high mid and high's. The drums could use some major compresion as they tend to appear and dissappear in the mix. The bass as well needs a huge amount of compresion and EQ to give it the power needed for that kind of music. The guitars should be bottom heavy and grind out the rythem of the song. The vocals are far to plain as well. Some compresion and EQ and a touch of reverb will help them along as well.
May 14, 2006 05:38 pm agree with taking off some highs on the rhythm guitars, it will make the stereo image better also. It's pretty good, not really my kind of music, but well-mixed.
Man, they really like screaming.
May 14, 2006 07:47 pm Compress everything and put the lows back in the guitars for a start.
Agree with noize on eveyrthing.
May 14, 2006 08:42 pm thanks for the suggestions, ill try em out and put up a new mix soon
and yeah they do scream a lot
not my kind of music at all
but still i love the recording part
May 14, 2006 10:54 pm How did you record the drums, bass, and guitars?
Give me some info and I'll help you run through a mix.
It sounds a bit better though.
May 15, 2006 07:01 am I did it like this:
drums were done with 3 mics: one on snare, one on kick, one overhead
guitar: close mic'ed amp
bass: direct input
May 15, 2006 07:39 am What mic did you use on the guitar?
Start by getting a good drum mix. These are just some random guidelines I'm making up on the spot. No need to follow them exactly, if at all. Try using a parametric EQ with medium-high Q, and any compressor available.
Compress the kick mic with a 4:1 ratio, 15ms attack and mibbe 50 ms release, so your getting about 4 dB gain reduction AVERAGE.
Then take an EQ and take out 8 dB at 300-700 HZ, boost 5 dB at 2 kHz and boost 3 dB somewhere in the low Frequencies where it sounds nice. If theres not much drum bleed into the mic, boost 6 dB at 8 kHZ as well.
Then I'd stick a limiter after it all, but only cause I'm experimenting at the moment lol.
Snare compression: Rat:4:1, att: 15 ms, rel:300 ms,
- 4dB GR average
Snare EQ: Low Cut/High Pass Filter @ 100 Hz, -6dB @ 517 Hz, +5 dB at 5 kHz, +3dB @ 200 Hz. Do the 8 kHz thing here if you can as well.
Stick a limiter at the end as well.
Over heads compression: Rato: 2:1, Att:10ms, Rel, 300ms, -3dB GR average
OH EQ: Low Cut/High Pass Filter @ 200 Hz, +6dB High shelf @ 2kHz
Mix To Taste. The overheads should be very quiet compared to kick an snare.
Bass Compression: RAT: 6:1, Att: 50 ms, Rel 400ms, GR -4dB average.
Bass EQ: -4dB @ 300 Hz, + 5dB @ 1kHz, -4 dB HIGH Q (where you boosted the kick), +3dB @ 60 Hz down loq or something. +6 dB High shelf @ 4 kHz
Mix to tate with the drums.
Guitars I'm not too sure about yet...
Vocals Comp: 3:1 Compression, Att: 30 ms, Rel 300 ms, -4 dB GR average.
Vocals EQ: Low Cut/ High Pass Filter @ 120 Hz, -3 dB @ 1-4 kHz, +4dB High shelf at 5 kHz
Stick a limiter at the end.
Give that a go if you've got time.
May 15, 2006 09:51 am Actually, with the kick, seeing as its metal and all, you might want to boost more of the highs and less of the lows?
I haven't mixed that kind of music before. Good luck : ).
May 15, 2006 07:28 pm thanks a ton colonel sanders
ill try em out and repost the new mix soon
and the guitarist and i talked and were gonna redo them completely because they are so completely distorted beyond all belief. time to turn some gain down.
May 15, 2006 08:21 pm For the guitar, turn the amp down, and shove your head next to each speaker in the cabinet. Sometimes one speakers in particular will sound better than others.
Then move your head around the good speaker and find where it sounds best. Stick your 609 there.
Take your NT1a, and listen to both the mics through your Headphones. Move the NT1a around about 1.5 meters away from the cab(you should hear a swooshing noise like a phaser when moving) unntil both mics CANCEL eachother out (It will sound like absolute dogs bollocks). Record both the mics, and then PHASE REVERSE the NT1a. Mix them to taste.
Also on the amp, make sure to dial a lot more mid frequencies than you usually would and turn down the gain as you said.
May 16, 2006 10:48 pm ok so you suggest double miking the guitar, ill try it out and see if its any good
www.yousendit.com/transfe...F0A1DA358FCFC46
there is the new mixdown, im a lot happier with it, bass sits better in it, drums sound better, and voice fits in the mix a lot better
May 17, 2006 11:03 am The kick needs a whole lot more high end and volume. Did you stick a limiter after it?
The snares sounding nice.
The drums do sound a lot nicer.
When are you recording the new guitars?
Its getting there dude.
I'm so glad my first recording had a melody :-)lol
May 17, 2006 08:33 pm haha this has a melody...sort of...
but yeah thanks again so much for the help
ill be recording the new guitars in about 3 or 4 days or so
i dont have a limiter, im working in garageband on this one, because i was having some technical issues with my interface and apple logic. so i kind of have to work with more basic effects.
but whats a limiter anyways, thats one thing i do not know of
May 17, 2006 09:10 pm Wow, great work from garageband! haha.
A limiter is a compressor with fast attack and realease times and a ratio over 10:1.
Instead of a limter then, try sticking another compressor with a 12:1 ratio and fast attack and release.
May 21, 2006 07:39 pm anyone have suggestions?