Home recording for melodeath album

[ashishk]

Hey hey!

Here is a rough mixdown of one of the songs we've been working on. We are relatively new to home recording so it would be nice to know how we are doing. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated!

There are at least 2 tracks per channel, 4 at most.

Right Channel : ESP LTD V-500 w/ EMG 8185 through a Randall RM 100, 1086 module
Left Channel - Caparison dellinger (warpig bridge) into a Framus Cobra boosted with an OD808.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=889681&content=music


Cheers,
Ashish

 

[SacredGroove]

That was really cool! I like heavy-melodic riffs like this, as well as, the different chords layered in.

So far I think it's a good job. The bass sounded good, the drums could use a little tweaking with punch and level, IMO. Overall, I think your point was made pretty well and I'm gonna go listen again.

Keep it up!

 

[TheHunter]

Man thats pretty **** sweet sounding man, those 2 amps compliment one another very well. I dig that track man. VERY NICE I LIKE.

D

 

[bbp]

There's some potential in there for sure. I'd cut some upper mids all over though. Sounds like the drums were recorded in a closet or something. Good playing though so just some eq work and it'll be great.

 

[riff man]

not to bad at all ... i'd say pretty good results for a home effort!!!
i honestly had trouble hearing the difference between the guitar tracks --"tone" wise ...could be me though ....




sorry to hijack this thread but

one other thing that i have noticed with most tunes that get published here is the lack of VOCALS....
let's hear the full monty boys !!! i love listening to amp tone's all day long but only us TONE boys can even relate to that ...now i know some of you may not have singers and that's cool too !! i was just curious at the lack of vocals ..... ( ha ha i also get that i'm hanging out on a "guitar amp forum" as well lol) so maybe i just answered my own question :roll:
cheers boys

 

[bhuard75]

the song is good and thats a great start to even have somthing good to record. your new to recording, like me. you'll get better, ask '?'s, take pointers and improve the sound quality where you feel fit.

 

[ashishk]

That was really cool! I like heavy-melodic riffs like this, as well as, the different chords layered in.

So far I think it's a good job. The bass sounded good, the drums could use a little tweaking with punch and level, IMO. Overall, I think your point was made pretty well and I'm gonna go listen again.

Keep it up!

Thanks loads for that Scott. Really appreciate the kind words. More info in the following posts

 

[ashishk]

Man thats pretty **** sweet sounding man, those 2 amps compliment one another very well. I dig that track man. VERY NICE I LIKE.

D

Thanks tonnes The Hunter. We have a few more tunes on our myspace if you're interested, but those tracks were recorded ages ago with midi drums.

 

[ashishk]

A little bit more information about our recording methodology.

The Framus and Randall rigs sound similar enough that they compliment the overall tone. The RM100 has JJ E34L's in the power section, running the 1086 module and the cabinet is loaded with Celestion Seventy80s. The guitar used with this rig was an ESP LTD V-500 w/ EMG 81/85.

The Cobra head has EH EL34s in the power section, and the cabinet loaded with V30s. Guitar played with this one was a Caparison Dellinger with Bareknuckle Warpigs pickups

Both cabs were miked up with 2 mics; an Audio Technica kick drum mic (on-axis pointed at the center of the cone) and an SM57 (on-axis pointed between the edge and the center of the cone).

Both tracks blended 50/50 with a some noise reduction and a slight presence boost, panned hard.

I suppose my question is, is there someway to improve the overall tone? Don't get me wrong, I love the crunch and clarity I'm getting with the current set up, but these tracks will make their way into the final LP we are hoping to release soon.

Could it be it post production EQing or something else we haven't thought of?

 

[ashishk]

There's some potential in there for sure. I'd cut some upper mids all over though. Sounds like the drums were recorded in a closet or something. Good playing though so just some eq work and it'll be great.

Hey bbp!
Thanks loads for that. What frequency range are you talking about cutting; 14-17 kHz range (outside the guitar range)? How did you pick that frequency as the ones to cut? Really appreciate the comments dude.

The drums will be fixed. The current drums tracks were recorded using a Shure 7 piece mic set, and a Shure SM57 on the snare. Not the best set up, but our drummer has since acquired a Bock 8-piece drum mic set. From the samples I've heard so far, it definitely has more depth and punch than the current set.

Expect newer versions of the drum and bass recordings soon. Will post on a new thread within the next few weeks for more critique and comments.

 

[ashishk]

not to bad at all ... i'd say pretty good results for a home effort!!!
i honestly had trouble hearing the difference between the guitar tracks --"tone" wise ...could be me though ....




sorry to hijack this thread but

one other thing that i have noticed with most tunes that get published here is the lack of VOCALS....
let's hear the full monty boys !!! i love listening to amp tone's all day long but only us TONE boys can even relate to that ...now i know some of you may not have singers and that's cool too !! i was just curious at the lack of vocals ..... ( ha ha i also get that i'm hanging out on a "guitar amp forum" as well lol) so maybe i just answered my own question :roll:
cheers boys

Howdy riff man,

The lack of vocals is purely our fault; sorry to disappoint. The instruments have always been the toughest thing to record in my experience, so the focus of the past couple of weeks have been to nail good tone. We have an awesome vocalist, so an updated track with vocals will be coming soon, hopefully in the next few weeks. Definitely hope to get your thoughts on those.

Plus, I posted the audio file here to get comments from all recording guitarists, tone connoisseurs and multi-track enthusiasts regarding tone and overall production. The similarity between the two guitar tones is deliberate, as is found on many melodeath recordings with different guitar rigs; the overall combined tone seems to create a sonic landscape which is amazingly deep.

Thanks so much for the replies y'all. Please keep them coming. Check out the myspace too to satisfy your melodeath lust.

Cheers,
Ashish

 

[riff man]

not to bad at all ... i'd say pretty good results for a home effort!!!
i honestly had trouble hearing the difference between the guitar tracks --"tone" wise ...could be me though ....




sorry to hijack this thread but

one other thing that i have noticed with most tunes that get published here is the lack of VOCALS....
let's hear the full monty boys !!! i love listening to amp tone's all day long but only us TONE boys can even relate to that ...now i know some of you may not have singers and that's cool too !! i was just curious at the lack of vocals ..... ( ha ha i also get that i'm hanging out on a "guitar amp forum" as well lol) so maybe i just answered my own question :roll:
cheers boys

Howdy riff man,

The lack of vocals is purely our fault; sorry to disappoint. The instruments have always been the toughest thing to record in my experience, so the focus of the past couple of weeks have been to nail good tone. We have an awesome vocalist, so an updated track with vocals will be coming soon, hopefully in the next few weeks. Definitely hope to get your thoughts on those.

Plus, I posted the audio file here to get comments from all recording guitarists, tone connoisseurs and multi-track enthusiasts regarding tone and overall production. The similarity between the two guitar tones is deliberate, as is found on many melodeath recordings with different guitar rigs; the overall combined tone seems to create a sonic landscape which is amazingly deep.

Thanks so much for the replies y'all. Please keep them coming. Check out the myspace too to satisfy your melodeath lust.

Cheers,
Ashish

cool ...

question about your guitar recording , you mentioned that you blended the tracks 50/50 --- does that mean were hearing both amps on both sides.. just tryng to clarify ,
this may be why i had trouble picking out the two different tones .....
imo i would seperate each amp left and right and just double track that way ... you may find that it will open up the stereo field, and makes things seems a bit bigger sounding ...
if it is blending all together it kinda "seudo" mono's itself out !!

with my band, and the recording experience i've obtained over the last 10 yrs ,,, there's no secret it's the KISS method ( keep it simple stupid ) lol.... there is only so much "sonic realstate" to play with so use it wisely

less is more

cheers man and keep posting the metal for us !!!!!!

 

[SacredGroove]

I think he meant both tracks from each cab are blended 50/50, so each track is the same level. Then those are panned hard L/R. Maybe?

 

[ashishk]

Sorry for the confusion guys. Basically, the Randall tracks are hard right, and the Framus tracks are hard left. At no point do the Randall and Framus tracks mix or blend into each other.

Each channel (L or R) contains 2 tracks, one track from the AT mic, and another from the SM57 mic; blended 50/50. There are some sections with a rhythm section behind it, and that just means there are 4 tracks in each channel, 2 X SM57, 2 X AT.

The reason for recording each rig with two mics was a matter of preference really. They both sounded bland by themselves; SM57 was too bassy and rumbly, and the AT was too fizzy and thin.

But when they marry up, holy hell the crunch berries were there.

Keep the comments coming guys!

 

[riff man]

Sorry for the confusion guys. Basically, the Randall tracks are hard right, and the Framus tracks are hard left. At no point do the Randall and Framus tracks mix or blend into each other.

Each channel (L or R) contains 2 tracks, one track from the AT mic, and another from the SM57 mic; blended 50/50. There are some sections with a rhythm section behind it, and that just means there are 4 tracks in each channel, 2 X SM57, 2 X AT.

The reason for recording each rig with two mics was a matter of preference really. They both sounded bland by themselves; SM57 was too bassy and rumbly, and the AT was too fizzy and thin.

But when they marry up, holy hell the crunch berries were there.

Keep the comments coming guys!

gotcha !! well great job on the mic placement , those are great results

 

[ashishk]

Cheers man!