Black Mammoth Part II

Vincent · Post by **Vincent** » Thu May 15, 2008 11:39 am

This song is different from the original however it still has enough of the original to call it Part II...song is short...just under 2 minutes long.

Its been a while since I posted a song...been working on getting a better sound and recording quality...Some parts of this song still need some filler because it feels a bit empty in spots...also need to check mix near end of solo...kind of hear a thud...not sure if its the drums or perhaps i forgot to remove part of a track...not sure.

My Recording setup is as follows.

Epiphone Les Paul>>>Electro Harmonix Metal Muff>>>M Audio Fast Track>>>Amplitube 2>>>Addictive Drums Demo>>>Mixcraft 4

Dmusic is finally up and running properly so Im posting the tune on there for now...click on Hi.
http://travtale.dmusic.com/

Elecctric65 · Post by **Elecctric65** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:31 pm

Nice work.
Alan

PDS · Post by **PDS** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:35 am

I think the drums are getting crushed in the mix compared with earlier.?

I've started,"Under-recording" as per,

http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=38270

Under the Advanced section,"Recording=How hot?".

This is how I have my meters now in the bottom right.

Vincent · Post by **Vincent** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:02 am

I will have to work on the drum tracks a bit more...actually it may be my fault because i adjusted the EQ on the drums in the addictive drum demo and wasnt really sure what i was really doing in regards to that.

Not bad for a first run at the addictive drums demo...still needs work though.

Im working on a new tune right now so perhaps i can do a little better this time...I kind of like the drums to not sound to polished...I almost like the garage band hitting on garbage cans sound...not a crappy sound mind you but a raw sound if that makes any sense.

PDS · Post by **PDS** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:07 am

Vincent wrote:I will have to work on the drum tracks a bit more...actually it may be my fault because i adjusted the EQ on the drums in the addictive drum demo and wasnt really sure what i was really doing in regards to that.

Not bad for a first run at the addictive drums demo...still needs work though.

Im working on a new tune right now so perhaps i can do a little better this time...I kind of like the drums to not sound to polished...I almost like the garage band hitting on garbage cans sound...not a crappy sound mind you but a raw sound if that makes any sense.

Yeh I know what you mean.I'm just talking about the the recording levels on input and output.
I too have had to change my ideas on levels when using Digital recording as it has much more,"Headroom" than tape and requires a different mind-set.

I used to try and get as,"Hot" to zero when recoding on tape.This isn't needed in DAWs and is actually degrades the process.

Vincent · Post by **Vincent** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:17 am

I will have to have to check out what you said in your earlier post.

Couldnt I just turn up the drums in the mix instead?...just wondering...Im not as advanced as you in regards to recording...the whole input output thing goes right over my head.

So basically i click on drum track and then go to advanced section?...i dont even know where the advanced section is to be honest...lol

Thanks for the help and info.

PDS · Post by **PDS** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:36 am

Vincent wrote:I will have to have to check out what you said in your earlier post.

Couldnt I just turn up the drums in the mix instead?...just wondering...Im not as advanced as you in regards to recording...the whole input output thing goes right over my head.

So basically i click on drum track and then go to advanced section?...i dont even know where the advanced section is to be honest...lol

Thanks for the help and info.

No.In this case and as you have already recorded the parts put the free RMS buddy VST,

http://www.freesoundeditor.com/VSTScopeeng.htm

on the Master track and when mixing try to keep the figures around the same average RMS of -19 dbfs(Decicels Full Scale which is the LEDS in Mixcraft's scale) and the peaks never go above zero and better to only peak at -3dbfs.

This will allow the sounds to,"Breath" better in the mix.The signal to noise of DAWs(Disgital Audio Workstations) like Mixcraft are so good that even if you think the mixer faders are realy low on the screen it doesn't matter.What matters is how it sounds in the end result

You can check these levels after you have editing/re-EQ'd the song to your taste and is like an ongoing check to make sure you don't,"Crush" any of the recorded sounds.

I have been,"Home Recording" on and off for around 20 years and in some real studios with bands but am by no means an expert and I'm sure there are those on this forum who are better qualified than me however I have learnt some basic dos and don't and am having to re-learn some myself as well

This is why even a simple project like the one I'm working on is taking so much time as I have new gear like Mixcraft and my newly aquired Toneport GX(Unbelieveable for the price) to get my head round.

I've also just had to service my main guitar and need to re-shield it to get less hum.It's not bad but I can do better and am just waiting for some adhesvie copper shielding.

It's only when you go from playing live to a recording environment you realize just how noisey some gear can be and of course,"Noise is the Enemy of Recording!!!"

Every little piece of unwanted noise you let into a recording will steal fequencies from another part and help muddy the mix.

Vincent · Post by **Vincent** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:51 am

I will definately use the RMS buddy VST plugin from now on and I will try to keep the figures around the same average RMS of -19 dbfs.

I have not even got into this part of recording yet...Im basically going by ear when mixing and really didnt understand the whole dbfs thing...Only been recording for about 11 months and only been recording on the computer using mixcraft for about 10 months so I have a lot to learn and some of the "terms" used in regards to digital recording is a bit advanced for me however Im learning more all the time thanks to people like you and from reading a lot of websites and forums.

Thanks.