Come flog me

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:23 am

Ok guys, I have been having a blast with my friends (I have gotten my cash-monies worth from all my recording stuff just dicking around with my friend, so addicting) but any way, I now have a couple recordings up and need to start getting some feedback.

www.soundclick.com/mrjulius

"Shake Poo" is the most recent, and it is really hard for me to sing and drum at the same time, so that is why it sounds super bad. I also didn't mix the drums and the vox loud enough (except, no one wants to hear me sing).

Sugar we're pooing now is probably the worst recording, first one I did, just overall bad.

But yeah, if y'all could throw some critiques at me, what do you notice that SUCKS about the recordings, and what do you like (if you like anything) and ideas to help. Or if you just tell me what is bad (besides the playing Wink

) I can figure out (using the search thingy) how to fix it.

Thanks guys, peace.

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:48 pm

I cant really give any good points about this recording m8 (Shake Poo). Sorry:(

The drums sound very dead, as if it were recorded in a large cardboard box.

The guitar is very distorted and loud which overpowers everything else in the track.

I cant make out the vocals at all and they are very quite.

Sorry to sound so harsh but i'm just giving you some pointers from a listeners point of view which I hope helps you in the future.

I had a quick listen of the other tracks and I would say "Sunny Poo" is by far the best sound out of them all. The only thing I would point out on that track is that the guitar has a bit to much flanger added to it.

Hope this helps;)

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:45 pm

Yeah, pretty much what I have been thinking.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:33 am

Dear Mr. Julius,

We regret to inform you that your recording has not passed THE WORST SOUNDING Awards highest low standards requirement to be considered.

We would be happy to slice you to smithereens when you can deliver a more plausible inferior product.

Until then, our sincerest apologies go to any of your listeners that may have inadvertently heard your less than inferior product.

Thank you for your rear entry
Ms. Jane Saw

(Formerly Professor of Nudnickal Studies of the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople)

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:35 am

Look, as you say, the defects of these recordings are glaringly obvious. If you want some help, you might describe how you made these. (I'm assuming this isn't some sort of parody. If it is, you should make the songs bad in a more interesting way.)

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:53 am

RemyRAD wrote:

Dear Mr. Julius,

We regret to inform you that your recording has not passed THE WORST SOUNDING Awards highest low standards requirement to be considered.

We would be happy to slice you to smithereens when you can deliver a more plausible inferior product.

Until then, our sincerest apologies go to any of your listeners that may have inadvertently heard your less than inferior product.

Thank you for your rear entry
Ms. Jane Saw

(Formerly Professor of Nudnickal Studies of the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople)

I just can not tell if this is really funny, or just really condescending!!!
I have to say i laughed when i read that one though...!!!

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:05 pm

Ok here we go, square one time.

The only time I mess around on drums is at a friends house, but check out the "Drum Sound test" file on the soundclick.

Now lets hear some critiques on the sounds. I am using minimal EQ,

2 AT2020's as overheads and an SM57 on the bassdrum, about 3"s from the face dead center.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:50 pm

My sincere advice to you is for you to go out and pick up a few books, and a few videos on recording/mixing before you pick up any more recording equipment. Learn the theory of everything first, and learn some of the techniques modern engineers use to get the sounds they want.

My second piece of advice to you would be to find a few commercial recordings that you just LOVE the sound of, and figure out some way of being able to A/B your recordings with them on the fly. When you record something, like drums, compare how they sound to the commercial stuff and then think "what is different about it". Then try to fix it. Recording is a very difficult beast to master, and requires reading, experimenting, reading some more, more experimenting, reading about specific techniques, experimenting with those techniques, and so on.

You're off to a good start by being a part of some forums here, but in order for anyone here to help you out you need to have some of the basics down first! The best way to learn the basics would be to watch someone else do it. This is best in person, but can also be acheived by watching videos.

So go pick up some videos! Watch one, then try to put into practice what you've learned. Then watch another and think about everything. Keep trying to match commercial sounds, and then a couple weeks down the line GO BACK and watch the videos ALL OVER AGAIN. The more you watch and the more you try, the more things will start clicking into place for you. Smile

Forums are also a great place to ask specific questions, but you can't expect someone to explain every step required to make your songs sound good.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:23 pm

I give it good points,it sounds super,songs a re good one

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:55 am

Any know some decent videos to check into, or at least some google search terms to give me a basis?

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:29 am

OK, the drum test gives us something to work with. First thing is that you have lots of hiss and hum. Probably one of the big reasons you have them so low in the mix. Just too noisy when you turn them up. Check cables, proper grounding, etc. Do you have this much noise in your vocals? What is your signal chain? How is your gain structure set up?

The next thing is the drums themselves. You need to work on tuning and proper damping. The biggest problem is the two most important drums - snare and kick. The toms don't sound so bad. The kick sounds awful. Do you have a dead body in there? Take anything you have in there out and tune the drum correctly. It should be part of a nice sequence of tones with the toms. If it rings too much damp lightly with moongel or tape or a piece of foam. Don't go overboard. Right now it is completely dead. The snare needs to be tuned as well and probably needs a new head. The snares need to be adjusted. Are they in good shape? Any of them broken? The fact that the toms sound pretty good is a good sign. If you get the snare and kick sounding better and get the noise out of your system, you'll get a descent sound.

Now the cymbals...well, that's probably a matter of buying better cymbals. Sorry. Probably just have to live with it for now.

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:51 am

MrJulius wrote:

Any know some decent videos to check into, or at least some google search terms to give me a basis?

I've mostly seen mixing videos, but you'll probably want a general recording video to start with. Once you've learned a few things about recording the sounds, THEN you can move on to how to mix them. Go to sweetwater.com, musiciansfriend.com, and amazon.com and just do some searches for recording videos. Or, search through these forums for some recommendations.

Once you get comforatable with the recording phase, you can check out some videos like Charles Dye's Mix It Like a Record, Internal Mixing 1 & 2, and Multi-Platinum Mixing. They expect you to have some experience already, so I wouldn't start with them!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:40 pm

I have to agree with everyone else, (except maybe the condescending one). I remember being at this stage in recording, when you're just starting to hear things you played out loud on a recording. You're probably having too much fun to care what it sounds like. So, yeah, videos and books are a good idea, and listening. I have learned so much lately by just being somewhere and listening to someone play an instrument, recording it, and then listening to it at home. That's how you learn what your goal should be.

The point is, just keep listening and trying new things. It can only get better! Wink

BTW, recording drums isn't easy. It is one of the most challenging things to get right. I surely don't have it right yet!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:54 pm

CONGRATULATIONS! It's not the worst recording thats been posted on here. Its close but really it pales in comparison to "The Worst".

My guess is these guys are simply fooling around on someone elses equipment while they're not there, and then posting on the internet as a lark.

While I would like to critique your.....ummm....recordings, I find myself at a loss of words and nowhere to start.

Its truly wretched. Keep up the good work.

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:02 am

Since you've only got the three mics for drums, goto Youtube and search for "Recorderman" - a good example of how to use two mics on a kit.

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