First Post: Smile by Chrome 44 (Aggressive Pop Rock)

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:39 pm

Hello everyone! Smile

This is my first post on these forums, so I thought I would post a song that I just finished recording/mixing/producing for my band Chrome 44. I'm still fairly new to recording, and I would really appreciate any feedback on any aspect of the song/mix/etc... After all, I'm trying to get good at this game!

So don't hold back or anything. Very Happy

http://bcoons80.brinkster.net/demos/smile16.html

(Note that this mix is unmastered)

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:54 pm

This is the best recording i've heard on here for a while. Very clean and spacious sounding.

Sounds a bit like the Foo Fighters to me.

Nice work m8;)

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:45 pm

tobacco_slammers wrote:

This is the best recording i've heard on here for a while. Very clean and spacious sounding.

Sounds a bit like the Foo Fighters to me.

Nice work m8;)

Thanks man! I never thought about it sounding like the Foo Fighters, but you're right - it does sound kind of Fooish. Laughing

Thanks for responding!

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:03 pm

Top Notch!

Thats a great recording man. The guitars sound great, the mix is great, everything sounds great. I dont believe you just started doing this. Can you tell us all about how it was made?

--Byra

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:01 pm

Are those real drums? They sure do sound clear and highly polished.

Very nice work.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:20 pm

ByraFerk wrote:

Top Notch!

Thats a great recording man. The guitars sound great, the mix is great, everything sounds great. I dont believe you just started doing this. Can you tell us all about how it was made?

--Byra

Thanks!

Haha, I'm not completely new, but I'm no expert - yet! Smile

I've only recorded/mixed a handful of songs before, but I've watched others a few times and have done a lot of reading/experimenting.

The recording was done pretty much exclusively through a Presonus Firepod into Cubase Studio 4 (except for the drums). The drums were recorded at a local studio here, but I wasn't completely happy with the sounds we got so I ended up using drumagog to supplement/replace a lot of them. The bass was recorded using the direct out on my bassist's head. Guitars are Mesa Boogie Dual Recs recorded with an SM57 (in a closet full of clothes) straight into the Firepod. Vocals were recorded on a AKG C 3000B direct into the Firepod, inside of my apartment closet (which I won't do again, because come to find out closets tend to resonate at certain frequencies and well... sound like a closet).

Aside from that, I used Waves plug-ins extensively throughout the mix, and did A/B comparisons frequently with some commercial stuff I like.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:25 pm

Space wrote:

Are those real drums? They sure do sound clear and highly polished.

Very nice work.

Space,

Technically they are real drums, because well... the samples I'm using are of real drums! Laughing

I am using drum samples in this mix, but not exclusively. I replaced the kick entirely, and the snare is about 60/40 because there is a lot of snare in the overheads. Some of the toms are replaced as well, because the toms were recorded with internal drum mics and had a ton of attack, but almost no useable ring to them. Even though samples are being used, I still processed them to fit the mix.

Thanks for the response! Very Happy

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:51 pm

Sound good.

Drums? I program all my own drums from scratch. What i sthe difference between my finger doing the triggerin gor a drummer beating on some drums only to have them replaced later. Its all a trigger to me. I have a drumming back ground so its easy for me to know when a drummer will have his hands and what should be played without a4 arms and 3 legs.

On this song I would go back and listen to the kick drum. It seems to pop in and out of time in the parts where the song drops out. Try to re align the drums in time.. Unless you are goingn for that feel in the song then I am wrong =/

Stil la good recording and mix....

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