Is this an acceptable sound?

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:26 pm

Hello and Good Day to all and sundry,

Here is the latest. This was recorded in stereo then I edited it by nudging the left track one ms to the right so the snare peeks meet. This is my first edit other than a fade in or out, which I didn't do in this track. Can I still call myself a purist?

Track is called Untitled Mixdown because it got renamed when I edited it and it's better than what I named it.

Available here.

Anyways, is this an acceptable demo sound?
Not that I'm making demos, just that it's recorded on crap.
I know the bass is on one side. It's batshait hard to get it in the center and still have some kick drum.

I cut 19 tracks from this Jamb, this is the most mental one. And I like most of it, cept where I drop the beat at 1:08. Any thoughts on this, it changes up well and gets going but it sounds mental because I had a stoner brain melt.

Any tips on stereo recording are most welcome as well as _any_ comment on content. Rip this apart so that I can learn from my mistakes.

Peace, cheers and all that jazz Smile

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:58 pm

I think the guitar is too far left.
I'm wearing headphones though.

I also think it sounds like porno music.
From around :20 to 1:00 especially.

I botched my first stereo recordings, hell, I still botch things, only worse now I know how to work the mixer's FX processor.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 2:17 pm

Codemonkey wrote:

I think the guitar is too far left.
I'm wearing headphones though.

It's all left. Not cool? I kind of went for guitar one side bass the other and stereo drums. The mics are only about 6 inches apart and facing in slightly toe out on the floor in front of the kick. Amps either side.

Codemonkey wrote:

I also think it sounds like porno music.
From around :20 to 1:00 especially.

AWESOME! Seriously, best laugh all day.

Codemonkey wrote:

I botched my first stereo recordings, hell, I still botch things, only worse now I know how to work the mixer's FX processor.

Upload some stuff?

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 2:23 pm

The first thing I noticed about these 280s was that they're wider than most headphones. What's left is left, what's right is right. To me it just sounds unnaturally far.
Somewhere I saw that you shouldn't need to pan 100% unless you're doubling something. I dunno though.

"Upload some stuff?"
Hmm. If you fancy hearing a mash of the radio stations round here from a few months ago, I'll oblige. I was thinking about posting something more recent anyway.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 2:42 pm

Code, wanna have a quick listen to this stereo difference?

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4B7LJ0DM

That is the wave file. The Song in called Loose. The Mp3 is now at the soundclick page linked at the top.

It's crazy how much mp3s suck...

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:07 pm

By botch I mean endlessly play around with during songs. Generally you can tell by the sudden movement of the guitarist from left to right of the singers. Why I had the guitar off centre anyway, I dunno.
It's more me being >_< about some aspect of it, than it actually sounding bad...most of the time.

That's a nasty wait on the free download from there.

"It's crazy how much mp3s suck..."
It is. Encoded something a minute ago, and I forgot that Audacity is retarded about bitrate, and left it at the setting I use for Church sermons...48kbps.
I can't even describe how bad it sounds for music.

OK, I'm listening. I can just about hear the difference between mp3/wav. I need a proper headphone amp...
The guitar before was sorta pointed straight at my ear, now it's more in front and sounds like it's in the same room. IMO a good thing.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:55 pm

Code, turn your headphones around. The guitar in the 1st one is too far RIGHT.

Seriously tho, for this type of 3-piece ensemble, I like that the bass is off center and the guitar is panned, although I'd bring it in just a little toward the center. It creates a realistic sense of staging, unless of course the bass player was in the middle of the room. Except for special effects, I think you need a little of an instrument in both earpieces.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:58 pm

It *was* left, I hope. Greener did update it and I wondered why it switched, but maybe my head wasn't screwed on properly the first time anyway...

I agree. Panning is good. Just a bit far.

Any suggestions for a guitar + vocal combo?

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:03 pm

CodeMonkey wrote:

Quote:

Any suggestions for a guitar + vocal combo?

Les Paul and Mary Ford were quite good.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:12 pm

Well, I walked into that one.

Les Paul was the father of multi-track recording, according to a Yahoo search. Didn't know that.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:21 pm

You've never heard him play?

Just how young are you?

See if you can find a track OL and stream it. He was the king of delay. Also very insrumental, I believe, in the development of the echo chamber (a real cave with a steel plate, speaker and microphone).

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:28 pm

"You've never heard him play?"
30 seconds ago, never.

"Just how young are you?"
I fell out of the tail end of the 80s.

I'm listening to Nola and Caravan on last.fm, and I'm impressed. The tone on the guitar is fantastic.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:03 pm

Greener,

Sorry about hijacking your thread. Will you accept my apology?

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:20 pm

Codemonkey wrote:

The tone on the guitar is fantastic.

It should be, it's a Les Paul Original!!!!

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:48 pm

Hijack away! I do it constantly.

I know Les Paul Guitars are expensive, never heard him play either. I'm from just on the early side of the mid Eighties.

The guitar used in these tracks has "Epiphone" across the top and "Gibson" just above the nut and made in Taiwan on the back. It's the best guitar I've been in a room with.

The best bit is I booked studio time, so when we are done I can actually mix something instead of having to cross my fingers and hope it sounds good.

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