Thread: first recording using pro tools

Hi GregLarson,
Welcome to RO!

I'm by no means a Pro so take what I say with a grain of salt! The main thing I noticed, and it kinda hit me in the face right off the bat, was some timing issues. Kinda seemed all over the place? IMO the best mix and tones in the world don't mean much if there are distracting intrument mistakes such as timing. One other thing was vocal mix was a really low to my taste. I couldn't understand a word you were singing. It was still high enough, however, to hear a lot of pitch and timing issues.

IMO you should fix the timing, and pitch issues before you spent too much time trying to the your mix levels right. Maybe retrack some things or dive into a good long session of stretching all your audio in time. Retracking would probably be quicker. Once you get it all tightened up I think you'll have a great tune. Then go to work on mixing and finishing it up.

On the flip side, you seem to be a really creative dude! I like alot of what you did. The melody was catchy, you got pretty creative with some of the harmonies and such. Keep it up.

thanks unplugged, i appreciate the response. none of it was recorded to a click, this is actually not my band. I'm going to school for audio production and used my friends band to help me out for this project. Do you maybe have any suggestions on vocals that might make them a little crisper?

-Greg Larson

any other reviews?? i much appreciate any advice from anyone!!

Originally Posted by GregLarson

thanks unplugged, i appreciate the response. none of it was recorded to a click, this is actually not my band. I'm going to school for audio production and used my friends band to help me out for this project. Do you maybe have any suggestions on vocals that might make them a little crisper?

-Greg Larson

OIC. Well that makes me feel better about critiqueing the musicianship then. It's real easy to step on peoples toes when you start telling them there timing sux. I live in Nashville, TN and it's amazing how many wannabe studio players couldn't play to a click to save a their grandma's life!

As far as the vocals go I would start by just adding a little more gain to bring them up in the mix. It's hard for me to even begin to suggest what else to do to them when I can't hear them.

Normally the only thing I do to my vox is a
1: Remove unwanted (DeEsser, Noise)
2: Gain Envelope ( get everything even and audible)
3: Little Comp
4: Mild EQ
5: Verbs (in a Buss)
6: Stereo Imager (in a Buss)

And as I said before. I'm an amature at best, but I'm learning everyday. I have a great engineer that comes to my studio and shows me little tricks and tips. Usually lets me make mistakes and shows me how to fix them instead of just handing over 25 years of recording knowledge. He can usually tell if I layerd my plug-ins wrong when he listens to the tracks.

Hope this helps?

I'll try to help you out. The first thing I notice is the drum sound is bad. It sounds like you recorded the drums in a garage. I would say you need to completely re-do the drums and re-mic them. And the vocals, the singer sounds like he was uncomfortable in the session and singing from his throat (something people do when they are nervous or not trained properly). I would have him re-do his vocals too.

Also, this song reminds me of New Found Glory.

Originally Posted by warnakey

I'll try to help you out. The first thing I notice is the drum sound is bad. It sounds like you recorded the drums in a garage. I would say you need to completely re-do the drums and re-mic them. And the vocals, the singer sounds like he was uncomfortable in the session and singing from his throat (something people do when they are nervous or not trained properly). I would have him re-do his vocals too.

Also, this song reminds me of New Found Glory.

any tips on bringing a little more musicality to the drums? they were recorded in a live room at my school...somewhat acoustically correct but not perfect. I mic'd everything individually and did standard x-y micing for the overheads...I appreciate anything u have to say, I'm trying to learn as much as possible. Would tube pre's be something i may be missing?

Thanks
Greg Larson

A great sounding drum track starts with great sounding drums. Tune and tweak and play with different mic positions until you get something great. Of course, having a nice set of drums is going to make this process easier. Another thing I do is find a nice sample and then try to get my natural drum to sound as close to that as possible. Because a "better" drum sound can often be mistaken for a "good" sound, when really it's still not as good as it could be. I hope that made sense...

But nothing can sound professional when the track is that off tempo. CLICK-click-click-click.