New here...few questions.

ROOST · 03-18-2018, 06:07 PM

Hello
I have been playing guitar for a while and have semi.recently gotten into recording (past two or three years) on pc.
I am honestly just winging it and tying to take in as much as I can here.. while learning this daw (I am a bit older so learning curve is steep).
So without embarrassing myself is this a good spot to post my ideas and maybe ask for help with collaboration/input on tracks (I can't sing for example..and would love help with that)..
Hopefully I posted this in the correct spot.

Thanks for any input.
Jim

dug dog · 03-18-2018, 07:01 PM

Hey Jim:

Welcome to the forums.
You're in the right spot.
Proceed with collaboration.

Not_Here · 03-18-2018, 08:10 PM

Welcome Roost!

The learning curve may be steep, as you put it, but the views are spectacular! All said and done,( in my experience over these last couple months) Reaper is not difficult, but in that it is so remarkably malleable and capable it can seem a little overwhelming. So far every question I have had has been answered before I've even gotten the question phrased. Reading through the forum for a bit every night has been really helpful. I have subbed to every thread that I come across with something interesting or relevant.

The Video section by Kenny Gioia is incredble. Kenny is a master at explaining things in a way that just flows. A pleasure to listen to also, some say he has a similar accent like Christopher Walken..

I open a window for a video then follow along in Reaper. Great help for sure.
Everybody here seems to be incredibly helpful and willing to share what they know and do.

I bet you will be really pleased that you stepped into the Forum to have a look around.

Peace!

ROOST · 03-21-2018, 08:19 AM

Thanks everybody.
So I have a lot of songs and ideas but I figured I would post a cover I have been working on before I get into it too deep.
Guess I could use starting help or opinions on mix/levels/eq and such.Any input is a big help to me. Please don't hold back on opinions...it's just a silly cover.
Guitars and Bass are real... drums and keyboard stuff vst.

Would eventually love to have help with actual track recording on some things.
It might be very loud (let me know) please turn down volume.

https://soundcloud.com/roost-roost/a...et-another-mix

Judders · 03-21-2018, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROOST

Thanks everybody.
So I have a lot of songs and ideas but I figured I would post a cover I have been working on before I get into it too deep.
Guess I could use starting help or opinions on mix/levels/eq and such.Any input is a big help to me. Please don't hold back on opinions...it's just a silly cover.
Guitars and Bass are real... drums and keyboard stuff vst.

Would eventually love to have help with actual track recording on some things.
It might be very loud (let me know) please turn down volume.

https://soundcloud.com/roost-roost/a...et-another-mix

It's not bad for a self-confessed novice

My main comment is that it sounds too polite and small. It lacks bass and the parts lack impact. You also haven't used panning and reverb to create a sense of space in the mix.

I'd probably start by double-tracking the guitars and panning them hard L&R. This should allow you to bring the level of the synth down so it can float on top of the bass drum, snare and bass guitar. I'd also beef up the bass frequencies on the bass guitar and toms. the toms on particular are getting masked, and as well as giving them more balls you could experiment with slower attack compression to bring the transients out more.

At the end of the day it's a process that takes time. No amount of advice can change your ear. Mixing is a battle for inches, fought over decades.

ROOST · 03-21-2018, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judders

It's not bad for a self-confessed novice

My main comment is that it sounds too polite and small. It lacks bass and the parts lack impact. You also haven't used panning and reverb to create a sense of space in the mix.

I'd probably start by double-tracking the guitars and panning them hard L&R. This should allow you to bring the level of the synth down so it can float on top of the bass drum, snare and bass guitar. I'd also beef up the bass frequencies on the bass guitar and toms. the toms on particular are getting masked, and as well as giving them more balls you could experiment with slower attack compression to bring the transients out more.

At the end of the day it's a process that takes time. No amount of advice can change your ear. Mixing is a battle for inches, fought over decades.

Yea sounds a bit sterile to me as well.Probably the greatest thing I have been fighting is making everything sound as if it were in a large "room". I was going to float some reverb in the main mix to tie it all together...but every video I watch says that's a no no.
Can I copy a guitar track and add a slight delay or re-amp? Or am I better off just old school double tracking?
I am using MT-Power drum kit...so I should at least be able to turn up the individual drums (or output them to a separate track to compress.
Honestly compression is a huge mystery to me when its not related to guitar (will seek out some videos). Will try some of the stuff mentioned and repost.

Thanks so much!

Judders · 03-21-2018, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROOST

Yea sounds a bit sterile to me as well.Probably the greatest thing I have been fighting is making everything sound as if it were in a large "room". I was going to float some reverb in the main mix to tie it all together...but every video I watch says that's a no no.
Can I copy a guitar track and add a slight delay or re-amp? Or am I better off just old school double tracking?
I am using MT-Power drum kit...so I should at least be able to turn up the individual drums (or output them to a separate track to compress.
Honestly compression is a huge mystery to me when its not related to guitar (will seek out some videos). Will try some of the stuff mentioned and repost.

Thanks so much!

You're always better off recording a new part. Faking doubled parts is for when you are mixing other people's music and you can't record any more parts.

I think you should try your reverb experiment. You learn a lot more when you try things yourself!

I think that tom-toms are one of the best instruments to learn about attack and release on compressors. Loop a tom-tom hit so that you can hear the whole decay, then dial in a reasonably high compression ratio (like 6:1 or 8:1) and lower the threshold until you are getting a decent amount of gain reduction (maybe somewhere around 8dB), now start playing with the attack and release so that you can hear the effect on the initial transient and the decay. Compression isn't just about volume levelling - it's about shaping waveforms.

There are a lot of videos about using compression, but keep this article in mind when you are taking in information from other sources, because it dispels a lot of commonly held myths about how compression works (it might not be relevant or make sense now, but once you get a handle on how compression works it will): https://www.attackmagazine.com/featu...f-compression/

Not_Here · 03-21-2018, 02:34 PM

I might also offer an invite to get in on the Mix Contest It is a great place to practice and be able to hear many different choices all made on the same source/song.

I liked your Cover choice also, and will concur with the previous comments. Lots of key's hogging up the mids freq's and it seems there is a lot more space available in the left to right range that has yet to be utilized. How bout going out of "the box" a little and listen to this as an "example" but not really a suggestion. just food for thought. (ignore the vid, it is the music/mix I'm trying to link to)

Tod · 03-21-2018, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROOST

Thanks everybody.
So I have a lot of songs and ideas but I figured I would post a cover I have been working on before I get into it too deep.
Guess I could use starting help or opinions on mix/levels/eq and such.Any input is a big help to me. Please don't hold back on opinions...it's just a silly cover.
Guitars and Bass are real... drums and keyboard stuff vst.

Would eventually love to have help with actual track recording on some things.
It might be very loud (let me know) please turn down volume.

https://soundcloud.com/roost-roost/a...et-another-mix

I think this track has a lot of potential. I agree with Judders about the bass, but I think there's also some clutter and masking going on between the bass and low end on the guitars.

I think your mix has plenty of impact, but here again I agree with Judders, some panning to give it more width would help a lot.

The main thing I think could use improvement is the drums. Not the sound, they sound fine. The overall programming is okay, but there are several places, I think the programming could be improved quit a bit.

ROOST · 03-21-2018, 08:33 PM

Yea...def.not a drummer. That is just my old sr16 pushing a drum vst with some fill work. Hoping to get some help with that stuff as well...but figured I should fix some of the big things 1st.
I did a little pan work and added some eq to bass.
Did a copy of main guitar for now reamped and panned (had little time today).
I put "UpStereo" vst on main mix as well> Not sure if that's helping much but it def. makes it sound wider in my phones.
Let me know if I made anything better (or worse ) here.
Some of the bass issues might be because I am using bias fx (normally a guitar vst/sim)> Might need to look for a different solution there.

https://soundcloud.com/roost-roost/always-mix-wide

Thanks so much for all the quick help today.

Judders · 03-22-2018, 06:30 AM

Panning the guitars has opened up the sound much more. I'd leave stereo-wideners for now, as they can create problems in the stereo image if you're not careful, and depending how they work.

Remembering UpStereo was a blast from the past though... I think it's been 10 years or more since I used that.

Regarding bass, it is very common to blend the DI signal with an amped signal (real or software sim). Have a go at duplicating the bass track (I like to keep mine in a folder, both for neatness and so that I can process them separately and together) and take the amp sim off one of them. Use the straight DI track to bring out the low end and use the amp sim track to bring out the higher frequencies and articulation.

I think it's already sounding a lot better, what do you think?