Thread guitar solo not sitting
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mikey_j_420
New AFfiliate
First post
1 Posted on 01/16/2005 at 08:42:51
Hey everyone whats up?
I've been looking through the forums looking for an answer to my question, as well as looking on the net to see if I can find some pointers.
My buddy and I just recorded a killer tune in Cool Edit Pro 2.0. All the levels and everything sound great, untill the solo comes in.
I cant seem to get it to sit right. It kind of makes everything sound like shyte when it comes in. What I mean by this is, as soon as it comes in you can hear a noticeable "?fuzzy?" sound. Basically it sounds like nasty clipping.
Now, I've tried the tricks that everyone has mentioned about getting vocals to sit in the mix, I thought maybe this would help, but it didnt really. I've soloed the solo tracks and there is no clipping or anything, everything sounds great, I've also taken note of all my eq values on the other tracks as to avoid clashing.
I just cant seem to make it sit well.
I dont want it to just sit in the mix, I want it to come out and raise above the rest of the track, but, it's just not happening.
Sorry for the novel I've just written, I just want to make sure all of you know whats happening.
So if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.
Can't wait till September, Im starting Music Industry Arts here in my home town at Fanshawe College and Im sure I'll learn everything I need to know there, but for right now, I am stumped.
LAter,
Bones.
I've been looking through the forums looking for an answer to my question, as well as looking on the net to see if I can find some pointers.
My buddy and I just recorded a killer tune in Cool Edit Pro 2.0. All the levels and everything sound great, untill the solo comes in.
I cant seem to get it to sit right. It kind of makes everything sound like shyte when it comes in. What I mean by this is, as soon as it comes in you can hear a noticeable "?fuzzy?" sound. Basically it sounds like nasty clipping.
Now, I've tried the tricks that everyone has mentioned about getting vocals to sit in the mix, I thought maybe this would help, but it didnt really. I've soloed the solo tracks and there is no clipping or anything, everything sounds great, I've also taken note of all my eq values on the other tracks as to avoid clashing.
I just cant seem to make it sit well.
I dont want it to just sit in the mix, I want it to come out and raise above the rest of the track, but, it's just not happening.
Sorry for the novel I've just written, I just want to make sure all of you know whats happening.
So if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.
Can't wait till September, Im starting Music Industry Arts here in my home town at Fanshawe College and Im sure I'll learn everything I need to know there, but for right now, I am stumped.
LAter,
Bones.
mackovyak
AFfable Poster
2 Posted on 01/19/2005 at 11:05:06
If there is definately no clipping on the track, than I would assume that it's either 1 of 2 things.
1. What plug-ins are you running? Are they boosting the gain to a clipping point? Often when you're close to clipping, if you apply an Eq boost to a certain frequency, it could throw the track over the clip level.
Or
2. What is the approximate level of your entire mix? If you're levels are starting to get over unity gain, when you try to raise the volume of the solo track, it might be pushing too much out of your output.
Try grouping all of the tracks except the guitar solo and bringing them all down a few dB instead of turning up the solo track.
1. What plug-ins are you running? Are they boosting the gain to a clipping point? Often when you're close to clipping, if you apply an Eq boost to a certain frequency, it could throw the track over the clip level.
Or
2. What is the approximate level of your entire mix? If you're levels are starting to get over unity gain, when you try to raise the volume of the solo track, it might be pushing too much out of your output.
Try grouping all of the tracks except the guitar solo and bringing them all down a few dB instead of turning up the solo track.
Axeman
AFfectionate Poster
3 Posted on 01/19/2005 at 19:37:52
Bones-
Can you post an audio clip of the offending track? You'd need a web host somewhere....
If you can't, email me the track and I'll give it a listen.
Can you post an audio clip of the offending track? You'd need a web host somewhere....
If you can't, email me the track and I'll give it a listen.
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
mikey_j_420
New AFfiliate
4 Posted on 01/20/2005 at 14:30:31
Awesome guys, thanks for the responses. Im going to go ahead and try whay you suggested, I think what you said about boosting certain eq's might be the culprit.
Axeman, I dont know if I could email it to you, it's a decent size file. I know there are a bunch of hosting sites but I cant think of any off of the top of my head. I know you recommended one to me a couple of months back and I got everything set up through there, but of course, now I cant remember the site at all. Do you happen to remember which site it is??
Anyways, I really appreciate the help.
Thanks,
Bones.
Axeman, I dont know if I could email it to you, it's a decent size file. I know there are a bunch of hosting sites but I cant think of any off of the top of my head. I know you recommended one to me a couple of months back and I got everything set up through there, but of course, now I cant remember the site at all. Do you happen to remember which site it is??
Anyways, I really appreciate the help.
Thanks,
Bones.
Axeman
AFfectionate Poster
5 Posted on 01/20/2005 at 14:27:48
www.nowhereradio.com ? That's where my stuff is hosted...
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
mikey_j_420
New AFfiliate
6 Posted on 01/20/2005 at 15:05:07
cool. thanks.
I got it posted there.
the link is: https://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4318&alid=-1
thanks again Axeman.
Bones.
I got it posted there.
the link is: https://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4318&alid=-1
thanks again Axeman.
Bones.
mikey_j_420
New AFfiliate
7 Posted on 01/20/2005 at 17:23:15
My God I Got It!!!!
Mac, I didnt even think about the fact that all of my levels together was so red that it was almost brown!!! lol
Anyways, I updated the NoWhere RAdio site. Take a listen and let me know what you guys think. Keep in mind that I had to save it as a 128 K MP3 to make it fit on the site. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks again guys. I really cant tell you how grateful I am that you guys share your experiences with me.
Thanks,
Bones.
https://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4318&alid=-1
Mac, I didnt even think about the fact that all of my levels together was so red that it was almost brown!!! lol
Anyways, I updated the NoWhere RAdio site. Take a listen and let me know what you guys think. Keep in mind that I had to save it as a 128 K MP3 to make it fit on the site. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks again guys. I really cant tell you how grateful I am that you guys share your experiences with me.
Thanks,
Bones.
https://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4318&alid=-1
Axeman
AFfectionate Poster
8 Posted on 01/21/2005 at 05:49:15
Bones-
Nice chops. Not really my style, but nicely done. Good tone, too.
A few notes-
1. The is no stereo separation in the mix. It sounds like everything is panned right up the middle. At best, your stereo field is VERY narrow. Since you are going for the "wall of guitars" sound, that means that pretty much everything in the mix is in the same frequency range. You need to give each track a space of its own. I would use eq, pan, and a very small amount of reverb or delay to give things some space. Use the pan to create the stereo soundstage horizontally, use the reverb or delay to move things forward or back within the soundstage. Use the EQ to keep from getting things too muddy and having the guitars step on each other. Did you record the guitars in mono or stereo? If stereo, make sure that the L/R tracks are panned so that there is a lot of separation between them. I prefer to record guitars in mono. Easier to place in the mix.
2. The drum patch is really dry, and IMHO doesn't fit the genre of the song. That may just be a style choice on your part, and that's fine, but even if you decide to use this patch, you need to find a way to get it to fit in the mix better. The drum kit, too, seemed to be mono.
3. A four minute song without a single drum fill SCREAMS drum machine...... I would make sure you get some fills in there, and maybe a bridge that goes cut time to add some interest and drama to the song.
4. So far as the lead goes, it doesn't sit right because it has no place to sit (see number one above). It also still sounds distorted to me (not the good kind of distortion). Solo it and see what the levels are on the master bus. Then disable plugins one at a time until that buzzy sound quits. I wouldn't do anything too drastic to it until you address the above problems, though.
Overall, I think you have a lot of potential. The guitar tone is really good, and it's hard to capture that "scoop" guitar tone. The chops are pretty good, too. So now you just gotta learn how to record it!!
Nice chops. Not really my style, but nicely done. Good tone, too.
A few notes-
1. The is no stereo separation in the mix. It sounds like everything is panned right up the middle. At best, your stereo field is VERY narrow. Since you are going for the "wall of guitars" sound, that means that pretty much everything in the mix is in the same frequency range. You need to give each track a space of its own. I would use eq, pan, and a very small amount of reverb or delay to give things some space. Use the pan to create the stereo soundstage horizontally, use the reverb or delay to move things forward or back within the soundstage. Use the EQ to keep from getting things too muddy and having the guitars step on each other. Did you record the guitars in mono or stereo? If stereo, make sure that the L/R tracks are panned so that there is a lot of separation between them. I prefer to record guitars in mono. Easier to place in the mix.
2. The drum patch is really dry, and IMHO doesn't fit the genre of the song. That may just be a style choice on your part, and that's fine, but even if you decide to use this patch, you need to find a way to get it to fit in the mix better. The drum kit, too, seemed to be mono.
3. A four minute song without a single drum fill SCREAMS drum machine...... I would make sure you get some fills in there, and maybe a bridge that goes cut time to add some interest and drama to the song.
4. So far as the lead goes, it doesn't sit right because it has no place to sit (see number one above). It also still sounds distorted to me (not the good kind of distortion). Solo it and see what the levels are on the master bus. Then disable plugins one at a time until that buzzy sound quits. I wouldn't do anything too drastic to it until you address the above problems, though.
Overall, I think you have a lot of potential. The guitar tone is really good, and it's hard to capture that "scoop" guitar tone. The chops are pretty good, too. So now you just gotta learn how to record it!!
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
Axeman
AFfectionate Poster
9 Posted on 01/21/2005 at 05:51:18
I also just had a thought- what are you using for monitors?
I'ts possible that your monitors or your room setup (or both) are lying to your ears.......
I'ts possible that your monitors or your room setup (or both) are lying to your ears.......
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
mikey_j_420
New AFfiliate
10 Posted on 01/21/2005 at 05:59:51
Axeman, I think I know what the problem may be then now that I read that.
The guitars were recorded in stereo and I just used the pan to pan the stereo track to the left or right, which would probably leave some of the opposite side still coming through. lol, I dont even know how to say what Im thinking. I'll state that in the form of a question:
If I have a stereo guitar track, and I pan it in Cool Edit to 72 left, would that mean that there would still be some levels coming out of the right side? like say 28?
Im gonna try and mono the guitar tracks to see if that has any effect, which Im guessing it will.
Thanks a lot,
Bones.
Oh and BTW, that un-Godly drum track is a loop that is just there to keep time. I just use those until my drummer has a chance to sit in and add his parts.
The guitars were recorded in stereo and I just used the pan to pan the stereo track to the left or right, which would probably leave some of the opposite side still coming through. lol, I dont even know how to say what Im thinking. I'll state that in the form of a question:
If I have a stereo guitar track, and I pan it in Cool Edit to 72 left, would that mean that there would still be some levels coming out of the right side? like say 28?
Im gonna try and mono the guitar tracks to see if that has any effect, which Im guessing it will.
Thanks a lot,
Bones.
Oh and BTW, that un-Godly drum track is a loop that is just there to keep time. I just use those until my drummer has a chance to sit in and add his parts.
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