Hi guys,
Went back to the jam studio last evening. Did 3 'Rough Works' , this time using a full blown 100Watts Marshall amp. It's the first time I played on a non-combo amp. Just turned every knob as clockwise as possible -- and it shows in all the clipping of the sound level and the uncontrolled feedback every time I stop playing :)
I know now what Mr. Page was talking about when he said 'it's healthy' when referring to playing at loud levels. It is very therapeutic.
Here are 2 of them, due to the length of the pieces, I had to encode them at low resolution in order to upload ( max size of 18Mb each ).
1. Sounds Like... ( 9:49 )
As the title says, this one will have you go "Haven't I heard this before?"
http://www.mp3unsigned.com/showmp3.asp?mp3id=57664
*Sorry, can't seem to play this piece, tried reloaded a few times...:(
2. Rough Work (2nd Attempt) (14:00)
I really tried to be more organized this time.
http://www.mp3unsigned.com/showmp3.asp?mp3id=57662
Cheers!
RGX312L
Rework
# 1
can't seem to get 'Sounds Like...' to play.....trying to reload it again
# 2
I listened to the second one... and you've got some decent chops going on.
But there's some definite digital distortion happening in the left and right channels.
Not sure what it is but there's clicking and and noise in the extreme left and right channels. (listening with headphones)
Excellent playing but some work needed on the recording side of things.
But there's some definite digital distortion happening in the left and right channels.
Not sure what it is but there's clicking and and noise in the extreme left and right channels. (listening with headphones)
Excellent playing but some work needed on the recording side of things.
# 3
Thanks Kevin!
Wow, to think you spent 14 minutes listening to the piece....really appreciate it.
Yes, I also think that the digital distortion are quite distracting. It's the price to pay for digital recording I guess. In the tape days, the natrual compression of tapes would have covered such clippings.
Anyway, it is really down to my sloppy set up , I saw the sound levels hitting the red zone but did not readjust it. Hmmm...I think this is an excuse to redo it...time to hit the studio :) woohoo!
Wow, to think you spent 14 minutes listening to the piece....really appreciate it.
Yes, I also think that the digital distortion are quite distracting. It's the price to pay for digital recording I guess. In the tape days, the natrual compression of tapes would have covered such clippings.
Anyway, it is really down to my sloppy set up , I saw the sound levels hitting the red zone but did not readjust it. Hmmm...I think this is an excuse to redo it...time to hit the studio :) woohoo!
# 4
What you might want to try doing is mastering one of your recordings after it's completed.
Usually what I do is record everything as close to the red as possible on the actual tracks. But every time I see that the main fader is clipping, I bring it down a little more to compensate. With the knowledge that eventually I'm going to bring the volume back up later with mastering.
The difference between a song right out of the recorder compared to something properly mastered is like night and day.
I'm not sure what knowledge you have about mastering but there's a couple of ways you can go about doing it.
One is to pay somebody else to do it. It's tough to find somebody inexpensive though that will do a decent job. Although Abbey Road Studios right now is offering mastering on a song by song basis for 90 pounds I think... whatever that is in U.S. currency.
The other method is to get something like T-Racks 3 or T-Racks 24.
(I use both but actually prefer the older T-Racks 24 to the new version)
Basically, you run your song through something that looks like a stack of three pieces of equipment. An EQ, a Compressor and a Limiter.
You start with the EQ and play around to get rid of any harsh mids...maybe boost the highs a little and remove some of the deep bass if the song is only going to be played on MP3 players.
Next you turn on the compressor, add a little extra stereo separation and just by experimenting you start to get more boost and volume out of your song.
Then you use the limiter to kind of keep things in check so it never goes over a set level.
That way you can take a song that's been recorded at a normal level and literally boost it so that it's louder, punchier and more professional sounding...but the limiter won't allow the signal to clip.
There's different schools of thought on mastering... some people say that mainstream radio has gone way too far and people are mastering and boosting so much that there's no dynamics in music anymore. Which is true in some cases (it's called loudness wars... the theory being that the louder a song is, the better it will do on the charts compared to other songs)
All you have to do though is just try not to overdo it. If you see the needles jumping like crazy...you're probably going a little too far. Use a decent sound system and a pair of speakers that you usually listen to music through and know what they sound like. Then use the mastering processors to slightly improve everything gradually until you get the sound you're looking for.
It depends on the music too though. You can sometimes take a kind of lackluster song and give it the 'brick wall' treatment throwing everything up full and completely save something you were going to throw away because the mastering process almost added a sound of it's own.
Sometimes it's a shock to spend a couple of hours mastering a song and then turn off the processor to see what it originally sounded like.
All of a sudden you're loud, pounding song sounds like all the life went out of it and somebody turned down the treble and bass controls. :)
Anyways.. just a suggestion but read up on mastering, take a look at something like T-Racks (get the standalone version so all you have to do is open a .wav or .aif file with it.)
Or send something off to a mastering studio and see what they can do with it.
Usually what I do is record everything as close to the red as possible on the actual tracks. But every time I see that the main fader is clipping, I bring it down a little more to compensate. With the knowledge that eventually I'm going to bring the volume back up later with mastering.
The difference between a song right out of the recorder compared to something properly mastered is like night and day.
I'm not sure what knowledge you have about mastering but there's a couple of ways you can go about doing it.
One is to pay somebody else to do it. It's tough to find somebody inexpensive though that will do a decent job. Although Abbey Road Studios right now is offering mastering on a song by song basis for 90 pounds I think... whatever that is in U.S. currency.
The other method is to get something like T-Racks 3 or T-Racks 24.
(I use both but actually prefer the older T-Racks 24 to the new version)
Basically, you run your song through something that looks like a stack of three pieces of equipment. An EQ, a Compressor and a Limiter.
You start with the EQ and play around to get rid of any harsh mids...maybe boost the highs a little and remove some of the deep bass if the song is only going to be played on MP3 players.
Next you turn on the compressor, add a little extra stereo separation and just by experimenting you start to get more boost and volume out of your song.
Then you use the limiter to kind of keep things in check so it never goes over a set level.
That way you can take a song that's been recorded at a normal level and literally boost it so that it's louder, punchier and more professional sounding...but the limiter won't allow the signal to clip.
There's different schools of thought on mastering... some people say that mainstream radio has gone way too far and people are mastering and boosting so much that there's no dynamics in music anymore. Which is true in some cases (it's called loudness wars... the theory being that the louder a song is, the better it will do on the charts compared to other songs)
All you have to do though is just try not to overdo it. If you see the needles jumping like crazy...you're probably going a little too far. Use a decent sound system and a pair of speakers that you usually listen to music through and know what they sound like. Then use the mastering processors to slightly improve everything gradually until you get the sound you're looking for.
It depends on the music too though. You can sometimes take a kind of lackluster song and give it the 'brick wall' treatment throwing everything up full and completely save something you were going to throw away because the mastering process almost added a sound of it's own.
Sometimes it's a shock to spend a couple of hours mastering a song and then turn off the processor to see what it originally sounded like.
All of a sudden you're loud, pounding song sounds like all the life went out of it and somebody turned down the treble and bass controls. :)
Anyways.. just a suggestion but read up on mastering, take a look at something like T-Racks (get the standalone version so all you have to do is open a .wav or .aif file with it.)
Or send something off to a mastering studio and see what they can do with it.
# 5
Hey Kevin! Thanks for the very useful information . I am more into mixing and really don't put too much attention to the mastering process...yes, I know, it's a BIG SIN :)
I think everything should be in moderation, some folks think compression/limiting is a crime but I agree with you that if the levels are swinging wildly, it would be very tiring to listen to.
By the way,the spirit of these 'rough works' are made is more for jamming rather than producing anything serious. So the set up is just a $5 karaOK microphone connected to a D16 multitrack...that's it. Your comments and information now makes me wanna really pay more attention to the recording side. Thanks, appreciate you taking time to listen, and give such a detailed write up.
By the way, the Abbey Road mastering service sounds really exciting! And if the name is anything to go by, 90 pounds sounds like a bargain.
Cheers!
RGX312L
I think everything should be in moderation, some folks think compression/limiting is a crime but I agree with you that if the levels are swinging wildly, it would be very tiring to listen to.
By the way,the spirit of these 'rough works' are made is more for jamming rather than producing anything serious. So the set up is just a $5 karaOK microphone connected to a D16 multitrack...that's it. Your comments and information now makes me wanna really pay more attention to the recording side. Thanks, appreciate you taking time to listen, and give such a detailed write up.
By the way, the Abbey Road mastering service sounds really exciting! And if the name is anything to go by, 90 pounds sounds like a bargain.
Cheers!
RGX312L
# 6
