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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
 Posted - 08/08/2008 : 06:24:38
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...drinking beer & just sittin' around a garage with a free concert. 
I'm just dabbling in recording & promotion. The guitarist is a guy I work with & he's pretty good. I whipped up a website for them to call home, nothin' fancy but something, ya know? Check the Music page for a few songs.
http://gamefreaks.net/defrag/prolifix/
I used minimal equipment the first time out: my stereo R0DE NT4 X/Y mic http://usa.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT4 with a Korg 1-bit HD 2-chan recorder http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=MR1000&category_id=3. I set the mic toward the Deluxe Reverb & a NADY vocal amp away from the bass & drums, yet the latter still came through fairly well. I'd like to buy the new Mackie 1202 mixer, a couple SM57s & maybe a Royer 121. With good mic coverage, I think I can get much better sound even with bleed in the garage. Really, I'd like to get these boys into a proper environment for recording.
Another guy I work with has a number of CDs out & I talked him into over $3K in high-end gear. He's really happy with his setup now but unsatisfied with his masters. So, he gave me his shrink-wrapped box of Steinberg WaveLab Studio 6 http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audioediting_product/audioeditigng_wavelabstudio6.html & wants me to start mastering his tracks. I'm busy in life & the learning curve will be forever steep since I have a real job. At least I'm trying to fugg around with it.
I had Sonar Producer 6 http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/default.asp loaded up but might use Reaper instead, dunno yet. eep.. I haven't played my guitars in about a month & am starting to miss them. This blues band I'm hangin' with is starting to rub off & light my spark again though.
Lastly, I ordered Bob Katz's book Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-Science-Bob-Katz/dp/0240805453 which should be indispensable as he's like God's own engineer. Hehe, I'm looking forward to sorting out dBV, dBu, dBm, dBFS, etc.
If you guys have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.  |
Edited by - DeFrag on 08/08/2008 06:29:34 |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 06:44:33
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Sorry that I can't weight in with any recording technology, DeFrag but I do know a good cover of stormy monday when I hear one. |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 06:57:11
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| That was take #2. The first one was Stormy Monday reggae style which was awesome but it didn't capture as well. There's nothing like having a girl sing some mean blues. |
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MullyFX
Gold Member
Germany
753 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 09:52:13
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dude.... if you don't do masters professionally don't do it....
there's of course always a chance to have something decent enough... but mastering is quite the art (and it's not only what they want us to believe)
you gotta have the correct monitoring setup, a treated room - a good set of ears and - here's where I differ from most folks.... decent (not super high end) gear
Wave Lab is a wave editor not a mastering studio.... you get tools like multiband maximizer and stuff like that.... that'll make the mix sound like a CD mix... but only for a couple of minutes.
then again.... if he's not planning on publishing a CD - just do it.
whenever I'm making a demo I master myself as well and it usually sounds like shit... but hey it's just for myspace right...
the tools I use are
T-RacKS from IK Multimedia
Ozone from iZotope
and sometimes the Vintage Warmer from PSP Audioware which is a cool Tape Saturation Dual Band Limiter.
you can load all these into WaveLab and sprinkle a bit of pixie dust over the track...
Just don't expect that it sounds like a professionally mastered CD afterwards... It'll still be enough to impress some folks.
just my two cents |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 10:27:21
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It really depends on what your final mastered sound should be..... i have heard some very impressive 'lo-fi' stuff by local and some americana bands and i like the vibe a lot......sometimes using the wrong mic on an amp or drums can give you something different..remember the people who pioneered this stuff were experimenting so a lot of the 'rules' were written by their experiences... i've always loved the very open minded approach shown by people like George Martin with the Beatles etc to new ideas.... Clapton also threw the rule book out the window by cranking a marshall in the studio and puttiing the mic on the other side of the room with John Mayalls Bluesbreakers famous 'Beano' album... i have also read where EVH uses SM57's as overheads and hates compression,even though conventional wisdom at the moment is to compress everything and mix it as loud as possible.... ..the main thig i find is patience..our band has absolutly none and i get very frustrated when trying to record anything,drummers especially don't want to take time micing the kit properly and just want to hear the end product and then moan about the drum sound..... ...having said all that i have got some decent results out of a little tascam 8 track,but my favourite way to record when possible is for to go for it live at the same time....if you can get it in the first couple of takes.......keeping people motivated and interested can be hard after hours of problem solving if you have a hiccup with the gear etc.....all part of the territory when your the producer/engineer.......that also means trying to keep a lid of people dropping bye with 'refreshments'.. beer isn't too bad,trying to remember where everything goes/or what you just played when your stoned is another... ... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 08/08/2008 10:31:18 |
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PaulH
Gold Member
535 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 11:43:18
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With a decent soundcard (I use the Edirol Firewire stuff) Sonar 7 Producer could be all you need...
It does fine for me with a few SM57/58 mics. |
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Been recording a band...
