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DAW snapshot


genesis3

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This is a snapshot of the backing vocals in a DAW on a tune by the band the Winery Dogs....they're giving props to their vocals but what I got out of this pic , if you look to the far left, it looks like track titles...and what I eventually  got out of this was the very interesting reminder of what it can sometimes take to get a cool guitar,etc sound happening. By that I mean, it at least APPEARS that there are several different tracks of guitars going on....now, they MIGHT be contiguous, meaning it's one part, then a next part , then a next, but I think it could also be something I've seen before which is composite tracks that an engineer will mix and match together to get the final sound you hear. In other words, some of those great , big sounding guitar tracks you hear by some artists may actually be the result of several composite takes, maybe each one with their own EQ, amp choice, ambience ,etc,etc,etc all blended together to give that final sound.....maybe that's why I can't get some guitar track sounds the way I want!  :robotmad: ....I'd like to see a breakdown explanation of the guitar tracks and setting track by track. That would be so cool...

 

winery dogs interesting PT screen capture.jpg

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genesis3 wrote:

 

some of those great , big sounding guitar tracks you hear by some artists may actually be the result of several composite takes, maybe each one with their own EQ, amp choice, ambience ,etc,etc,etc all blended together to give that final sound.....

 

I think that's a pretty common technique.  Just a few weeks ago I was just reading an interview w/ Jerry Cantrell & his producer for the last AIC record, and they mic'd up half a dozen amps (or re-amped the signal) and figured out which blends work right.   At the very least, there is very often a couple mics on an amp.

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I'm in the middle of recording an album right now. Almost every guitar I record gets a couple of mics, usually one close and one room mic. Sometimes 2 amps at once. Maybe a DI too. The other night I recorded a baritone guitar through a Leslie (3 tracks) and an acoustic (2 tracks). So, 5 tracks already and I haven't even gotten to the parts that I would normally play live on the song. :) I'm sure we'll end up with a dozen guitar tracks or more on this song. They might not all make the cut when it come to mixdown, but it's great to have all these options. I love recording.

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This is an interesting thread. I really want to get into recording good sounding stuff and I'm such a n00b at it. I have Reaper which i love and i have barely touched the surface of it. Maybe it's time to look for some tutorial vids explaining how to produce a good mix.

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I am just learning to use Cubase and Garageband. I have good regular mics (a pair of really old Shure 57s and a few 90s-made 58s) but no decent condensers. My drum mics are the CAD (I think) cheap ass pack that's always on Musician's Friend's stupid deal. They're ok, but I can't record a decent kick sound for the life of me.

I have two USB interfaces, a Tascam 1800 something with 16 inputs, and a MobilePre with 2 inputs.

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Good gear definitely counts, and improving each bit makes incremental improvements in your overall sound. The most important factors though, are the performance and knowing how to capture it. Training and experience are the biggest things that make the difference between your recording sounding like a bedroom demo or sounding like it belongs on an album. Lots of people will tell you that there's no wrong way when it comes to recording. However, after so many years of doing it, the people who are good at it have found what works and what doesn't. It would be more accurate to say there are lots of right ways of doing it, and lots of wrong ways. 

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BydoEmpire wrote:


genesis3 wrote:

 

some of those great , big sounding guitar tracks you hear by some artists may actually be the result of several composite takes, maybe each one with their own EQ, amp choice, ambience ,etc,etc,etc all blended together to give that final sound.....

 

 

I think that's a pretty common technique.  Just a few weeks ago I was just reading an interview w/ Jerry Cantrell & his producer for the last AIC record, and they mic'd up half a dozen amps (or re-amped the signal) and figured out which blends work right.   At the very least, there is very often a couple mics on an amp.

 

 

yea I knew it was common, ...just sort of a reminder to myself that sometimes just plugging in and trying to reproduce a certain sound off a record ,etc could actually be that technique I'm hearing rather than a single pass,etc...I forget stuff easily lol....

 

The other sobering reminder for me, is that engineering aint' easy!...being a musician doesn't necessarily make you an engineer , not that that's any sort of revelation of course...there's a reason those guys can tell when to subtract 3dB's from 1.2khz on the snare drum,etc,etc,etc,etc...they're skilled at it. What makes it tantalizing for me though, is the high quality of the equipment at our disposal these days...when you sample record something, you can really hear the hiqh quality you can get these days and then think, wow, this should be easy. Uh, no , it's not...particarly when you start talking about getting a professional sounding mix that could fool you into thinking it's done in a pro studio. The possibilites are there, but the mixing chops, not so much!

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