HELP! Recorded something quick and rough

ThePrettyDamned

So, this is the Bandit recorded with a PRA 628II on the distortion channel.  Presence at 5.2 and T Dynamics at about 70%, Volume at significantly below 0 (this amp goes loud! This is a loud home volume)  for both parts.

So, info about sounds - Rhythm (most of what you hear) - Gain boost ON, Gain at 5.5, Bass at 9, mids at 4, treble at 6, 

Lead - delay in loop engaged (180pmb tapped in, dotted crotchet, modulation), Gain Boost ON, Gain at 8, Bass at 7, Mids at 8, Treble at 4.5. 

Mic a couple of inches off the grill cloth, couple of inches from centre.  

Very rough recording made in Reaper, I still struggle to use it compared to Ableton, but I'll work it out (struggle to cut bits down... Hence why there are some random noises at the end :S ).  Maybe I'll watch some tutorial vids.  

No mixing, this is literally what came out of the amp, into the mic, into the POD Studio UX2 and into Reaper.  

Obviously, I've accidentally cropped the lead bit too much and knocked off the last few arpeggios too... Balls.  

I need lessons.

ThePrettyDamned

Also, not DI'd - I was in the room, in front of the amp.  The mic seems to reject that noise fairly well.

ThePrettyDamned

I'll see if I can get a clean demo recorded, but for now, I need a break.  DAW's are complex things, and drive me insane

ThePrettyDamned

If anyone has any tips, advice, pointers, lessons or ANYTHING CRITICAL, PLEASE, VOICE IT LOUDLY AND THROW INSULTS.  

Seriously, I need pointers.  To my ears it sounds pretty good though - not bad for a first go, anyway, just plugged in, set up a click track and played, muted, repeat for lead, spent about half hour trying to work out how to cut each down without screwing the other one and lining them up.

Next time I'll just do them all in time with each other, but I was desperate to just make some noises...

spark240

Ok, well I am no expert....but first I would edit the sounclip down to just the guitar piece, when I played it there were other audio bits at the back end.

It sounded to me like the lead overdub wasnt in sync with the main riff? 

As for Daw....I use Studio One and just starting to get to grips with it, check it out, just rough ideas . 

 http://soundcloud.com/spark240/tracks 

ThePrettyDamned

I'm still working out how to use reaper

it's odd actually, I just checked and on reaper the lead is in sync - so I have ballsed it up between reaper and uploading!

I'll take it down and redo this afternoon. ¬_¬ 

ThePrettyDamned

You were right, the upload was out of sync.  How did I manage that?! 

*sigh* 

Hopefully you'll get a new version up this afternoon.  I've moved the mic closer to the grill cloth and I'll do some reamping to try and make the best sound I can.  

ThePrettyDamned

Okay, here is a new one - just riffs this time, I accidentally deleted the lead part and just gave up.

However, I've worked out Reaper quite a bit more.  YAY.

Again, no EQ, no filters or...Er... Techy stuff.  Literally mic -> POD Studio -> Reaper, mic gain adjusted to get decent level with no clipping in the POD.  

The mic is closer this time, and again, it sounds okay - not bad for an absolute rookie like me.  And I am, absolutely, a rookie.  

So, what's bad in it?  How can I make it sound bigger?  Obviously, it's hard to say out of context (perhaps I'll put a drum loop and bass line underneath sometime).

DulcetJones

I found Reaper and Ableton to be too complicated for my purposes.  I know they are great programs but I keep going back to Audacity because it is so easy to use.  I've gotten some good free plug ins for compression that are also easy to use and will make individual tracks or finished songs sound "bigger".   Some of my favorite plug ins are the ASL Dub expander, A. O. M. Invisible Limiter and the Dyson Compressor.  These all can make tracks larger than life with a little experimenting.   

LastMantra

Playing and tone sound great to me. Recording sounds fine too. Really depends on what you want it to sound like though...are you happy with it? What do you want it to sound like, is there are commercial tune you could link us to that is fairly close to the sound you want?

First thing I would suggest is learning how to use the reaper comp. and eq. Don't be scared of pre-sets! Try an eq pre-set with a 80/100hz cut-off and the rock/distorted guitar pre-set in reacomp. 

Don't want to complicate things further but read up about "gain-stages" and don't spend too long fiddling with the sound of one track in isolation if you are planning to introduce other instruments. 

 

Cacofonix

Audition it in context.

Duplicate the track and pan one side slightly left and one side slightly right. Either move one version (very) slightly or add a reverb or echo to it, to add depth.  Don't overdo the reverb.

I had a very quick go using audacity (can't be bothered to find the cubase dongle) and I've overdone it, but you get the idea.  I'll delete it when you say so.

Shark_Eyes

@ThePrettyDammed click before the section you want to remove and press 's' to snip and then you can simply just delete the section you don't want, I've saved hours of my time by learning this.

It sounds good, I didn't hear version 1, but it's a clear recording. If you're happy with the sound then keep going. I use it to record ideas and mini songs.

Keep us updated on your progess!