Self-Recorded Bands and Songwriters Post Your Mixes Here!

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by unitymusic

Here is a song I will be doing a crazy video for in may... the song is called "A Cold Head Of Ice". We are actually holding a mini "burning man" like event for the shoot... I'm pretty happy with the mix except I think everything, especially the guitars are too bright.

http://iwilllookunderthisrock.com/A%...ot%20final.mp3

-Danny

I don't think it's too bright! nice song, good hooks and all that

[jruberto]

Ok, I'll bite..

Fleeting | Jen Korte & The Loss

a few session photos, some of these might actually be from that day. or not. my notes aren't where i am right now.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...6&l=37ea88c320

a mix of nice chain / cheap chain.. grace 801 and frickin mackie channel strips. only compression on the way in was kick & snare, something like this:

vocals m147 -> grace
bg vocals u87 -> grace
acoustic c414 -> grace
acoustic DI -> mackie
flugelhorn cascade victor -> grace
bass DI -> grace
overheads akg c460b (? or similar) -> grace
snare c414 -> grace -> RNC
snare bottom sm57 -> mackie
kick c414 -> JoeMeek VC6
floor tom ATM25 -> mackie
room mics sm94(ish) -> mackie
distant room mic r0de NT2 -> mackie

(would you do something different? that's pretty much all the gear that was available. maaan i wanted the floor tom in a better channel but i couldn't sacrifice anything else.)

ohhh the piano under the trumpet solo... from an ages old home recording of the same tune. mics inside a crappy upright, tons of vocal bleed & acoustic guitar.. surgically removed whatever notes i could and comped that little part using what i had. most of those notes are actually really short samples with a *lot* of reverb to try to simulate legato notes. you'd be surprised at how much extraneous noise is on that track if you heard it soloed.

with the exception of that and my one little vocal overdub this was tracked live including vocals. really pushed the limits of what my little shack could handle all at once. had trumpet in the utility room, vocals in the office.. i was in the CR pushin' the red button & playing bass. all the doors wide open. (let it bleed!) good times. god i obsessed over this mix.

[unitymusic]

Originally Posted by monkeyxx

I don't think it's too bright! nice song, good hooks and all that

Thanks! I just wish I could get a little more body without sacrificing the important stuff cutting through. It is just a bedroom thing though so maybe the tight lower mids just aren't there to work with.

[Shaft]

Okay. Here's another with my friend Tom. Just guitar and drums and Tom singing.

Kinda' weird song. More interested in recording/mixing feedback.

This time in Garage Band, I used their 2-buss eq and comp. It adds some glue but seems grainy to me. I don't like what it imparts.

Also attached the straight mix with nothing on the 2-buss for now. It's harsh in spots. Next mix will go through the Delta 8 and a 2500 on the 2-buss.

[HoRNet]

Originally Posted by monkeyxx

hey I might give that a try, sounds cool! would you compare it to any known microphone sonically? does it end up close to something else or is it its own sound?

I guess you kept the stock transformer, too, still sounds nice!

yes, stock transformer, it's a strange ratio (something like 1.8:1) and it's blocked inside the bottom part of the mic body, so i avoided messing with it.

Regarding the sound, well it's close to anything that has a k67 inspired capsule, the only real neumann i had access to was a TLM103 and while the modded v67g was in the same ballpark the TLM103 still had more clarity and a more "3D sound" IMHO.

Consider that the TLM103 is 800 euros around here and my modded mike cost about: 99$ (original v67g) + 170$ (peluso cek-89) + 3/5$ capacitors and trimmer

[Shaft]

Originally Posted by jruberto

Ok, I'll bite..

Fleeting | Jen Korte & The Loss

a few session photos, some of these might actually be from that day. or not. my notes aren't where i am right now.
The making of a record... | Facebook

a mix of nice chain / cheap chain.. grace 801 and frickin mackie channel strips. only compression on the way in was kick & snare, something like this:

vocals m147 -> grace
bg vocals u87 -> grace
acoustic c414 -> grace
acoustic DI -> mackie
flugelhorn cascade victor -> grace
bass DI -> grace
overheads akg c460b (? or similar) -> grace
snare c414 -> grace -> RNC
snare bottom sm57 -> mackie
kick c414 -> JoeMeek VC6
floor tom ATM25 -> mackie
room mics sm94(ish) -> mackie
distant room mic r0de NT2 -> mackie

(would you do something different? that's pretty much all the gear that was available. maaan i wanted the floor tom in a better channel but i couldn't sacrifice anything else.)

ohhh the piano under the trumpet solo... from an ages old home recording of the same tune. mics inside a crappy upright, tons of vocal bleed & acoustic guitar.. surgically removed whatever notes i could and comped that little part using what i had. most of those notes are actually really short samples with a *lot* of reverb to try to simulate legato notes. you'd be surprised at how much extraneous noise is on that track if you heard it soloed.

with the exception of that and my one little vocal overdub this was tracked live including vocals. really pushed the limits of what my little shack could handle all at once. had trumpet in the utility room, vocals in the office.. i was in the CR pushin' the red button & playing bass. all the doors wide open. (let it bleed!) good times. god i obsessed over this mix.

Very nice jruberto! Digging this big time. Nice intimate feel--as if we're in one room with you. Great performances all around--vocals--everyone.

No biggie using a couple of Mackie channels when you're out of the good pres. If you didn't tell anyone--they'd never know.

Real good feel on this one. Kudos.

[ianbryn11]

Originally Posted by greatgreatriver

Cool song and cool sounds... I sat and wait for the cool chorus to kick in but the song kept on playing the same intro/verse through out the whole song. I think this song needs a cool chorus with a twist and lemon and I would turn up the vocals...

thanks for the feedback... i guess i always thought the "ill see you there, in dreams we share" part was a kind of chorus... A short one.... but im open to adding to it if the right part comes along...

[dysenterygary]

Originally Posted by jruberto

Ok, I'll bite..

Fleeting | Jen Korte & The Loss

a few session photos, some of these might actually be from that day. or not. my notes aren't where i am right now.
The making of a record... | Facebook

a mix of nice chain / cheap chain.. grace 801 and frickin mackie channel strips. only compression on the way in was kick & snare, something like this:

vocals m147 -> grace
bg vocals u87 -> grace
acoustic c414 -> grace
acoustic DI -> mackie
flugelhorn cascade victor -> grace
bass DI -> grace
overheads akg c460b (? or similar) -> grace
snare c414 -> grace -> RNC
snare bottom sm57 -> mackie
kick c414 -> JoeMeek VC6
floor tom ATM25 -> mackie
room mics sm94(ish) -> mackie
distant room mic r0de NT2 -> mackie

(would you do something different? that's pretty much all the gear that was available. maaan i wanted the floor tom in a better channel but i couldn't sacrifice anything else.)

ohhh the piano under the trumpet solo... from an ages old home recording of the same tune. mics inside a crappy upright, tons of vocal bleed & acoustic guitar.. surgically removed whatever notes i could and comped that little part using what i had. most of those notes are actually really short samples with a *lot* of reverb to try to simulate legato notes. you'd be surprised at how much extraneous noise is on that track if you heard it soloed.

with the exception of that and my one little vocal overdub this was tracked live including vocals. really pushed the limits of what my little shack could handle all at once. had trumpet in the utility room, vocals in the office.. i was in the CR pushin' the red button & playing bass. all the doors wide open. (let it bleed!) good times. god i obsessed over this mix.

Very cool, the harmonies really make me think of Rusted Root. Is that an influence by any chance? Btw the bass sounds really awesome!

[jmacstudios]

this was done in logic 8... all in the box

i play guitar in this band, and mixed this album

will post details if anyone is interested.

curious to hear feedback... this was from 2009

[gregerlindberg]

My first recording/mixing/mastering session. So newbie.

The songs are mixed and done now, so whatever it is lacking in mixing and recording will be applied to next recording im doing.
Im the vocalist of this band.
The music is recorded in one take, no clicktrack just on the go, no cuts, no nothing.
Straight into the box.

Recorded through a RME fireface 800 and ADA8000 total 18channels.
The drumkit was not one of the best drumkits in the world, but we had a poor drummer so, no new skins and so forth. Worked with what we got.
A lot of shure micks on the drums, everything got micked up. (beta58, 57)
2 microphones on the guitarstack, 3 on the bass, plus a line in, through an ampeq pedal. Rest was on the drums, OH three toms, kick, snare over and under.

Everything is mixed in the box, with a bunch of nebula plugins and UAD.
Use a little superior sounds and blended it in with the kick and snare.
The vocals are done in my livingroom with a Rode nt1000 straight into the soundcard.
Mixed through KRK VXT8 & Beyerdynamic DT770 and a few beers.



http://soundcloud.com/gregerlindberg/04-torn-inside

[MixedSignals]

this is my latest album:
BentWithLight

recorded digital, mastered to cassette, arranged on ASR10. 0rig. 1202. cheap mics.

[kristjankisi]

Wow, loads of good stuff brewin' around here that's for sure ! :-)

I'm afraid I'm going to have to converse more around here to get to know all you talented people, instead of just lurking around reading every little thing that get's posted here on gearslutz.

Below you can listen to the first single off my bands forth coming album. This was finished about a year ago and hopefully the rest will be finished before summer.

I recorded the thing but we got our friend Stefan to mix this one and Graham at Masterdisk mastered. I hope it still counts :-)

The song :

Everything was recorded in a couple of very small spaces in my basement which has lava (rock) walls and a wooden ceiling and at the time no treatment(I have since renovated the whole basement as a studio)

I hope you guys enjoy the tune, check it out via the link below :-)


Real Thing by Fox Train Safari on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[Pasqual12]

Ok, so here goes my entry. This is actually the product of writing the song as opposed to doing a final recording. I can go through the chain/process.

Started out as just rhythm guitar. I recorded that first. Valvetech VAC amp>sE Electronics R1 ribbon mic on a custom cab (1-12, 1-10)>Vintech x73i>Distressor>Digi002.

As it was just intended to get the idea down, I did not record to any click, just wild. My songwriting partner liked the idea and wanted to work on it with me, so I recorded a bass line to the rhythm track. Home-built fretless P-bass>vintech>Distressor>Digi002.

I then fished around all of the Apple loops I had loaded to find temporary drums. Found a few I liked and wound up editing and timing the bass and guitar to the drums (rush job. solo-ing these tracks shows how tremendously off they are). Sent a quick mix to my songwriting partner who imported the track into a Zoom portable multitrack recorder. He arranged and sang all of the vocals in his basement 2AM while the wife and kids slept. No soundporrfing, so the vox had to be performed reeeeeal quiet. Vox: MXL 2001>ZOOM multitrack. He then emails me his stereo mix of rhythm tracks and vox. I put down the percussion: shaker/tambourine via Neumann TLM103>Digi002. I also add Synth B3 on the choruses. The last two things are the crunch guitar rhythm track and solo guitar. Bot were: Home built Anderson strat>fulltone FulldriveII>Valvetech VAC amp>Neumann TLM103 room mic.I played in between the amp and the mic and at some points you can hear the pcik against the strings acoustically.

Since there were so many points where the tracks were bounced down to stereo, we were committed to levels, eq, etc. As it was just to get the song down, we really didnt care, the ideas and arrangement/instrumentation was the goal. Also, most of the signal chains are because it was what was set up and easiest to just flip the switch once the idea hit you.

Excuse the tempo shifts, and tuning artistic liberties. One day, I hope to do the real recording.

[greatgreatriver]

Originally Posted by Shaft

Okay. Here's another with my friend Tom. Just guitar and drums and Tom singing.

Kinda' weird song. More interested in recording/mixing feedback.

This time in Garage Band, I used their 2-buss eq and comp. It adds some glue but seems grainy to me. I don't like what it imparts.

Also attached the straight mix with nothing on the 2-buss for now. It's harsh in spots. Next mix will go through the Delta 8 and a 2500 on the 2-buss.

Hey - my son is sleeping so I can't blast my speakers right now - but I hear pops and clicks on both tracks? I like the second mix better... The first one sounds weird... Sounds cool but a bit raw as(s) it tits (.)(.) now... Keep me posted on the progress... Dig you and Tom Tom...

[Shaft]

Originally Posted by greatgreatriver

Hey - my son is sleeping so I can't blast my speakers right now - but I hear pops and clicks on both tracks? I like the second mix better... The first one sounds weird... Sounds cool but a bit raw as(s) it tits (.)(.) now... Keep me posted on the progress... Dig you and Tom Tom...

Ah, my friend greatgreatriver--you made me laugh. I'm not hearing the clicks and pops. It was all tracked to 2" and mixed and transferred through an M-Audio Quattro onto my Mac.

You're right--the first mix sounds like ass. 2nd is a bit raw.

...Tom Tom... u funny... Thanks my, brother.

[jruberto]

Thanks Shaft & dysenterygary. We were really going for a live "you are sitting in the room with us" kind of vibe. The room mics really factored in. In fact, I don't think there's any reverb on the flugelhorn at all, that's just room mic; he was standing in the doorway playing into the utility room (concrete floor & ceiling, cinder block walls, super lively) i'm not a huge rusted root fan, but like just about everybody else who was around then, their sound is indelibly lodged in my brain from when they were hot.

As always, since this record is a couple years old now, I hear stuff I would do way differently now, but i like the way this one has held up for me. I don't play with this band anymore, but am super proud of this record. We spent about a year on it, throwing away much more material than we kept. It was a treat to really indulge my OCD like that -- I spent so much time on all these mixes*, in stark contrast to the more common conditions of "well, do what you can in four hours and call it good".

* and setups -- me & the drummer would go in the night before tracking & spend the whole night getting drum sounds dialed in; if you are willing to spend 4-6 hours dialing in a tiny kit, you can really get it sounding great. i remember spending about an hour homing in on the right tuning for the floor tom on this track. and honestly, dan & his vintage ludwigs sound so good you could just stick a 58 somewhere in the ballpark of the kit and it would sound amazing. it's exciting to me to really nudge mics around and hear the subtle differences, and then get to that one spot and that's like "jackpot!". i learned a lot on these sessions & developed several drum mic techniques that i still use to this day.

[musical5]

Here's a version of Amazing Grace I just finished. In retrospect the intro is too long.

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by unitymusic

Thanks! I just wish I could get a little more body without sacrificing the important stuff cutting through. It is just a bedroom thing though so maybe the tight lower mids just aren't there to work with.

I have been hearing a lot and therefore thinking a lot about "tight lower mids" or "low mid clarity" lately

I'm not sure where it comes from, but, I think really fancy gear (like multitrack tape machines and discrete analog consoles and tube microphones) is a contributing factor. I really don't know, all I know is it's something I can hear now, and something I appreciate and will strive for that might be lacking in some of my recordings

on or off topic, I read a great theory that "brightness" is not always a result of boosted treble EQ, but that the impact and clarity of a really good sound from a nice piece of gear, they were talking about microphones but I think it applies elsewhere, gives the impression of "brightness." I can clearly hear this on the new Radiohead album King of Limbs and some of their older records. the first impression I get is "wow, that's pleasantly bright," but the more I listen, the more I'm hearing deep bass, spaciousness, fatness, analog distortions. boosted top end doesn't really seem to factor in. it's just a trick that manufacturers and low-enders sometimes use to fake the same sort of impact with cheaper equipment. but which ends up muddying things up even more in the end. so yeah, I'm on a new sort of sonic quest now...into the low and middles. I'm actually starting to use treble cut EQ instead of boosts, which ironically can create clarity

[unitymusic]

Originally Posted by monkeyxx

I have been hearing a lot and therefore thinking a lot about "tight lower mids" or "low mid clarity" lately

I'm not sure where it comes from, but, I think really fancy gear (like multitrack tape machines and discrete analog consoles and tube microphones) is a contributing factor. I really don't know, all I know is it's something I can hear now, and something I appreciate and will strive for that might be lacking in some of my recordings

on or off topic, I read a great theory that "brightness" is not always a result of boosted treble EQ, but that the impact and clarity of a really good sound from a nice piece of gear, they were talking about microphones but I think it applies elsewhere, gives the impression of "brightness." I can clearly hear this on the new Radiohead album King of Limbs and some of their older records. the first impression I get is "wow, that's pleasantly bright," but the more I listen, the more I'm hearing deep bass, spaciousness, fatness, analog distortions. boosted top end doesn't really seem to factor in. it's just a trick that manufacturers and low-enders sometimes use to fake the same sort of impact with cheaper equipment. but which ends up muddying things up even more in the end. so yeah, I'm on a new sort of sonic quest now...into the low and middles. I'm actually starting to use treble cut EQ instead of boosts, which ironically can create clarity

I cut a lot of highs in my recordings, but since there is not a whole lot of low end information to begin with it just ends up thin and overly bright to the point of being harsh. I get what you're saying... I need to figure that out too. I think some of the clarity comes from "space", such as being in a proper room so the sound is not bouncing all over the place and coming right back to the mic. And of course no weak links, which isn't possible for me or a lot of other home recordists.

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by unitymusic

And of course no weak links, which isn't possible for me or a lot of other home recordists.

no kidding! it's really good to be realistic, and that's not a negative, it actually helps you see more clearly and feel better about what you have and do. I guess the obsession can go too far is what I am saying, especially with gear, and here on GEARslutz, seeing pictures of everyones expensive piles of stuff. it doesn't always translate to quality recordings, either, which in another way of being realistic about your abilities is either very empowering or very educational. as an engineer there's really no substitute for a well done mix, and that's not necessarily dependent on equipment any more. ach I guess I don't want to theorize about the artist and the producer right now, which are the other two of the three hats to wear

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by unitymusic

I cut a lot of highs in my recordings, but since there is not a whole lot of low end information to begin with it just ends up thin and overly bright to the point of being harsh. I get what you're saying... I need to figure that out too. I think some of the clarity comes from "space", such as being in a proper room so the sound is not bouncing all over the place and coming right back to the mic. And of course no weak links, which isn't possible for me or a lot of other home recordists.

also with no bass player or no bass drum or bass synth, you're not really dealing with a lot of true low end, per se, maybe that's something to think about?

[unitymusic]

Originally Posted by monkeyxx

also with no bass player or no bass drum or bass synth, you're not really dealing with a lot of true low end, per se, maybe that's something to think about?

true, there's bass in the song I posted, but without drums I don't really like it to sit too out front. Yes I have been thinking about that and I may have to bite the bullet and find a drummer.

[decibike]

bump

[hepcat]

Annie's Song | Dr. DP and the TrainRunners

previously unreleased track from my old band...this was done to tape

[allyouneedisears]

Okay, I'll play. I recorded this album myself. Almost everything was recorded with a Rode NT1-A into a Duet. It's a very bright/sibilant mic. It served me well, but I had to get rid of it. The song "free" was done entirely with a 57. At the end of that song you can hear me singing in to my guitar's microphonic pickups. Lot's of Delays instead of reverbs, very minimal compression, tons of carving out the high end. Many mistakes, lots of fun.

http://soundcloud.com/andrewjudah/the-preachers-basement


It's also on bandcamp. Soundcloud seems to be having problems...
Andrew Judah

[Psycro]

Anybody into death metal??
Sermon of the Semen Demon by Psycroptipath on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

guitar and vocals are me, drums are sampled from a free sample pack i picked up (forget where, it's called "Erkan's drum samples" or something) bass guitar is a logic virtual instrument lol, my bassist buddy couldn't make it down to my place so i just programmed it in

not a very complex song, structure is kind of boring, but still pretty brutal, and (if you can understand them :P) the lyrics are pretty jokes

or how about some ...Hip Hop?
Ode to Crack (Rough Master) by Epic Lulz on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

Vocals and lyrics are all me, beat was made by my roommate.. kind of proud of this, it's our second attempt at a hip hop type stuff, the first was an embarassment, just us messing around with auto-tune lol

[valjean24601]

Well I thought I'd throw this into the mix as well to let everyone hear.
Drums were tracked upstairs in our local bar/pub and all guitar and vocals were tracked in a spare room at the guitar player's house through a MOTU 828MK2.

Drums are a pearl masterworks kit with an Ayotte custom snare
Kick - E602
Snare - Audix D1
Hats - SM57
Rack - Audix D2
Floor - Audix D4
OH - MXL 2003 x 2
Room - Rode NT1A

Bass - DI'ed

All guitars tracked with Les Paul standard or Fender Strat through a Fender deville.
All GTRs - SM57 on axis and SM57 at 45 degrees plus an MXL 2003 .

Vocals tracked with Rode NT2000.

Mixed in Nuendo entirely in the box with no third party plugins.


Ode To The Soul by Avari on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[Nystromfredde]

Originally Posted by luctellier

After playing many years as a drummer & back vocal singer in a emo rock band called DelsonDrive, 2 years ago, the band split and I was pretty bummed about it. I was at my studio reading on GearSlutz, already had a couple of glass of wine and I decided to spontaneously write and record a first song and start my own solo project on which I would sing and play all the instruments.

I started to write the song at about 9PM and around 11PM I was starting the recording. I drank about 2 RedBulls that night and I recorded everything until 3AM. I thought that it was already too late to go home and why not finish it! So, I drank another RedBull and started the editing, mixing and at 9h00AM the song was done, mixed and mastered! I never continued the project but I had a lot of fun doing that song!

For technical info: I used my DW kit with a Ludwig LM402 snare. The guitars used were Gibson Lespaul Studio and Fender Telecaster. I used my Peavy 6505+ with a Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabinet mic'ed with a Shure SM57 and a AKG414. The bass was a Ernie Ball MusicMan Stringray 5 with a SansAmp RBI and a DBX160X. Vocal mic was a Rode NT2000 and the preamp was my SPL TrackOne.

This sounds extremely good! Do nine more and put out an album!

[Nystromfredde]

I'm very impressed with the stuff I heard here!

Anyways, here's one of 13 songs I wrote, arranged and recorded with my friends playing drums (and originally an upright bass, that had to be re-recorded due to heavy leaking...and the bass that ended up was an electric).

Vocals - Rode k2, digi003
acoustic guitars and mandoline, Rode nt5 or/and AT 2035 to ART voice channel/Digi003
electric guitars, telecaster/gretsch barytone - sm57/t-bone rb500
drums, rode nt5/sm57 - snare
akg d112 kick
akg perception 170 oh
rode k2 and/or t-bone rb500 ambience

mixed ITB, Mcdsp and sonnox plugins.
"mastered" by me, using brainworx xl/digital v2, nomad factory magnetic

[SpeedKing9]

So Far Away by Cahn & Yang on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

All completely self produced and recorded. All through Pro Tools HD3. Avalon mic pre, U87 for vocals, mixed itb.