Man I have learned so much in the past year it's mind blowing, working on a ton of records and mixing on the SSL. The past few months I have been dying to start working seriously on my own music. Not a passive tune here or there but really dig and see what I got, I started last week. I wrote this tune 'Spinning Out Of Control', it's a bridge from where I have been at to where I want to go. Much less production as far as a ton of parts, way more band feel and having a main guitar riff that just is the centerpiece of the whole thing like 'Cowboys From Hell', 'Back In Black' or 'Whole Lotta Love'. I'm not going for any layering of different parts really just riff up your *ss...lol I have the drums and guitars done, I did a raw unmixed protools bounce of the drums and guitars: http://www.jameslugo.com/sounds/spin...with%20gtr.mp3
The guitar tracks are Les Paul with Triple Rectifier/Marshall doubled left/right and 2 VH4 tracks up the middle. The drums were played by my awesome session drummer Nick Baglio with my Yamaha Oak Customs/Black Beauty.My plan is to track the vocals this weekend and Bobby Patterson is coming in on Sunday to track bass. My plan is to mix it next week and have it done by the 20th when I go to work with Ryan Williams, I'm really wanting to play it for him!
Anyway, I go through much of the gear and techniques used up till this point on these 3 vids, I will add videos of bass and mixing this weekend and next week. I have been using a bunch of stuff I learned from the Baressi video, man the s**t works. My hopes is this track comes out sounding like it sounds in my head and is the beginning of the next level for me. What an amazing learning experience all this has been. Between gearslutz, other engineers and trial and error I have thrown my entire life into getting better at making records.
Distort the snare. Got a SansAmp(hardware)? decapitator? KramerMPX? NOT VTM...Go check Appetite...it's no doubt from tape, but it needs a kind of "splat" not there. It's sounds nice enough for a digital snare, grand scheme...but, I mean, just to put it over the top...little splat. Adds sizzle to the attack without being "bright" or "thin". Do it right and it'll pick up a little bottom, too.
Distort the snare. Got a SansAmp(hardware)? decapitator? KramerMPX? NOT VTM...Go check Appetite...it's no doubt from tape, but it needs a kind of "splat" not there. It's sounds nice enough for a digital snare, grand scheme...but, I mean, just to put it over the top...little splat. Adds sizzle to the attack without being "bright" or "thin". Do it right and it'll pick up a little bottom, too.
I'll need to wait and hear how you balance the mix. Listening to all 3 videos, I would have guessed you play guitar! They are up front and sound great. The arrangement has some space where the bass or drums could fill more and give it more pumped up low end. I want to hear the kick - or rather - FEEL it bring the thunder. To be honest, the snare sounds like it's got too much room sound, not verb just first reflection.
I look forward to hearing how you bring it all together. And I appreciate the work it takes to put these vids together. Great work!
Hey James, are you running a boost before the triple rectifier?
Also, any particular reason why you are using the triple instead of the racto? Do they differ significantly in sound?
Very cool song!
I am I'm using the MXR 10 Band EQ in the loop and an OCD between the guitar and amp. Volume and Tone at 12 noon and the Overdrive at about 9pm. Just crackin the drive, it really help glue things together and get the notes to flow right. And I am using the Triple, the Dual is really nice and sounds sweet but the Triple has the kind of rhythm sound and feel I like. Much more intense sounding. Very aggressive, the added headroom makes the amp very lively at high volumes and high gains, less compression. I friggin love that amp. The real amazing thing is to stand in front of it with a Bogner straight cab. Yoww!!!!!!!!! Insane.
I just tracked the vocals, doubles and whispers on both verses and bridge. Kind of going for the legato flowy vocal kind of like Down In A Hole by AIC. Not sure if accomplished it, listening back now. May need a trippy harmony, not sure yet. Had to take a break and watch over sleepy baby...
I just tracked the vocals, doubles and whispers on both verses and bridge. Kind of going for the legato flowy vocal kind of like Down In A Hole by AIC. Not sure if accomplished it, listening back now. May need a trippy harmony, not sure yet. Had to take a break and watch over sleepy baby...
You must have read my mind on this one. I was totally thinking it was sounding like some stuff off the last AIC album. Rockin drums! Very Cantrell on the guitars. Nothing I love more then a heavy lick!
Speaking of that lick, I'm super pumped to hear it when you get to mix down. Might you employ a bit of that new low end harmonic trick you've been working on? I likes my guitar licks MASSIVE!
You must have read my mind on this one. I was totally thinking it was sounding like some stuff off the last AIC album. Rockin drums! Very Cantrell on the guitars. Nothing I love more then a heavy lick!
Speaking of that lick, I'm super pumped to hear it when you get to mix down. Might you employ a bit of that new low end harmonic trick you've been working on? I likes my guitar licks MASSIVE!
Yeah I am definitely gonna be using some sub-harmonic stuff on the mix. I'm heading down now to get back on the vocals and the bassists is showing up around 5pm, if all goes well the tracking should be done today.
I don't voluntarily listen to a ton of this music, but from what I hear it's all very polished and tight and there's pretty much no room for improvement. Waiting to hear the vocals.
Baglio is nasty. Woulda been the next Tommy Lee if he'd just had better bandmates and songwriters around him.
I don't voluntarily listen to a ton of this music, but from what I hear it's all very polished and tight and there's pretty much no room for improvement. Waiting to hear the vocals.
Baglio is nasty. Woulda been the next Tommy Lee if he'd just had better bandmates and songwriters around him.
Playing with Nick is fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBrightSide
Mate, this is sounding sweet!! Loving that lead guitar.
Looking forward to hearing the finished product.
Thanks.
Video 4, lead vocals in verse and breakdown and harmonies:
Thanks for giving us the inside look at some of your stuff, James! It's always an honor to learn from what you have to say, and might I add that your raw bounce of the song from PT (the link you provided) sounds better than most people's finished masters!
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Holy Smokes James! That thing really came together wonderfully. You'd better have that track on iTunes ASAP cause I'm gonna need to get me a copy.
I had a quick question about the guitar cab mics, if you don't mind of course. With the 421 and the 57 combo on the cabs, are you keeping them on the same speaker. Like, lining up the diaphragms and taping the 57 to the 421. I guess I'm just wondering do you keep them close together, or are they spaced across the diameter of the speaker. Or maybe even one mic on one speaker and one mic on another, on the same cab. It seems like your amp room is pretty much set up with little need to move stuff around. I'm just curious as to what you found to be your go-to combination for mic placement on those cabs.
I'm just really really really LOVING the guitar sound. Even through it's YouTube, the sound just feels massive!
Holy Smokes James! That thing really came together wonderfully. You'd better have that track on iTunes ASAP cause I'm gonna need to get me a copy.
I had a quick question about the guitar cab mics, if you don't mind of course. With the 421 and the 57 combo on the cabs, are you keeping them on the same speaker. Like, lining up the diaphragms and taping the 57 to the 421. I guess I'm just wondering do you keep them close together, or are they spaced across the diameter of the speaker. Or maybe even one mic on one speaker and one mic on another, on the same cab. It seems like your amp room is pretty much set up with little need to move stuff around. I'm just curious as to what you found to be your go-to combination for mic placement on those cabs.
I'm just really really really LOVING the guitar sound. Even through it's YouTube, the sound just feels massive!
Thanks for your time, and again, NICE WORK!
I put one on it's own speaker and then phase align by moving them closer or further from the speaker. Both mics are off the center dust cap an inch or two, don't really like the brightness of the center. That's it.
Awesome riff! I feel like I just got smacked upside the head with a spiked gauntlet, and I liked it.
Not that you should care what I hear, but in the most recent video at 9:11, in the little suspended 'hang' moment after the words "Surrounded by voices..." I hear a massive, "melt your face" style descending pick scrape against the guitar strings — triple tracked, of course!
James are you going to post the final mix up here because i would like to see it :D
I will, I started mixing it this morning, it was one of those everything that could go wrong went wrong mornings. All is good hunted down the issues, dead Furman, wounded 16X and a dork move of turning off the line in on the h3000 on the front. :(~
Just took a bounce of where I'm at with the mix out to the car ad it sounds really good. Little too much top end on the overs, needed more bass guitar, snare needed a bit more body but all in all pretty slammin.
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