3rd December 2006
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#1 | | Gear interested
Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 19
Thread Starter  | Best plan for recording METAL!!!???
This is my first post, but I have been reading these forums for about a year now....my question is this: I presently have an Imac g5 with 2gb of ram, an mbox with ptle 7.1 and ez drummer, and am at a crossroads about where to go from here..do I:
a) upgrade my converters and/or pres ala mini me or adi 2, or
b) do i get a new interface and or daw, as i might outgrow the present set up...
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at the moment, I am producing my own music, which is very heavy (think slipknot, soilwork, soulfly, strapping young lad) but I am looking to add alot in the way of midi, because of ezdrummer, and maybe some sampling....Have I outgrown Ptle at this point? or is there something i could add to my current set up to make it better...i have been eyeing the profire lightbridge, as that would be great for when I get a full band togethere, but at the moment its just me....I know this is a long winded post, but any help would be appreciated....cheers...btw...I have about a 2000 budget....  | 
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3rd December 2006
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#2 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 248
| Quote:
Originally Posted by grkmetlhed  do I:
a) upgrade my converters and/or pres ala mini me or adi 2, or
b) do i get a new interface and or daw, as i might outgrow the present set up... | I'd say get the Mini-Me with USB option, and one of these (the M-Audio Trigger Finger) for triggering EZDrummer. I have the same hardware and it works extremely well. Plus you'd have around 700 bucks left over.
With the Trigger Finger, you can just twiddle your fingertips on those pads, which have a soft rubbery feel and are very sensitive. This is key for my setup, as it took me years to understand what I really need as a non-drummer to program musical drums in this genre with minimum effort. After much research I was about to buy a Zendrum, when this came along and trimmed $1000 off the solution. After getting used to it I can pretty much do all but the fastest double bass or blast-beats, realistic cymbal figures, fills etc. in realtime. Cons are the sketchy librarian software and cheap fader caps which fall off and disappear forever.
As for the Mini-Me, I think it's much better than prosumer products. It includes the compressor-limiter along with a basic D/A, and can also be a master clock via SPDIF. Overall it was a big step up, and sees a lot of use because I rarely need to record more than 2 channels at a time. Cons are that phantom is not switchable per channel, the USB interface is limited to 24/48, and you have to open the unit to adjust line levels.
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3rd December 2006
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#3 | | Gear interested
Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 19
Thread Starter |
Would the usb option be of use to me if i am usiing the mbox? (I know you still need to have it plugged in to use ptle) also , are you also on ptle, or are u using a different DAW? Thanks for the input, it's refreshing to hear from people doing the same music as me...Many recording magazines and posts are geared towards pop and hip hop, and those techniques have little to no application to our music....seems like the trigger finger will be next on my list....cheers...
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3rd December 2006
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#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 3,630
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Add a REAL DRUMMER to your setup!! If you're writing heavy music, don't destroy it by using EZDrummer! Use that $2000 to book studio time and hire a real drummer and record your album! Done! And don't worry, you can still credit yourself as the producer in the liner notes!  | |
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3rd December 2006
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#5 | | Gear interested
Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 19
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexLakis Add a REAL DRUMMER to your setup!! If you're writing heavy music, don't destroy it by using EZDrummer! Use that $2000 to book studio time and hire a real drummer and record your album! Done! And don't worry, you can still credit yourself as the producer in the liner notes! | If I could find one, I definetly would....that has been my issue for years now....finding a talented metal drummer that has stamina, and would be willing to do session work...also, im in Las Vegas now, and most people play malakia lounge music (some "bands" dont even play anymore in these casinos, its a flipping backing track!!!!) oh man, here I go, don't get me started on the state of music these days....thanks for the input guys...If you happen to know of any session guys on the west coast, let me know.....cheers...
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3rd December 2006
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#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 3,630
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I'm sure there are a few Vegas slutz who could chime in with excellent session drummer recommendations for metal in your area.
Playing with a backing track is one thing, but it's metal, come on, dude! METAL!! If it doesn't bleed, it shouldn't be heard!  | |
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7th December 2006
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#7 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 248
| Quote:
Originally Posted by grkmetlhed Would the usb option be of use to me if i am usiing the mbox? (I know you still need to have it plugged in to use ptle) also , are you also on ptle, or are u using a different DAW? Thanks for the input, it's refreshing to hear from people doing the same music as me...Many recording magazines and posts are geared towards pop and hip hop, and those techniques have little to no application to our music....seems like the trigger finger will be next on my list....cheers... | I am not a Pro Tools user, so I don't know what the requirements are for that software, but I can tell you that the Mini-me should definitely give you much higher recording quality than an Mbox (or else I wasted my money)...
The other way would be to record the SPDIF out of the Mini-me, which will let you capture digitally using the SPDIF in of some other unit.
As for a real drummer, that'd be nice, but it's just not a luxury we all have. Lots of metal records these days are by bedroom guitarists who handle pretty much everything as far as the actual music is concerned. BTW, I am very impressed with the sound quality of EZDrummer. I checked out the Naglfar and Meshuggah demos using it -- very nice indeed.
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7th December 2006
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#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2005 Location: Montreal
Posts: 2,219
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I remember Hemlock from Vegas, I'm sure he'll do a session.
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7th December 2006
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#9 | | Gear interested
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 10
| Quote:
Originally Posted by grkmetlhed This is my first post, but I have been reading these forums for about a year now....my question is this: I presently have an Imac g5 with 2gb of ram, an mbox with ptle 7.1 and ez drummer, and am at a crossroads about where to go from here..do I:
a) upgrade my converters and/or pres ala mini me or adi 2, or
b) do i get a new interface and or daw, as i might outgrow the present set up...
...
at the moment, I am producing my own music, which is very heavy (think slipknot, soilwork, soulfly, strapping young lad) but I am looking to add alot in the way of midi, because of ezdrummer, and maybe some sampling....Have I outgrown Ptle at this point? or is there something i could add to my current set up to make it better...i have been eyeing the profire lightbridge, as that would be great for when I get a full band togethere, but at the moment its just me....I know this is a long winded post, but any help would be appreciated....cheers...btw...I have about a 2000 budget.... | shh!!!!! http://ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/
BTW are you greek?
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7th December 2006
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#10 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 831
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I have been getting some success with a cheapish drum kit + Drumagog. I still have to learn a lot about miking well enough to get really good results, but this seems to work well for a situation where I can't get a good drum room.
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7th December 2006
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 745
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Watch every episode of meatalocalypse so can know about all that is dark and brutal, then press record. It's that simple. And that difficult. Deathklok! Deathklok! Deathklok!
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7th December 2006
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#12 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2003 Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 3,872
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My advice to you is start a band and practice a lot.
Performing metal with a laptop is....   | 
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7th December 2006
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#13 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2006 Location: US of A
Posts: 1,282
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Brent Fitz lives in Vegas, played w/ Vince Neil, and plays ice hockey (goal tender) there. He shouldn't be hard to find.
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7th December 2006
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#14 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,609
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Just get BFD or drums from hell or whatever and a software sampler or an MPC. Drummers are lousy stinking rotten no good brutes who only want to take your money anyway. Screw it, don't use a drummer. Never seen a drummer who could keep up with a 909 for an extended period of time.
I knew this one drummer and that guy was such an asshole oh man....
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8th December 2006
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#15 | | Gear interested
Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 19
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by Genius Gone Ins | Hell yeah I am!  e...
anyway, I guess I wasn't clear in my original post as to what i am doing...As much as I would love to be in a band right now, finding musicians in my current area is not working out so well....so, rather than hire a bunch of session guys, I am looking to produce the best possible sounding demos by myself in my home studio, which I could then use to recruit band members....Since I never answer ads for bands that dont have clips of their music, I would assume that other talented musicians would do the same for me...that being said.I have an imac g5 with 2gb ram, an mbox, m audio oxygen, and ezdrummer, with plans to get a software sampler in the near future....would protools le suffice for running ez drummer, as well as a software sampler/synth (such as Halion) or should I upgrade to software that is more midi oriented (logic or Digital performer) I haven't thought of cubase since i have heard that it is more stable in a pc environment, and I am a proud mac convert.. If any mac users have any positive cubase 4 experiences, please let me know...Please, keep the suggestions coming....thank you all for the input, you guys rock, keep the metal flowing!!!!
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8th December 2006
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#16 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 248
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Apparently you can run EZDrummer with Pro Tools LE, by using the FXPansion VST-RTAS Adapter: http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=15
And yes, I would definitely upgrade from Pro Tools to something more MIDI oriented. On Mac that would mean either Logic or Digital Performer. I definitely do not like Cubase, although I own a license and respect it immensely.
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8th December 2006
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#17 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 686
| Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexLakis Add a REAL DRUMMER to your setup!! If you're writing heavy music, don't destroy it by using EZDrummer! Use that $2000 to book studio time and hire a real drummer and record your album! Done! And don't worry, you can still credit yourself as the producer in the liner notes! | Yeah, I could help you make a record that sounds like Soulfly
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