Recording a Rock Band

[babatube]

Originally Posted by Freddy G

Hey boys and girls....
here's some more work on the record

Producing Crutch Part 4 - Overdubs - YouTube

now that's a nice looking/sounding guitar

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by steelehead

do you feel like the isolation of the head phones takes away from the live rock feel or does it just help keep your environment clean? w/ isoing all the cabs you could have went w/ everyone having their own monitors in a room that size and still not lose any sound

I discussed this with the band before the session. The guys were happy with headphones so that's what we went with. The amps were isolated just to keep options open and to keep the drum recording clean. For example we have already overdubbed a new guitar solo on one of the tracks and that would not have been possible had the amp or a monitor been in the same room bleeding into the dum mics.

Originally Posted by babatube

now that's a nice looking/sounding guitar

Thanks!

[tampa898]

Good stuff Freddy! That stuff is sounding really good...

We are almost finished laying our drum tracks around here, I think we have 2 more to go. Then we are going to finish the guitar work and hit the vocals. It's a slow process.

[steelehead]

for me and my band we ended up recording w/ an electric drum set first w/ us- which worked well- then our drummer went into the studio and re recorderded- my room mate bought an alesis adat in college and i scored a mackie 1604- and i actually still have the adat- cool i loved and hated doing mic placement for ambient- but when you got your sound- it was the best

keep up the great work

[decoy205]

Sick guitar sounds Freddy! I'm loving this so far!

[Freddy G]

Thanks decoy!
I'm going to post a mix on Friday. That'll give me a deadline so that the usual "analysis paralysis" doesn't set in on me

[Leendrix]

It's sounding f'ing amazing man!

[Orvillian]

Originally Posted by Freddy G

Thanks decoy!
I'm going to post a mix on Friday. That'll give me a deadline so that the usual "analysis paralysis" doesn't set in on me

Just a curiosty, what are you mixing through monitor wise?

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by Orvillian

Just a curiosty, what are you mixing through monitor wise?

I do all my editing and rough mixing at home on a pair of Yorkville YSM-1 monitors with subwoofer. But my room lies and so do the monitors, they always screw me over right around 2.5k (the crossover point) and the crossover point to the sub as well.
Once I have everything edited for content then I'll mix at a studio I work in on a set of Meyer HD-1 monitors. I love them. There are also a pair of Genelecs right beside the Meyers...you can see them in the photo but I don't like them much. Still I will switch to them now and then just to give me another perspective.

[babatube]

i don't like the genelecs too!
they are reference for nothing.


looking forward to hear the mix

that mixer looks like and updated version of the O2R

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by babatube

that mixer looks like and updated version of the O2R

You are correct. That is the OR296. But I'm no fool....I use it only as a controller, never actually passing audio through it.

[Orvillian]

Seems just like yesterday when Genelecs were all the rage, how quickly the tides turn on monitors. I have not had the pleasure of mixing through HD-1's though I heard a pair, set on stun. That sort of ruined the experience for me but I was not driving... I would have liked to have heard them at levels for us mere mortals.

[5F6-A]

Originally Posted by Orvillian

Seems just like yesterday when Genelecs were all the rage, how quickly the tides turn on monitors.

[armycopter]

If the vocals sound half as good as the rest of it, I'll need to know where to buy the CD!

[tampa898]

Yeah I use a pair of Yorkville YSM 1 's for monitors. They are actually a very nice sounding speaker. But my lie too, the 500 hz - 1.5 khz range. Anything mixed in my tiny control room will sound very muddy when leaves there, but will sound quite nice in the room.

That's pretty nice control room there Freddy 8 channels of red huh? Nice. I have 8 channels of 428 they work pretty nice. I use them on drums mostly. Can't wait to hear the finished product. Are you going to master it yourself? Or send it out?

[Freddy G]

Here's a mix
This track has only two overdubs, the megaphone parts and the guitar solo.

Producing Crutch Part 5 - Wait It Out.mpg - YouTube

Producing Crutch Part 5 - Wait It Out.mpg - YouTube

[lucidspoon]

I like it. I like it a lot!

[babatube]

Originally Posted by Freddy G

Here's a mix
This track has only two overdubs, the megaphone parts and the guitar solo.


Producing Crutch Part 5 - Wait It Out.mpg - YouTube

great mix!
when can we buy the CD?

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by tampa898

Are you going to master it yourself? Or send it out?

Depends on the band's budget. I find it very difficult to master my own work, so I hope they do send it out for a good mastering job.

Originally Posted by babatube

great mix!
when can we buy the CD?

Thanks! Probably be a couple of months, we need to do some more recording, new songs, out of the 12 songs we recorded I suspect that maybe 7 are good enough to make it to CD.

[5F6-A]

the music is not my cup of tea but it sounds phenomenal!!

[decoy205]

Nice and crisp and you can hear everything great. Drums are killing man! Excellent work.

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by decoy205

Nice and crisp and you can hear everything great. Drums are killing man! Excellent work.

Hey thanks man!
I was very happy that I was able to use the vocals from a previous take as doubling/thickener during the choruses. Testament to how locked into the tempo they were because ther was no click.

[nicolasrivera]

Originally Posted by Freddy G

Hey thanks man!
I was very happy that I was able to use the vocals from a previous take as doubling/thickener during the choruses. Testament to how locked into the tempo they were because ther was no click.

Sounds Great Freddy!. The only thin i say it could be better is the impact of the voice in the chorus, for me and this is my personal point of view, is that its powerful, yet it is not feeling that big!, i would try to do some harmonies to make it pop out.

I know with the master all will sound more tight and fatter.

[Freddy G]

Thanks Nic. Good advice! We might try that. You know how it is....a mix is never done until it's actually released on CD.

[EvanPC]

I really dig the vocals, particularly during the chorus. I'm particularly fond of taking a progression somewhere I wasn't expecting. The big yell he does near the beginning of the each chorus is killer. Don't necessarily see it coming, but it surprises you and sounds great.

[Käi]

Sounds killer. That's the kind of music I really dig. Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains with some Stoner Rock into it, neat!

[Freddy G]

Here's another mix. This one was written about 4 days prior to the beds tracking session. The band recorded it on an I-phone and sent me the demo. Although the demo is pretty rough I thought there was a pretty decent tune in there so I said, lets track it and see what happens.
So just to illustrate the progression from raw demo to production I am posting the demo they originally sent me...here it is:

http://soundcloud.com/freddygabrsek/unknown-demo

And four days later this is what we tracked:


http://soundcloud.com/freddygabrsek/unknown

[5F6-A]

fab thread!

[nicolasrivera]

Originally Posted by Freddy G

Here's another mix. This one was written about 4 days prior to the beds tracking session. The band recorded it on an I-phone and sent me the demo. Although the demo is pretty rough I thought there was a pretty decent tune in there so I said, lets track it and see what happens.
So just to illustrate the progression from raw demo to production I am posting the demo they originally sent me...here it is:

http://soundcloud.com/freddygabrsek/unknown-demo

And four days later this is what we tracked:


http://soundcloud.com/freddygabrsek/unknown

This is a great song!!!!!

I will contain my self from critic on it as you have not stated it is the final mix but i love the sound of the voice!!! the guitars!!!

[Freddy G]

Thanks Nic!
Final mix? no, just the first mix....but I always appreciate your critique so go ahead and tell me your thoughts