So.....your guitar tracks suck huh?
That's digital for ya....what can I say, digital sounds crappy, washy, ill defined, messy, like someone is running a hair dryer during your song
BUT assuming you won't be switching to tape...Quality depends on context, what are those guitars playing with? That dictates a lot of whether the sound is "Good" or not, it's really all about relationships.
Anyway...I don't think any of that is what you were looking for, I think I know what you would like to hear more of and less of in your soloed guitar tracks,
These are your key ingredients: Player, Guitar, Amp, Mic, Space, Preamp, Converters
Assuming you like how you are playing, we then move to guitar, I hear a problem here, the Epiphone/Squier doesn't sound NEARLY as good as an American Gibson or Fender, If you want great guitar sounds, you'll want to save up for one.....AMERICAN....I repeat AMERICAN. Next, you want to use brand new strings of the heaviest gauge, whatever you are using go heavier, you'll never get THAT sound till you record with uncomfortably heavy (And new) strings.
Next, roll back the distortion, use the least amount possible, distortion actually makes a guitar sound weaker if there's too much, it's all about finding the sweet spot, but start by looking for less distortion more velocity induced speaker rattle and every other nuance that contributes to quality but is covered by improperly applied distortian
For mics go industry standard, if you can afford a Royer 121 get it, or a Sennheiser 421 if not get a 57, a lot of big records are made with this as the primary guitar mic, it's a dynamic,, dynamics and ribbons are industry standard for guitar
Your amp is tube? Good! Eliminate any digital conversions that you can, that includes digital FX and distortion. SANS AMP makes some great analog "Amp in a box" pedals, you could try direct or mix your direct sound with your mic'ed signal.
I'll tell you three things I really think help guitar sounds, assuming everything else I've mentioned is up to snuff...
1. Tube preamp. You can get insanely cheap ART tube Mic pres/DI's try some, to me they make guitar sound like GUITAR, this won't cost you hardly anything, MORE TUBE amp, preamps anywhere, just MORE TUBE
2. Put the amp in a reasonably reflective room and have a room mic as well as a direct mic, your condenser mics could come in handy for this application, this has made so many guitar tracks I've recorded come to life,
3. EQ LEAVE THOSE BASS AND TREBLE POTS AT NOON! Guitar lives in the mids, this is real-estate you have to share with vocals, so get definition in the mids 500hz to 1000khz, if you go looking for that scooped mid sound your guitar is going to disappear in the mix, consider the other instruments you'll be adding and carve out your zone based on their needs, again dial in your mids, LOWER than where the vocal lives, electric guitar is a pain in a mix, it steps on everyone's toes, the only place it;s relatively alone are in the zones I've mentioned, and don't be afraid to transpose your song based on achieving maximum frequency seperation, so many guitarists write in E or A by default, this tones have natual frequncies attached to them, (A =440hz for example) think about what's being played and what frequency range the guitar can naturally live in.
At the end of the day though, it's all about YOU so the best thing you can do to improve your guitar sound is practice every day, and practice hard, not for a long time but old school "going to the gym" type practice, this will make such a big difference in a month you won't even believe it.
I'm not a metal fan but practice some dumb metal riffs, consider it lifting weights and use a metronome.
Now....go make a hit and send me my royalty check.
Wednesday 19 July 2017
Sunday 16 July 2017
So, you bought a $10,000 mic huh? Why you will destroy western civilization
So, I recently read a bit of heated discourse between some wealthy folk who were convinced the $100,000 + they've spent on Mic's must be better than their wealthy buddies $100,000 mic locker.
First, let's get one thing straight, I have nothing against the very wealthy, Communism doesn't work, the human spirit dies where you penalize success, I probably have more in common with Ronald Regan Philosophically then Johhny Thunders or Sid Vicious (Or maybe not, those guys never went on record politically...except to say DESTROY! which I can certainly relate to as well) but I do think capitalism has completely soiled the bed on one of the most important components to its continued existence, the founding fathers of the USA knew this but it was ditched somewhere along the way: Those at the top, need to help elevate those at the bottom, not because the government tells them they have to, but because they know it's their privilege as highly successful people to elevate those less fortunate. That's ELEVATE, not CARRY, teach them to fish and give them a couple of fishes while they are learning, but I'm not talking about the welfare trap here, creating dependence and victims doesn't help anyone......oh boy, do I digress, but I think I needed to provide a little context for what is too come, and to explain why listening to pissing matches about items small enough to fit in your hand that do nothing more than capture sound waves and the megabucks being thrown around on them got me a little heated,
Now, I need to do the hard thing, I need to look at my own life and see where I am being wasteful, Vain and self-indulgent where I could be helping people instead, because if there's one thing I've learned in life is that it's never THEM....it's always ME that needs to change, THEY will never change I AM the one that needs to make it happen in whatever sphere of influence I affect no matter how big or small that is.
Here is my rebutal to the conversation I describe:
Why do you think the SM7 is so popular? Not because, it's the greatest sounding mic but because you can HOLD the F'ing thing while tracking,
Goddamn, you can even pull a Bono or AC/DC and say screw the headphones, and sing from the back of the control room, busting out all you rock moves as you go while listening to monitor playback....and this while using a 58!
Never in my life have I listened to such a puffty collection of Nancy-boys be so precious (No this isn't homophobic, my gay buddy who is over tracking some drums agrees, you guys are lame)
Changing mic capsules between takes....good god,
Hey here's an idea: Tell lord Perciful to sell the $8,000 mic and go pay for some kids college tuition who can't afford it (No, I am not into communism, I would defend your right to hoard $8,000 mics with my life, It should be YOUR choice what you do with your wealth, not the governments or anyone else's, but that doesn't mean I respect your decisions)
Yeah, I get it, it's a hobby.....mic minutia could be your thing, but don't act like you "Can't connect" with your $5000 toy, that's YOU not the mic, all this mic fussiness is just that, YOUR HOBBY...it's effect on the music you are making is ZILCH, and when I hear about the amount of money being wasted on ZILCH, I have to wonder why you don't make sponsoring job training for those who can't earn a living or elderly people who can't afford to die in comfort or the victims of various world disasters who have lost the roof over their heads your hobby instead.
Yeah, you need mics to work, but buy a few 87's 414's 421's SM7's, 57's D112's, KM184's and 121's and you are good to go
Beyond that, have you ever asked yourselves? Gee....have we crossed the line with this mic thing?
I honestly don't know if I would accept work producing or engineering an artist who was so precious about their mics, unless they showed up with it set it up and were ready to track when i sat down on the other side of the glass.....ok, I guess if that's a part of their sound then it's fine....no different from any other piece of gear that helps an act get their sound..
But good god...if you are going to piss around with this stuff you should tax yourselves, for every $10,000 you spend and a mic you donate $1000 to a scholarship fund or soemthing......I give money away, and I couldn't justify $10,000 on a mic, so you obviously are wealthier than I am.....Christ, It's like watching western civilization crumble before your eyes.....Changing capsules while Rome Burns......Let them eat Capacitors...all that good stuff
First, let's get one thing straight, I have nothing against the very wealthy, Communism doesn't work, the human spirit dies where you penalize success, I probably have more in common with Ronald Regan Philosophically then Johhny Thunders or Sid Vicious (Or maybe not, those guys never went on record politically...except to say DESTROY! which I can certainly relate to as well) but I do think capitalism has completely soiled the bed on one of the most important components to its continued existence, the founding fathers of the USA knew this but it was ditched somewhere along the way: Those at the top, need to help elevate those at the bottom, not because the government tells them they have to, but because they know it's their privilege as highly successful people to elevate those less fortunate. That's ELEVATE, not CARRY, teach them to fish and give them a couple of fishes while they are learning, but I'm not talking about the welfare trap here, creating dependence and victims doesn't help anyone......oh boy, do I digress, but I think I needed to provide a little context for what is too come, and to explain why listening to pissing matches about items small enough to fit in your hand that do nothing more than capture sound waves and the megabucks being thrown around on them got me a little heated,
Now, I need to do the hard thing, I need to look at my own life and see where I am being wasteful, Vain and self-indulgent where I could be helping people instead, because if there's one thing I've learned in life is that it's never THEM....it's always ME that needs to change, THEY will never change I AM the one that needs to make it happen in whatever sphere of influence I affect no matter how big or small that is.
Here is my rebutal to the conversation I describe:
Why do you think the SM7 is so popular? Not because, it's the greatest sounding mic but because you can HOLD the F'ing thing while tracking,
Goddamn, you can even pull a Bono or AC/DC and say screw the headphones, and sing from the back of the control room, busting out all you rock moves as you go while listening to monitor playback....and this while using a 58!
Never in my life have I listened to such a puffty collection of Nancy-boys be so precious (No this isn't homophobic, my gay buddy who is over tracking some drums agrees, you guys are lame)
Changing mic capsules between takes....good god,
Hey here's an idea: Tell lord Perciful to sell the $8,000 mic and go pay for some kids college tuition who can't afford it (No, I am not into communism, I would defend your right to hoard $8,000 mics with my life, It should be YOUR choice what you do with your wealth, not the governments or anyone else's, but that doesn't mean I respect your decisions)
Yeah, I get it, it's a hobby.....mic minutia could be your thing, but don't act like you "Can't connect" with your $5000 toy, that's YOU not the mic, all this mic fussiness is just that, YOUR HOBBY...it's effect on the music you are making is ZILCH, and when I hear about the amount of money being wasted on ZILCH, I have to wonder why you don't make sponsoring job training for those who can't earn a living or elderly people who can't afford to die in comfort or the victims of various world disasters who have lost the roof over their heads your hobby instead.
Yeah, you need mics to work, but buy a few 87's 414's 421's SM7's, 57's D112's, KM184's and 121's and you are good to go
Beyond that, have you ever asked yourselves? Gee....have we crossed the line with this mic thing?
I honestly don't know if I would accept work producing or engineering an artist who was so precious about their mics, unless they showed up with it set it up and were ready to track when i sat down on the other side of the glass.....ok, I guess if that's a part of their sound then it's fine....no different from any other piece of gear that helps an act get their sound..
But good god...if you are going to piss around with this stuff you should tax yourselves, for every $10,000 you spend and a mic you donate $1000 to a scholarship fund or soemthing......I give money away, and I couldn't justify $10,000 on a mic, so you obviously are wealthier than I am.....Christ, It's like watching western civilization crumble before your eyes.....Changing capsules while Rome Burns......Let them eat Capacitors...all that good stuff
Saturday 15 July 2017
Memo to manufacturers: What? Your new synth doesn't have aftertouch? Guess what?! I"M NOT BUYING IT!! The need for hands free synthesizer controls and how it all roads lead to KISS
That's right!
Korg! Your Minilogue Mini-sucks! Studio Logic, take your sledge and ride it back to queer street (I am not homophobic, if you are gay substitute "Straight Street") Roland, the only way I would pick up a system 8 would be to hit you over the head with it (And even then the light plastic would shatter and you'd barely notice)
Where oh where have the features that make a synth PLAYABLE gone? I want the wind controller! (Anal wind controller?) I want assignable features to velocity and the mod wheel (Multiple for the wheel) I want assignable CV pedal control inputs (2 of them! BOOYAH!) and most of all I WANT POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH AS STANDARD
This is why I LOVE me some ENSONIQ SQ80. It's all about the modulation I can do, without my hands having to leave the keyboard. Because guess what? I'M PLAYING! The SQ80 is the most playable synth ever (while others program. with the SQ80 I PLAY. I started out as a guitar player so I'm used to having the power to FEEL my instrument in the palm of my hands, not having to interrupt my creative flow to "program" stuff in.
With HIGHLY programmable aftertouch, CV pedal, HIGHLY detailed velocity programming, Pitch wheel and HIGHLY programmable Mod wheel, Playing synth never really hit home with me till I got one of these,
It's funny, everyone thinking 1:1 controls are so important, as a musician who wants to become one with his instrument and let his emotions call the shots, not his brain, I can tell you these Ensoniq's and, wait for it...........The hated and feared DX7 are THE synths for the playing musician,
You have so much hands free control on the DX7 it's not even funny, and don't think I'm some Jazz/Prog weirdo either, My roots are Punk/Glam/New wave I first picked up a synth because of Billy Idol (Wanna learn to play synth like a man? Rebel Yell record will show you, even though it's played by a woman, she plays with more balls than any 80's wuss that came after her), Cyndi Lauper (She-bop = best rock n' roll synth ever Co-written by Cyndi Lauper and the guy who went on to play keyboards with KISS) Primal Scream, Jesus and Mary-chain (Yes they used synths), Not Phil Collins, Hebie Hancock and Mister Mister (Although oddly enough their guitar player would end up playing one of the guitar solos on KISS's overrated, plodding heavey-metal snooze-fest of a record Creatures of the Night) and Duran Duran (Even lesser known fact: on KISS's underrated 1980 Power-Pop masterpiece UNMASKED, Producer Vini Poncia, asked the, just barely been signed and totally unknown Nick Rhodes play his Jupiter 8 on the forgotten classic TOMORROW and several other tracks, if you think you know what KISS sounds like and have heard their best but aren't familiar with this song I encourage you to head over to Youtube and prepare to be blown away this is one of the top three KISS songs EVER recorded, if you hate KISS I dare you to listen to that song and say it)
So there you go Synth manufacturers, it's really quite simple, those of us who can PLAY and aren't brain-dead, loop-layering no-talent EDM Mongoloids (Hey I like electronic dance music, I just don't like EDM...I like Mongoloids too so can the self-righteousness) would like some instruments that give us the ability to ROCK, we don't need our hands held as we push the "Talent" button.
In short, we who are UNMASKED are tired of instruments coming to the market that were obviously made to play on Creatures of the Night,
Yes.....There is a KISS analogy for everything....until next time, take yer fuggin trainin' wheelz and shove em' uo yer preset banks!
Good bye from Queer (Straight) Street everybody!
P.S On which street doth a man livist who yearns no more for gooey stains on his side of the bed and would sleep the night in peace?
Terrible Dee
Korg! Your Minilogue Mini-sucks! Studio Logic, take your sledge and ride it back to queer street (I am not homophobic, if you are gay substitute "Straight Street") Roland, the only way I would pick up a system 8 would be to hit you over the head with it (And even then the light plastic would shatter and you'd barely notice)
Where oh where have the features that make a synth PLAYABLE gone? I want the wind controller! (Anal wind controller?) I want assignable features to velocity and the mod wheel (Multiple for the wheel) I want assignable CV pedal control inputs (2 of them! BOOYAH!) and most of all I WANT POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH AS STANDARD
This is why I LOVE me some ENSONIQ SQ80. It's all about the modulation I can do, without my hands having to leave the keyboard. Because guess what? I'M PLAYING! The SQ80 is the most playable synth ever (while others program. with the SQ80 I PLAY. I started out as a guitar player so I'm used to having the power to FEEL my instrument in the palm of my hands, not having to interrupt my creative flow to "program" stuff in.
With HIGHLY programmable aftertouch, CV pedal, HIGHLY detailed velocity programming, Pitch wheel and HIGHLY programmable Mod wheel, Playing synth never really hit home with me till I got one of these,
It's funny, everyone thinking 1:1 controls are so important, as a musician who wants to become one with his instrument and let his emotions call the shots, not his brain, I can tell you these Ensoniq's and, wait for it...........The hated and feared DX7 are THE synths for the playing musician,
You have so much hands free control on the DX7 it's not even funny, and don't think I'm some Jazz/Prog weirdo either, My roots are Punk/Glam/New wave I first picked up a synth because of Billy Idol (Wanna learn to play synth like a man? Rebel Yell record will show you, even though it's played by a woman, she plays with more balls than any 80's wuss that came after her), Cyndi Lauper (She-bop = best rock n' roll synth ever Co-written by Cyndi Lauper and the guy who went on to play keyboards with KISS) Primal Scream, Jesus and Mary-chain (Yes they used synths), Not Phil Collins, Hebie Hancock and Mister Mister (Although oddly enough their guitar player would end up playing one of the guitar solos on KISS's overrated, plodding heavey-metal snooze-fest of a record Creatures of the Night) and Duran Duran (Even lesser known fact: on KISS's underrated 1980 Power-Pop masterpiece UNMASKED, Producer Vini Poncia, asked the, just barely been signed and totally unknown Nick Rhodes play his Jupiter 8 on the forgotten classic TOMORROW and several other tracks, if you think you know what KISS sounds like and have heard their best but aren't familiar with this song I encourage you to head over to Youtube and prepare to be blown away this is one of the top three KISS songs EVER recorded, if you hate KISS I dare you to listen to that song and say it)
So there you go Synth manufacturers, it's really quite simple, those of us who can PLAY and aren't brain-dead, loop-layering no-talent EDM Mongoloids (Hey I like electronic dance music, I just don't like EDM...I like Mongoloids too so can the self-righteousness) would like some instruments that give us the ability to ROCK, we don't need our hands held as we push the "Talent" button.
In short, we who are UNMASKED are tired of instruments coming to the market that were obviously made to play on Creatures of the Night,
Yes.....There is a KISS analogy for everything....until next time, take yer fuggin trainin' wheelz and shove em' uo yer preset banks!
Good bye from Queer (Straight) Street everybody!
P.S On which street doth a man livist who yearns no more for gooey stains on his side of the bed and would sleep the night in peace?
Terrible Dee
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