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Please give me any advice or constructive critisicm on this stuff.

I used a Tascam 424 Mk II. On Distance I used a condenser mic on the guitar (some AKG I borrowed) that was a bad decision.

Here is sort of what I am going for:

I want the vocals to not float on top of the mix and sound like they are in the same room, but I don't want them to be lost in the mix.

I want the guitar to sound really big without completely overpowering everything.

I want the drum machine to sound nice and punchy.

I want the bass (which I don't have on 2 tracks as of yet) to be dark and deep without deemphasizing the guitar.

you might experiment with:

-make sure your signal paths are clean and the inputs on each channel aren't too far into the red
--adjusting mic position and settings on the amp to get a tone that you really like
-panning things to different parts of the audio spectrum
-messing with eq for 'punch' or whatever the hell you want to call it.

Thanks for stating the obvious

oh, wait, I forgot to give you my "automatically make you a good engineer" advice

now i'll keep it a secret.

good luck!

by the way, seriously, you need to work on that guitar tone. yes, it's obvious.

I do realize that a lot of stuff comes from experience and experimentation.

I'm looking for just an idea or so for the next time I take a whack at it, not cock snot remarks.

SpectralJulian wrote:I'm looking for just an idea or so for the next time I take a whack at it, not cock snot remarks.

SpectralJulian wrote:Thanks for stating the obvious

let's fight!

...

ok, ok, fine.

you might be able to get the vocals to settle into the mix more to your liking if you experiment with backing off the mic when you record. jack up the gain to compensate. This is experimenting with the 'depth' of a track, which is basically an adjustment of the amount of ambient reverberation that gets mixed into the signal with the dry sound of voice-straight-to-mic (i.e. not bouncing off of the walls).

you might need a multi-band eq to go between the drum machine and the 4-track to have the variability to you want to make it sound "punchy" in the mix, since I'm guessing the 424 only has a a 2 or 3-band eq. I think those 4-tracks might have an effects loop... you could try that, with an eq pedal or something, so you can adjust while mixing.

i have no idea what kind of guitar or amp you have, if the crappy guitar tone is intentional, is a result of the guitar and amp, or is a result of the mic placement. if it sounds way crappier on tape than it does in real life, the only advice i could give is to experiment with mic placement 'til you find a flattering spot. also, you can experiment with mic placement distance and depth for this too. and if you're pushing the channel way into the red (as i said) that will make it sound real shitty really quickly.

i'm guessing the sound of this recording is not bad because of the AKG condenser mic, as you appear to presume. unless there's something really, really wrong with the particular mic you were using.

also, read a lot. read the tech part of this board. ask more specific questions.

There. hope that helps.

oh, and don't insult people who give you advice, even if it's not exactly what you were looking for.

-cocksnot advice guy

He`s right! The main problem you are having at the moment is with your signal! It`s clipping all over the place, sometimes its not hot enough and sometimes its way too hot! If the led meter lights up red then you need to either place the mic closer and reduce the gain or adjust the eq and reduce the gain or move further away from the mic!

Good luck!

You were coming off a little hostile when you replied. Or atleast it seemed like that to me.

It isn't a result of my guitar amp set-up. My live tone is very good.

Doubletrack the guitars. Pull the mic a few inches away from your cab. Pan them LR. Turn down all the FX on it 10%. We get the idea, and the more FX, the weaker the recorded sound.

Compress the drum machine with a ratio of about 4:1. Use thicker, drier sounds. Turn all cymbals right down.

Turn the bass up.

Sing/scream better. That's the weakest link in the chain by a long way. An audience can live with the most awful recording in the world if the vocals are incredible. Sorry, but they are flat, monodimensional, and unengaging. You need to improve.

Good luck. Seriously.

SpectralJulian wrote:My live tone is very good.

So is your songwriting, lyric writing, the vocal execution, the sound of the recording, all of that. It's all very, very good! Keep up the good work! Don't lose sight of your vision, and eventually the rest of the world will understand and appreciate the genius in what you do.




[/sarcasm]




Is that what you wanna hear?

Doude, you're recording on a cassette 4-track. Here is exactly what you need to do:

Use the best-sounding instruments you have access to, make them sound as good as you can, use the best-sounding mics you have access to, use the right mic on the right instrument, set the levels so they're as close to the red as you can get without going into the red... you're using a cassette 4-track. What do you expect?

Being a douchebag to gio is one of the last things you need to do.