RaceU4her
Well-known member
it sounds to me like the drums need some reverb and a buss comp, the guitars maybe the same thing and then a buss comp on the whole mix. maybe some saturation and tape machines in there to help as well
V
VESmedic
Well-known member
Exactly… throw an ssl buss comp on the whole thing… trust me on this. Slowest attack, fastest release, 2-4 db of gain reduction, 2:1 ration. It’s. Sure win. It’ll make things pop and gel like you are wanting.
Devin
Well-known member
The clip you posted sounds lightyears better than the garbage I was putting out when I first started recording myself 
RaceU4her
Well-known member
The clip you posted sounds lightyears better than the garbage I was putting out when I first started recording myself
Yeah, the main ingredients are there now it’s just figuring what and how much spices to put in
WhiteShadow
Active member
Does one of those come stock in Studio One? If not, what one should I get?
WhiteShadow
Active member
This is the compressor that comes with my DAW
WhiteShadow
Active member
Should I run the reverb on the main bus before or after compression?
RaceU4her
Well-known member
No reverb on the main buss, that goes on snare and guitars mostly.
ZEN Amps
Well-known member
First off, what you have so far sounds pretty decent and that's a cool riff. To answer this question, it is done but not nearly as commonly as equal level L & R. For this genre a tight double is a big part of the sound.
I agree that some compression is in order. Always best to start with what you have before buying new software. The one you have shown here will likely deliver good results with some experimentation. Before you go messing with the mix buss try it on your drum buss alone. Mess with subtle settings first with the mix at 100% (slow attack, low ratio, medium release, minimal GR). But for programmed drums you really want to try and inject some excitement, so try going quite hard e.g. input gain goosed hard, attack 10ms, release 100ms, ratio 8:1, hard knee, adjust threshold for 10-20db of GR, makeup gain around the same. Start with the mix control on 0%, and wind it up slowly - you'll hear the rock n' roll attitude creep in, and then at some point it'll be way too much.
The rest I'll dot point:
• crank up the guitars at least 3db
• the bass sounds fairly 'nice', it could do with some grind and attitude
• the earlier, simpler drum groove worked better
• don't really need much reverb for this stuff, a little on the guitars if you like
• once this is all sounding better, you could try some mix buss processing, but if you start with that stuff before all the basic balances are in place you'll go down a serious rabbit hole.
I'm not much of a songwriter and like you I've just been having some fun doing tracks 'in the style of' for our videos. They are done pretty quickly using the above ideas, and getting some juice in the drums really is the starting point for a vibey track.
Good luck, let us know how it all goes.
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WhiteShadow
Active member
Sounds incredible. Honestly if I could get to the point of writing/recording tracks just like this I would be fully satisfied. I still think the one I’ve shared today sounds horrible. The idea just isn’t good. Sounds a bit try hard. Yours, like everyone else seemingly, sounds very natural and effortless. Like it just happened organically without much effort. I’m talking the riff, the drums, etc…
What drum plugin did you use here?
ZEN Amps
Well-known member
Man don't get caught up in the 'everyone else is doing it effortlessly' angle. It's not true at all, although I understand it can feel that way sometimes! That's how I feel when I compare my chops against players like our buddy Joel in the Wizard video - he crushes every time, and makes it look easy. I've been fiddling with this stuff for decades, and I learn something new every day. Give it time, work hard and have fun - the results will follow.
Using Slate SSD5 and EZ Drummer mostly, but I dick around a lot with my own samples and blending snares etc.
Report back when you've messed around a bit more - there's a number of guys on this board with really good advice who are willing to help. Keep at it!
WhiteShadow
Active member
I’ve been messing with DAWs off and for about 2 years. Casually at first, then with high frequency for the past 6 mo to a year. My first stuff sounded like complete crap. This is me after “messing around a bit more” haha.
But I get what you mean.
What I want to do is make scratch demos with my home DAW and plugins, then take it to a studio with real amp and love drummer.
Would you guys recommend a good less expensive set of monitors to upgrade to?
Also, do prefer the Slate drums over EZ drummer? I’m not fond of EZ drummer honestly
WhiteShadow
Active member
I don’t like amp sims bc input gain is bullshit. You have to crank it down so much to keep from clipping that it chokes your signal out so much. You literally lose information.
WhiteShadow
Active member
Can anybody tell me though..... why does my stuff sound so slow?
Why is it no matter how fast I crank up the tempo it just still sounds like its slugging behind? It's driving me nuts
Why is it no matter how fast I crank up the tempo it just still sounds like its slugging behind? It's driving me nuts
ZEN Amps
Well-known member
Man if you're making demo tracks to re-record later I wouldn't sweat it at all. What you have is more than fine for that.
Yes I prefer Slate but honestly they all requiring tweaking to work for the song, presets are just a vague starting point.
"Feeling sluggish" could be tempo related, but in your case it's that lack of excitement and energy. Smashing the drums a bit, maybe blending in compressed rooms mics and getting more upfront guitar and bass tones will improve things a lot. If you like, send me some stems and I'll whack some shit on it, see if it gets you closer to what you're hearing in your head. Just PM me.
Yes I prefer Slate but honestly they all requiring tweaking to work for the song, presets are just a vague starting point.
"Feeling sluggish" could be tempo related, but in your case it's that lack of excitement and energy. Smashing the drums a bit, maybe blending in compressed rooms mics and getting more upfront guitar and bass tones will improve things a lot. If you like, send me some stems and I'll whack some shit on it, see if it gets you closer to what you're hearing in your head. Just PM me.
Monkey Man
Super Moderator
WS, the first mix you posted had excellent balance. I can't speak for the low end 'cause my Mac speaker doesn't do bass.
Seriously man, great balance between the drums and geetar.
Seriously man, great balance between the drums and geetar.