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I'm only listening on crappy speakers right now and I don't know most of these, but I can give you some feedback! This is cool, the vocal harmonies are a nice touch too. I'm not going to get critical about them, but if you do want them a little slicker, they're a little wavery in places (not necessarily a bad thing) and you might want to loop record until you nail a strong take. Playing with a wider stereo field and a little reverb might be cool too, especially moving them away from the centre so the guitar can take the spotlight without being stepped on This goes for most of what I've heard - the guitar is quite weak in places, in terms of volume. Part of that comes from playing ability and confidence, really leaning into the performance and making every note count, but it's also about the production too. A dynamic piece with loud parts and soft parts really benefits from some compression, which ideally evens out the volume differences without erasing the dynamic feel - it still sounds loud and soft, but it still holds its own in the mix. I reckon this is probably the thing that will take your recordings to a higher level, because they just sound so different and alive when they're evened out. There are a lot of ways to do it - playing loud to tape, using a mic preamp, software plugins - but pretty much everything recorded that you ever hear has been compressed to some degree, so it's worth getting a handle on it. Oh also, varying mic placement makes a big difference with acoustic guitar, so try getting that right before you hit the EQ. Don't cut the low frequencies too much - the guitar is the star with these, and you want to keep its character. A lot of the boominess comes from around the 250Hz area (depends what kind of sound you mean really), but you don't want to remove or weaken the resonance and unbalance the voice of the instrument. When you're mixing with other instruments you'll need to make some space for their frequencies to come through, but as a solo instrument it should be more about polish I think I know you posted this one before as an arrangement you found - I really get the feeling you're meant to play it percussively, the rhythm drops out when you switch from drumming to picking, and it's kinda jarring. The rhythm ends up lost and it sort of sounds confused to me. Some of the hits coincide with the notes, so try playing them more aggressively, or actually drumming on the strings so you get the percussive hit as well as the note. The arrangement is pretty sparse so it feels like this was the idea, and even if it isn't I think it's worth trying! supermikhail posted:Jourey of the sorcerer from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy The movie version. I like the first part, it's pretty tight and urgent. I feel like I'm saying this a lot but the pauses between sections are what hurts it, if you practice those changes specifically it'll all tie together and sound way cooler. I'm not really a fan of the strummed part, it sounds really heavy handed and behind the beat, and the strings don't ring clearly. Are you strumming with your fingers? You might need to work on your technique, especially if you usually use a pick. Or try switching to a pick for that part, there's a pause so you could pick one up or take it out of your mouth or whatever. Try practicing to a metronome and make sure you can keep up the speed and energy when you hit that part, it'll sound way better supermikhail posted:John 19:41 from Jesus Christ Superstar This is actually an arrangement by a guy called Robb Anagnostis I found somewhere on the web a long time ago, but I recorded it for some reason, and I can't decide that it completely doesn't belong here. I think the main thing that jumps out at me here is that you obviously have some timing issues, where you're struggling to get into position so you end up pausing. There's a dynamic called rubato where you can speed up or slow down in your phrasing for effect, and it might be worth trying to use that when you need a moment - make those pauses part of the ebb and flow, so it feels intentional and natural One of your strings (?) is really out of tune here too (I hear it on others but it's pretty jarring here) This is cool, I like this one. Obviously some of your timing is uneven, but I think what I'd concentrate on here is the transitions - you have these nice arpeggiated chords and the like, and then you slide into a higher 'lead' part, but there's sort of a pause like you're getting ready for the next section, so it kinda feels like 'ok... now this bit'. If you focus on practicing going from one part straight into the next, confidently, that'll change the whole feel. Emphasing that pulsing bass note might help too, get yr stomp on This sounds like the most ambitious one so far - the guitar tone is a lot more even and pleasant, and your picking rhythm is pretty strong! Your fretting is letting you down a little, some of the notes are obviously choking - it might be your guitar's setup too, so whatever you need to do there. The transitions into the different parts are... they don't feel unconfident here, it's more that there are big changes happening but they're kinda sprung on the listener, so that feels jarring. Maybe work on leading into them, like with the one around 0:30 where it's slow and then fast, maybe really drag out the slow part and then jump into the fast bit, or start the fast part slowly and speed up, something like that. It would help with the key changes too, some of the parts feel kinda disconnected Hope that wasn't too critical (can't listen to the others right now, sorry!), you've got some good stuff here - you just need to improve a couple of technique areas to see a big difference, I think. Recording is hard because you have to nail it, so you have to develop that consistency no matter how hard or simple the music you're playing
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Apr 1, 2015 18:22
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No probs! I don't really know what I'm talking about with most of this, just so you know! Let's see how much I can post here - first up Audacity is ok for what it is, and you can use VST plugins with it (I used to use this Kjaerhus Classic Compressor), but yeah it can definitely get to be a chore. I'm not really sure about Linux options though - I was going to recommend Reaper which is fantastic, but they only have Windows and OS X versions unfortunately. Maybe the recording megathread will have some suggestions? Getting an actual DAW and learning the basics will save you so much time and frustration supermikhail posted:
It was more a suggestion that if (if) you wanted your vocals to be stronger, just work on doing lots of takes, really work up to each one so you can give a strong performance, and throw out the ones that didn't go so well. This is another place a DAW helps - you can do looping record which goes over the same part and records multiple takes, so you can just sing over and over and then decide later which one you want to use. The stereo thing isn't necessarily about creating a soundstage, although it can be. In reality the voices in the 'choir' will be coming from slightly different places, and a subtle panning will make it sound bigger and more spacious - and this is a 'less is more' thing, hard panning is more for effect or pretending it's an old Beatles recording. But the main reason I suggested it, is that panning instruments gives them their own space in the mix, so they're less likely to step on each other and require EQing. But yeah, you can have the guitar off to the side if you like, whatever's good - just so long as they're not all in the same place, y'know? supermikhail posted:Oh, no, I am solely to blame for this arrangement, so obviously you're barely meant to play it as anything. I've been getting more into a kind of recording mood with time, and right now I feel that maybe it's unnecessary to do this song all in a single take. That is, I really could do drumming and picking separately. And maybe add something extra in a few additional passes (as you have perhaps suggested previously). Although this particular recording was done solely with the intent that "these are the notes, and that is the rhythm, make of it what you will". Honestly I think it would be better to make this 'that percussive solo song', and the sparse arrangement really lends it to that, because it's not overcomplicated, you know? That's why I thought it was written that way in the first place (I thought I remembered you saying you found it online?) You just need to make sure the beat is still 'felt' - how you do that is up to you, with playing dynamics or actual drumming, but when I listened to it I got a bit lost. Partly because different beats disappear at different times, so when you hear one it's hard to place it. I'm not going to say 'yo copy Justin or Kaki King' or anything, but there are tricks you can do. Youtube reminded me of this which is a good example! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHJYiuZkRXw Yeah none of us are pulling that off anytime soon, but you can see some of the techniques in there - hitting the strings for a constant pulse while playing, harder strums on beats, stressing the notes that fall on beats, etc. Make the beat your priority, and see how you go from there. In my opinion! supermikhail posted:I just want to mention that I specifically didn't cut out the pauses because this thread is not supposed to provide a polished listening experience. Well I'm not saying cut out the pauses, more that they make the arrangement sound weaker. It's hard to pretend they're not there and imagine it if it was played with a solid rhythm and drive, you know? And as for the rubato thing... I was actually going to say 'maybe you're already doing that', so it's not that I thought you weren't! But it takes skill to make that sound intentional and musical, it's playing with the rhythm, not ignoring it. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but some of the pauses are... I'm going to say they're obviously where you need to stop for a moment, if that's not true then it comes across that way, to me anyway. And that feel bleeds over into your rubato playing, so the whole thing sounds a bit messy instead of intentionally ebbing and flowing If you don't like the arrangement then cool, but I still think it might be worth learning to play it properly first, getting comfortable with it when it's played well, enjoying the energy and sound it has, and then decide. You might develop it more! supermikhail posted:Just in case, there are some pauses in there that are intentional. Although a lot of them aren't, especially in the last third. But the pause before the "lead", I think it's appropriate. No? I guess it's a matter of taste, the time signature already sounds complicated, and then there's pauses that sound just short enough to be unintentional, like a hesitation? Maybe I'm just not hearing the beat properly, it's definitely possible! supermikhail posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlpsyMpL8ZY I can't say that I lied very much in my arrangement... Maybe, you know, the 0:30 transition is smoother there. I think I've been skipping some background notes mentally that connect the two rhythms. And also my basses are in the background whereas in the original they very much make up the main course. What do you think? I think just hitting the notes has been enough challenge for me that I haven't considered how exactly I hit them. But it's theoretically possible to apply much more pressure to the basses, I take it? Ok so the Doctor Who one, comparing to the original I can follow it a lot better. The 0:30 transition isn't that bad, I was just being lazy and using that as an example - it's the later ones that are the problem, the 1:20 one and then the ascending line into that dissonant part near the end. The pauses are the problem, they make it completely disjointed and throw you off, like falling over in the middle of a dance. The original is obviously full orchestrated, and they can do things like leaving instruments hanging while another group weave in a new motif or introduce a new section. Obviously you're much more limited with a single guitar, so you have to keep it all connected. You could partly do that by making sure you have multiple strings sounding at once (like with the 0:30 part, keeping the high bit going while you play the descending bass, like in the original), but you'll probably get the biggest benefit from keeping the beat going. The original flows confidently from part to part, like someone speaking fluently. Yours halts, and in some places it makes the next part seem unconnected (like with the dissonant bit). Part of the arrangement is about those contrasts and making them fit together, so you have to make sure your arrangement manages to maintain that. Strip it down to the core melody and harmony and rhythm and make sure those stay strong Making sure it flows together at those points will do wonders for the whole thing - I'm not saying it'll necessarily be great (I don't know a lot about arrangement and you've set yourself a major task here) but it'll at least be solid and coherent, and give the listener a solid structure to comprehend and appreciate the rest of it. Do you practice with a metronome? If not you should! You probably don't want to record to a click, since it might feel a little too rigid, but practicing your performances with one will help your timing, and more importantly it'll force you to get good at the changes! You need to be in control throughout the whole thing, and if any parts trip you up you need to get a handle on them. This is one of the big things about recording - you need solid technical skills, even if you're playing 3-chord punk, unless messiness is part of your vibe And your bass notes are something where proper mic placement and compression etc will help you a lot - I can hear you plucking them pretty hard, with that 'thwack' of the string. Ideally you wouldn't need to do that since it changes the whole sound. This is probably more for the recording thread though, or maybe a youtube video on recording acoustic guitar! Uh oh big text again
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Apr 3, 2015 16:50
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Yeah. Maybe we're not exactly thinking about the same thing, but I do run out of air and my voice begins dying. When I simply practice I focus on range and consistency (if that makes sense), not duration. Although to be fair, tutorial videos I've seen don't focus on the latter either.
Admittedly, I don't think I've ever practiced Journey of the Sorcerer to a timer. I've always justified this to myself by wanting to add emotion to the first part by perhaps overextending some notes. Although as you've mentioned, as a result the strummed part ends up behind the beat (and possibly the picked part ahead of it).
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Reaper is awesome, and yeah it takes a little while to learn, but the basic layout is very similar to Audacity - bunch of tracks, track controls at the side, waveform in the main window, a mixer at the bottom. And unless they've changed something, the free trial doesn't expire, there's just a long nag screen, so you can take your time evaluating it if you're unsure you want to buy it. Once you get over the whole 'oh god what is all this' hump it'll make your life a whole lot easier. Admittedly I haven't touched Audacity in years, but clunky is how I'd describe using it for anything more than a rudimentary sound recorder thing I'll see if I can find some time to listen to the others this weekend, although I think you probably get where I'm coming from by now! Also I feel kinda guilty being the only person giving advice, since I'm so far from being an expert it's amazing Oh here's a guy who made a video jsut for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdO2YvzKLm0
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Apr 3, 2015 21:10
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