PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

So, It seems most of the scope-ites 'round these parts are into the whole techno/trance/electronica kind of thing.

I'm a rock drummer, trying to learn to play guitar, sing, write songs etc..
so here's a tune I was working on until one of my monitors so rudely took a crap.
Perhaps it didn't like the song..
anyway.. I played all the instruments on the tune. Acoustic drums, geetar, bass & vocals.
I used one of the scope synths for a simple synth pad.
I made a lot of use of the TubeStrip plugin.

good production!
the kick seems to disappear in the heavier parts, a multicompressor like the Optimaster would solve this easily
Not my style (tho it is an honest piece of music). Yet you did an amazingly good job

Thanks Hubrid! I appreciate the feedback!
I agree about the kick dissapearing in the heavier parts.
I will try the optimaster when I get the new amp for my monitor!

I don't think it's that the kick disappears but that the guitars overpower the rest of the mix. I liked the balance up till about 2:16 and then those extra guitars are just way too loud. Optimaster will not help you there.
I just think you need to work on the balance a bit more.

To start off I would:-

Double track the chuggy guitar that starts at 0:33 and pan outward either side of the sound stage. The other guitar part I would do the same but pull the level down a bit. and maybe not pan as hard.
The guitar part at 2:16, well I would definitely pull the level down and instead of the hard swap from left to right I would pan it so it's a bit smoother.

Great singing and great drum sound. Please keep posting.
I'm one of the few scope users that prefer to hear live recorded instruments as opposed to all this dance/electronic/synth stuff!

hey bassdude! Thanks for your input.

The chuggy guitars are double tracked and panned hard left and right...
I do agree though that the guitars in the bridge thingy are too loud.. that was actually the thing that made me realize there was something seriously wrong with my monitors.
and I will try the panning thing too.. I gotta figure out how to automate stuff in scope!

thanks again for your input! It is appreciated!

manfriday wrote:hey bassdude! Thanks for your input.

The chuggy guitars are double tracked and panned hard left and right...

Wow, when I listened they seemed to sit more on the right! But I was only listening on cheap crap headphones.

well, it could be.. But it was my right monitor that was crapping out.. The mids on the right monitor sorta seemed to dissapear, so I may have boosted that side to compensate before I knew what was going on..
Heh. I guess I should probably fix my monitoring before I post any more tunes I am workin on!

Now that I've had a listen on better headphones, I can hear that the chuggy guitars are indeed double tracked. And really it's just those middle guitar bits that over power the mix otherwise the rest of the mix is really very well balanced.
There are definitely things that you could work on to make it better though I think like when the non-chuggy guitar starts at 30secs in, I don't think it sits right. It could be that it clashes with the walking bass line right before you hit the chord. Or, what would the track sound like with that guitar taken out right up to where the song really kicks in at 50secs (so you just keep the chuggy guitars and the acoustic - possibly double track the acoustic from 30secs in to keep the feeling that the song is building)? From 50 secs in you have a real nice full sound happening. The bass could actually come up a bit here to help solidify and fill out the bottom end quite nicely. A good rule I start with is that the kick and bass should complement each other ie one should not be louder than the other. The kick is definitley over powering the bass all through the track. However it sounds good in the quieter parts of the song. I reckon bring it up a bit for the heavier parts. This wil also add dynamic to the mix as well.
You could also play around abit more with gated reverb on the snare at the start to make the stick hits on the rim seem a bit bigger. They feel a bit shy to me. Of course these are things *I* would try just to see what happens. This sort of thing is very subjective and personal.
I really like your drumming in this track and the way you've played the bass. Nothing is fighting here it's great.
If you do keep working on this song I would like to hear what you come up with.

Thanks Bassdude. I will certainly try out some of those suggestions.
I'm jonsing to work on it again, but I dont have my monitor back up and running..
Event is sending me a new amp & transformer for it. should be here next week.
maybe I will just have to break down and use the headphones till then

Manfriday, pretty cool Rock tune and nice vocal recording and mixing!

Thanks,

LongStudios

It would have been nice if you put some synthesizers in there. You would say that is not a part of the genre. The fact that the genre is so rigid is what makes this music so boring for me. I feel like I have heard this song a thousand times even though I never heard it before. It's not fair of me because I hate alternative anyway but this is why I hate it. It's predictable.

there are some synths in there actually, but they are just pads to fill things out a bit.
I dont mind synths in the genre at all.