My first recording

Posting this hurts, because I think it really sucks. It's my first go at recording with the equipment I've been collecting.

I used Sonar 8 Producers Edition....then I mic'ed my **ty solid state practice amp with a shure 57. For vocals I used a AKG D-5.

I ran everything through a fast track pro.

I guess you never really know how much you suck until you record yourself eh? Hopefuly I will get better...although I do not know how to really make vocals improve. It sounds much better when I play it with my drummer, probably because it drowns out some of my god awful singing LOL

I think your voice is more interesting than bands i've heards who are trying to go profesional who sing in the same style.

thanks man. I redid the recording and I Think I improved on the vocals, but now I can't seem to mic my amp good enough to sound good w/the distortion part.

Gonna be tweaking this a lot and learning from it.

Also, my vocal mic is picking up pick strikes on my electric. I gota find a way o stop that.

You live in an apartment? If not you could turn the amp up a tad bit more ;) that should cover up the pick hits off the strings

BUT if you can't turn the amp up a bit more, then you could do the cheap(my style) way and put some pillows and a cardboard box between you and the amp/mic setup, which would also help cut down on the pick hits being heard.

A drum track would be really nice with the distorted parts on this piece too man, it would add that missing dimension to the song.

The vox are actually pretty good AND interesting IMO. With time you'll definitely polish your voice(good vocal teacher helps too haha) which I can only imagine will be extremely unique and easy on the ears(some guys just have a bad singing voice--me haha).

Keep it up man, you're song structures, recording techniques, etc. etc. will only get better with more time and experience doing it, so keep at it mate ;)

I really enjoyed the slower tempo and clean guitar for this one man, some good stuff here :D

Too much distortion! Turn it down! You lose all quality of the tone and then it just gets into a huge mess.

Your vocals aren't bad. Stop trying to hide it, punch it a little more: put some more emotion in it. Don't be afraid. Stop trying to "make it perfect" and just sing from the soul.

Thanks for the comments guys, it's helps so much and I appreciate it.

JustJeff, I am using a Big Muff for the harder parts, and I must say the mic'ed amp did not capture the sound--it sounds much better in person. The mic seemed to have distorted it more-and yes it sounds awful!! I am working on a fix..I got the shure 57 on my amp. I think I need to mess with the gain on my fast track pro. I have found that recording is an art within itself.

I am trying to "let go" on the vocals. It's hard for me. I understand what you are saying and will try to apply it for the next recording.

Case-I live in a condo building....I'm just gonna bust out the tube anyways--screw 'em!! It's a beefy 65 watts. I just have to make sure baby and wifey aren't home either lol!!

I have hesitated putting a drum track, as I have a drummer...I am trying to figure out how to mic his set with my two inputs at our rehearsal space. Maybe I'll mic his set with their PA system and then mic the PA. I dunno, it's all new to me!

Thanks again guys!!Text for registered users only

No problem dude, maybe you could turn the gain down on the BMP for recording since in my personal experience, you use far less gain and distortion for recording than you would for live playing .

Also a loud mic'd amp sounds glorious ;)

That's really solid. I enjoyed the song, and agree with everything already stated about the vocals and distortion.

I tried to look up information on plato's cave, but I can't find much. Is this track an original?

Your voice sounds fine, the more times you record and hear it, the better it'll get. We are never happy with the way our recorded voice sounds, cause it resonates in our head in a way that is not captured by mics.

The song sounds great, but I want to hear the lyrics more.

The discrepancy between the clean and the distorted parts needs work.

Overall it sounds great.

Btimm yes it's an original. Plato's Cave is the name of the group I put together...it's in reference to an allegory made by Plato in a work entitled "The Republic".

It's an interesting philosophical concept that I wrote a song about. It's gonna be my next recording.

INFO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave

I think it's a pretty good thing if I wasn't sure if it was a cover. :o)

I like the name! cool idea

I re did it again and tried to take everyone's suggestion and incorporate into the new recording. I even busted out the tube amp, screw the neighbors. I've learned a lot recording this song.

Recording is an art in itself.
Recording is very frustrating.

I found it easier to record the guitar and then come back and do vocals. This way I didn't have to keep scrapping a take because a vocal was missed, but the guitar was good etc.

Thanks for all your help and if you have anything else to add let me know. If you want me to check some of your own stuff out and give feedback I'd be happy to

You are really refining the recording. It's fun to hear the progression of the recordings. You're inspring me to send the kids to grandmas for the weekend amnd try to record a song.

Great work dude.

What kind of Big Muff do you have?

That was much better and I really enjoyed the tune. Keep it going man!

Not bad for the first hit man, it is really pleasant to listen. I like more the acoustic part than the distortion part. Keep it up m8, cheers!

Emp

Man I woulda worked on this more but my wife and kids are home lol, i know the feeling.

I bought my muff brand new last year...its made in NYC...its not vintage or anything.

I need to redo the vocals on this track....there are some dynamic issues, but i like the guitar parts.

Hopefully will get this recorded with my drummer too

fyp