Recorded the demo.. Need some feedback from you guys. (90's rock cover band content)

[jaxn slim]

Now that I finally got my basement studio back in commission, my newest band got a chance to record our demo. The only issue is that I'm not really an engineer. But I took my best stab at it and thought I'd reach out to you guys for suggestions. It's definitely one of my best recordings so far.

Feedback on the playing would be appreciated, as well. It's the singer's first band, and he's never had a lesson, so I've been impressed with his professionalism. I'm the only guitar player, so I doubled up on a few parts. Otherwise, it's just one live take for the most part.

We're about to start churning out demo CDs and post these guys online, so I'd like to get it right the first time.

Radiohead - Creep

Stone Temple Pilots - Creep/Plush Medley

Weezer - Say It Ain't So

Thanks in advance.

[Kerouac]

Lulz at "Say It Ain't So" since you missed that jam on Saturday.

I'll give a listen here in a bit... I'm still transferring vids from the camera.

[jaxn slim]

Lulz at "Say It Ain't So" since you missed that jam on Saturday.

I'll give a listen here in a bit... I'm still transferring vids from the camera.

Sweet. Looking forward to the videos.

Yeah. That's my life story: I leave the party then something awesome happens.

[Kerouac]

Sweet. Looking forward to the videos.

Yeah. Tha'ts my life story: I leave the party then something awesome happens.

Yeah, the strippers with Jägermeister dispensing nipples were fun.

[Kerouac]

Umm, you need to rename those files as mp3 instead of .jpeg.

[jaxn slim]

Umm, you need to rename those files as mp3 instead of .jpeg.

Ha.

Done.

[Kerouac]

The STP one the bass sounds like it needs a bit of compression and a bit of a HPF on the low end, as sometimes it pops out as really overwhelming, at least on my monitors. Drums sound pretty good, but the snare could come up just a hair, mainly on Plush.

Weezer - I didn't know John Mayer was in your band. Same thing here, I think the bass was a little undefined and the snare could be a little louder (or you could just turn the cymbals down a bit!) Vocals pre-solo are a bit rough, but that's a hard part to get right.

Have to listen to Radiohead one later.

[jaxn slim]

The STP one the bass sounds like it needs a bit of compression and a bit of a HPF on the low end, as sometimes it pops out as really overwhelming, at least on my monitors. Drums sound pretty good, but the snare could come up just a hair, mainly on Plush.

Weezer - I didn't know John Mayer was in your band. Same thing here, I think the bass was a little undefined and the snare could be a little louder (or you could just turn the cymbals down a bit!) Vocals pre-solo are a bit rough, but that's a hard part to get right.

Have to listen to Radiohead one later.

Sweet! Thanks man. IRT the bass popping out, do you think it could be the kick? I noticed that too, now that you mention it, and I meant to turn down the kick just a hair.

[mosiddiqi]

I really enjoyed those Jaxn!...."Creep" sounds fine to me, I think the backing vocals on "Plush" could use some beefing up..double tracking or something ..and being really picky....the pitch/delivery on those could be stronger.

[jaxn slim]

mo, agreed on all counts. i was going to double up his vocal on those bckgds, but then i got lazy his voice is just so much thinner than the lead singer's. i might give in and do that this weekend.
and the singer can definitely stand to work on his pitch. but meh. it's not really worth the effort to punch in a bunch of parts. i'm way too busy lately.

[Mark Wein]

I kind of wish the vocals were more "committed to". Plush is the first song that he actually lays into...

[Prages]

Just listening now.

Creep sounds really good. The chugga chugga at the beginning of the choruses doesn't quite have the impact that it does on the original, but the rest of it is mixed very well, IMO.

Creep/Plush - I might want to hear a little more reverb on the vocals here. And yeah, beef up the backing vocals a little. Overall, the vocals just sound a little dry to me, both lead and backing. I also agree with kerouac on the bass. It's got so much low end that it isn't as defined on the upper frequencies. Very full sounding though.

Say It Ain't So - Sounds good to me. Vocals are a little weak. For a first time band member, he's doing great. Recording vocals can be very intimidating. He'll get more comfortable with it the more you do it.

Overall, that's a great sounding demo, IMO.

Did you do any kind of mastering on it?

[jaxn slim]

Thanks so much for listening, guys. I really appreciate the input.

Just listening now.

Creep sounds really good. The chugga chugga at the beginning of the choruses doesn't quite have the impact that it does on the original, but the rest of it is mixed very well, IMO.

Yeah. Maybe I'll boost that a little.

Creep/Plush - I might want to hear a little more reverb on the vocals here. And yeah, beef up the backing vocals a little. Overall, the vocals just sound a little dry to me, both lead and backing. I also agree with kerouac on the bass. It's got so much low end that it isn't as defined on the upper frequencies. Very full sounding though.

Say It Ain't So - Sounds good to me. Vocals are a little weak. For a first time band member, he's doing great. Recording vocals can be very intimidating. He'll get more comfortable with it the more you do it.

Overall, that's a great sounding demo, IMO.

Did you do any kind of mastering on it?

Sort of. I don't have any mastering hardware or software, so I just imported the whole song back into Garageband as a stereo track and made a few tweaks.

And those are all good tips. Hopefully I can knock all that stuff out this weekend.

[Prages]

Before I left the house this morning, I ran them through my mastering software. I probably overdid it with the compression/limiting, and maybe with the EQ as well. I basically spent about 1 minute on the settings and then rendered them without even listening to the song afterwards, but here's what they sound like when they are compressed and EQ'ed a little too much.

Creep - Master

Plush - Master

Say It Ain't So - Master

[jaxn slim]

That's awesome. I like the EQ. But you might have been a little heavy-handed on the compression.

What did you use?

[Prages]

That's awesome. I like the EQ. But you might have been a little heavy-handed on the compression.

What did you use?

I use T-Racks 24 Mastering Suite. It's a standalone program that gives you nothing but Parametric EQ, Compression, Multi-Band Limiter, and Output Limiter.

I think I did go a little nuts on the compression, but like I said, I spent about a minute dialing it in and didn't even have time to listen afterwards.

[jaxn slim]

I use T-Racks 24 Mastering Suite. It's a standalone program that gives you nothing but Parametric EQ, Compression, Multi-Band Limiter, and Output Limiter.

I think I did go a little nuts on the compression, but like I said, I spent about a minute dialing it in and didn't even have time to listen afterwards.

So how do you like T-Racks?

This looks like a pretty sweet deal.

[Prages]

I like T-Racks pretty well. Had it for about 4 or 5 years now, I guess.

It's a PITA to install, because you have to install, then register, then IK emails you a license code that is only good for one install. You can get up to three codes for free. After that, I think it costs $10 a pop. I've used up all three of my codes due to reformatting my hardrive a couple of years ago.

The presets, like most other things of this nature, suck ass. You can tweak the settings, though, and get a really good sounding master.

[Telenator]

.....

[Telenator]

Nice job recording the tunes. It will make a terrific demo.

I listened to the Stone Temple Pilots track. I though the guitar was a little too far forward, and I kinda missed the chorus/flange effect on plush. The vocal is a bit dry too. Otherwise a fine, honest demo that you guys should have no trouble reproducing at a live gig!