The DijonStock Digital Home Recording Support Forum

Some of you know that I got a Roland e-drum kit a few years back and took up drums. I finally got around to loading my first drumming project onto my Soundclick page. Simple guitar pop sort of thing. Feedback/constructive criticism welcome.

https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/player.cfm?songID=13754659

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My music: https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=1215402&content=songs

I think I put the wrong link on the previous post (probably took you to my Soundclick login page). Fixed it.

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My music: https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=1215402&content=songs

The drummin is great JM. it sounds tight rhytmically too so congratulations for that. It’s an achievement. I can hear your enthousiasm. That being said my taste says drumming should serve as a backbone of a song. I also like dynamics in music quite a lot. The song feels as if all the parts, vocals, guitars, drumming are competing with each other. Personally i would like less fill ins and more steady rhythm emphasizing the vocals where needed. Now it starts strong and keeps going. But i don’t think i could do it better for that matter. Still a great job.

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In a minute it might be gone. Life is a bear in a bubble.

http://www.soundclick.com/bearinabubble

I do agree with Dirk... but if this is a debut.... I wonder what more is coming, great job!

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

Hey guys - thanks for listening and offering up your feedback. Much appreciated.

Dirk - I love dynamics too, and my future work will hopefully feature a lot of it. This being a little pop song that clocks in at 2:40, not so much.

As far as the music getting in the way of the vocals, yeah I get that too. That is the prevailing wisdom, and most people tend to prefer vocal-focused music (as evidenced by what's been on the radio over my lifetime). However, I've always been much more drawn to music where the vocals are just another piece in the brownian motion of the whole. From my early preference for the Who over the Stones and the Beatles, to my teen obsession with very early Rush and Yes, all the way to my current enjoyment of Tool and Porcupine Tree, I want a lot more to listen to than just a vocal line. Since that's what I like, that's what I do (fully understanding that it will limit the appeal of my music). I couldn't tell you half the words to my all-time favorite songs - I've just never found music that is focused on the vocals above all else to be very interesting, but that puts me squarely in the minority.

Dirk, you mentioned things stepping all over each other. Did you mean sonically? If so, I certainly have a lot to learn on the recording/mixing front. If you meant arrangement and performance, it's pretty standard for the genre.

Again, thanks for listening.

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My music: https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=1215402&content=songs

Hey JM,

Let me put it this way. In my opinion the art of mixing lies in the fact that you can divide the bandwidth and spectrum in such a way that everything has it's place and can be heard equally. I refer to this as open and closed sounding recordings. I have heard recordings in which large amounts of instruments are used, often in sequence where one does a little something and the other completes the sentence. Where they sound simultaneous they complement each other by each filling a part of the spectrum. Other recordings everything just runs on top of each other and you get a closed recording with a lot of sound but you cannot make out the details. . If it is done right (to my personal taste) you can hear bass, bassdrum, cymbals, two or three guitars, a keyboard, organ or wurley or so and still clearly understand the vocals. It involves eq, panning an often for example lowering the guitars where the singer tells his story. I like a good story in a song. Again, that's me. That's where i'm trying to go with my recordings.

By the way, i posted a couple of songs recently where i try to practice what i just preached , Since i'm no drummer. I could use some real drumming on those. Hint, hint, ...

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In a minute it might be gone. Life is a bear in a bubble.

http://www.soundclick.com/bearinabubble

Great job at drumming. If you've never played before you got the Rolands then you have certainly accomplished much in a short time. As for fordirk's comments about mixing and using bandwith properly, that's the reason I stopped recording. I never liked anything I did. To me my music sounded like a wall of mush.

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GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

rz-land

One aspect of creating open mixes -->>Don't be afraid of exaggerated EQ curves within the mix-> cutting conflicting frequencies or alternatively adding where needed/opportune. Some tracks sound odd on their own but great in a mix. Start aggressively and then dial back as the mix emerges.

You have made some good mixes Ron, on those annual tunes, if memory serves.

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Byron

Hi RZ, the reason you stopped is exactly the reason I keep at it. I have done things that i grasped and then much of it’s appeal went away because i new I could do it. With the guitar, the singing and the recording I keep hearing things I don’t do right yet. I guess I like the road more than the destination. I keep finding little things that make a difference. I ‘d like to do something with this in the fireseeable future.

I also remember some stuff you did that sounded really good. Maybe I need to check them out again. Anyway. I’d welcome one of your tunes.

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In a minute it might be gone. Life is a bear in a bubble.

http://www.soundclick.com/bearinabubble

Thanks for the comments, all.

Ron - I've been able to play basic rock beat for decades, so didn't start from scratch...but pretty close to it. This was a straight-ahead thing to get my feet wet. Looking forward to stretching out in other directions.

Dirk - I agree with you on both counts. 1) a good mix (even with very busy and dense music) is an amazing thing where you can hear it all, and 2) my mix falls well short of that ideal. Ron's use of the word mush rings true for me here. I worked on it until I felt it was as good as my current skill set would take it, and decided to learn from it and let it go. I didn't want to color anybody's impression by saying up front I wasn't thrilled with how it all turned out, but wasn't surprised that's what I heard.

Bryon - thanks for the thoughts on EQ. I did try a good deal of carving and think it helped. In this case I think the original source material wasn't of high quality, especially the guitars. As I mentioned in another thread, I just got a Line 6 Helix LT, so future guitar tones should be better to start with (this was mostly and old Line 6 POD XT).

I am already on to my next projects.

Dirk - I noticed some stuff you recently posted and will check it out. I'd be happy to give some drum tracks a go, but be forewarned - I work very slowly and I'm still stuck in the stone age recording in 16 bit on my old G.

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My music: https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=1215402&content=songs

This is fantastic! Great song. Love your drumming!