Newbie to recording; listen; tell me how to get better

[Ron's Brother]

All songs can be found at
http://www.tiedrecords.com/captainchet.html

These were recorded in a finished basement. There is a video of the space on the page link. be warned (we did not reocord in the exact set up you see in teh vid)

I would love any suggestions on how to get these to sound better. I know my equipment is not the best and I don't have lots of money to spend on that. But anything you can suggest to get these to sound better with just a little $$$ or better placement ETC would be much appreciated.


Instruments: Acoustic Guitar, drums, vocals and banjolele

Mics: A couple MXL condensers 990 and 992, couple sm57s, Octavia mk 219.

recorded into a Roland VS1880.

How each was recorded:

Vox: Used the MXLs, switched between 990 and 992. pop filter/ Straight in the Roland no mic pre.

Drums: SM57 mic under snare, SM57 on bass, Octavia center pointing down at set for "overhead".

guitar: mxl 992 with low end cut. about 12 inches out pointing at 12 fret

Banjolele: MK219. miced from behind the player in their armpit since the back end of the instrument is open and that is where the sound came from the loudest.


All songs can be found at
http://www.tiedrecords.com/captainchet.html

[Ron's Brother]

anyone?

[Artifex]

Record more. Listen. Listen to other recordings. Read this forum alot. Read Tape Op alot. Record some more.

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=3214

[egr]

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=3214

Added to "FAVS"

[Ron's Brother]

Record more. Listen. Listen to other recordings. Read this forum alot. Read Tape Op alot. Record some more.

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=3214

Are you saying this based on listening to the recordings and how bad they are or based on the newbie part.

[The Scum]

Are you saying this based on listening to the recordings and how bad they are or based on the newbie part.

Once you've got sound going into the magic box, and coming back out sounding like what went in, it becomes a game of inches. You need to figure out which details matter to you, and then attend to them accordingly. You will spend the rest of your career "getting better at this."

Through laptop speakers, it sounds like the production suits the music. To my ears, the instruments could be louder (or vocals softer)...and it could use something on the low end - a bass of some sort. Maybe something to differentiate the guitar from the banjolele from the snare drum - different chord voicing or panning maybe. But it's all kinda subjective, asking what I want to hear on your record.

[Nick Sevilla]

I would love any suggestions on how to get these to sound better. I know my equipment is not the best and I don't have lots of money to spend on that. But anything you can suggest to get these to sound better with just a little $$$ or better placement ETC would be much appreciated.

Hi,

It sounded good to me through my laptop speakers last night.

You do need to spend more time listening through different speaker systems, in order to get what does not work in your mix. That would be my only suggestion.

Try to listen to at least 5 completely different stereo sets of speakers, including one car, and one set of headphones that you know and trust (both car and headphone set).

Cheers

[Artifex]

Record more. Listen. Listen to other recordings. Read this forum alot. Read Tape Op alot. Record some more.

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=3214

Are you saying this based on listening to the recordings and how bad they are or based on the newbie part.

Really, that's just good advice for just about anyone involved in recording. Also, I would recommend proper punctuation, such as " Are you saying this based on listening to the recordings and how bad they are or based on the newbie part?".