Turtlerock Forum

My band just released our second album, once again I did all the rec/mix/master stuff. I don't know if any of you are interested but you can check it out below (pretty sure you can stream it without having to buy it)

http://futility.bandcamp.com/

The link didn't work when I tried it Kurt.

Thanks mate, link fixed.

Congrats and good work Kurt - slow DM is a bit outside the norm. I like that you've made the cymbals brighter than the regular DM sound.

Do you just down pitch the vocals an octave (or 2)? I knew a guy could do those style vocals naturally - I tried (once) and it just hurts the throat too much.....

I'm now at work so it's blocked, but I'll listen as soon as I get home.

That's how his voice sounds right out of the box!

I think it sounds great. I love the fullness of those guitars, I find a lot of releases in that genre to be a bit anaemic in that department. And it really helps to convey that melodic sound. I don't listen to too much of that style of metal any more, but I'm guessing that yours is a bit more melodic than the norm. Which really appeals to me, at least.

I agree with Julian - very rich sound, always gels (often not the case with the engineering for this style of music). Great mix overall, especially the drums.

I particularly liked the last 3 minutes of Another Black Day, and the drum fills in the middle of "And Still I Hate" are great.

Definitely a listening change from the children's music I've been buried in for three months.

Thanks guys, the guitars are DI and run through a couple of freeware sims, I'm very impressed with how they came out.
The drums are all "real" no replacement and not tooooo much editing.

Overall I'm very proud of it.

guitar amp sims...damn theyre getting good.

Sounds great Kurt!

I like the progressiveness of it. And like Julian said, "very melodic". I found the guitar riffs interesting to listen to. I liked the harmonizing of certain parts by the guitars which was refreshing.

I also like the comfortable 'laid-back' feel of it. Kinda feels like it's not in a hurry to get some where. Just takes it time and explores each section carefully.

Kurt wrote:Thanks guys, the guitars are DI and run through a couple of freeware sims

Damn, I was hoping that you mic'd the cab's up, so that I could ask you your recording setup. (guitar/amp/cab/mics/pre/etc etc)

Yeah, sounds great!

Guitars were DI into the line input of a be!@#$%^& ADA8000. The sims used were LePou Legion, LePou Le456 for rhythm sounds, Simulanalog JCM900 for leads, Simulanalog Rednef Twin for cleans and a Yamaha acoustic mic'ed up with a pair of NT1s running into a be!@#$%^& ADA8000.

There are two tracks each of two guitars, played on a Schecter and a BC Rich, both 6 strings, tuned down to C#.

Kurt wrote:Guitars were DI into the line input of a be!@#$%^& ADA8000.

Everyone hates be!@#$%^& of course, but I reckon the converters in these aren't too bad. That probably means that converters have improved to the point where a company really has to be trying hard to make a truly bad-sounding one.

Gotta watch out for those mic pres though. In recording some light opera once (close to a freebie), I got lazy and instead of taking my pres I used what was there. They started breaking up really badly at -6dBfs.

They get pretty hissy at high gain too, I would rather record a little quiter than optimal and make it up in the box.

audioio wrote:

Kurt wrote:Guitars were DI into the line input of a be!@#$%^& ADA8000.

Everyone hates be!@#$%^& of course, but I reckon the converters in these aren't too bad. That probably means that converters have improved to the point where a company really has to be trying hard to make a truly bad-sounding one.

Gotta watch out for those mic pres though. In recording some light opera once (close to a freebie), I got lazy and instead of taking my pres I used what was there. They started breaking up really badly at -6dBfs.

Sorry to derail the thread, but why record anywhere near -6 FS?

waitup wrote:

audioio wrote:

Kurt wrote:Guitars were DI into the line input of a be!@#$%^& ADA8000.

Everyone hates be!@#$%^& of course, but I reckon the converters in these aren't too bad. That probably means that converters have improved to the point where a company really has to be trying hard to make a truly bad-sounding one.

Gotta watch out for those mic pres though. In recording some light opera once (close to a freebie), I got lazy and instead of taking my pres I used what was there. They started breaking up really badly at -6dBfs.

Sorry to derail the thread, but why record anywhere near -6 FS?

Perhaps a new thread would be the place - I'm interested to hear why / why not record at as high level as possible. I"m probably still in the old-school mindset where you record at the maximum level you can before clipping.

Sounds good, I'll start it!

waitup wrote:Sorry to derail the thread, but why record anywhere near -6 FS?

Good question. That was the loudest the singer got to well, maybe a couple of dB higher. Most of the time, she was lower. Usual situation: in the take she sang a bit louder than the sound check. (I used to think only drummers did that!)

The point is that the converters in the ADA8000 have higher headroom than the mic pres.

Kurt wrote:Guitars were DI into the line input of a be!@#$%^& ADA8000. The sims used were LePou Legion, LePou Le456 for rhythm sounds, Simulanalog JCM900 for leads, Simulanalog Rednef Twin for cleans and a Yamaha acoustic mic'ed up with a pair of NT1s running into a be!@#$%^& ADA8000.

There are two tracks each of two guitars, played on a Schecter and a BC Rich, both 6 strings, tuned down to C#.

Ha, i love that simulanalog jcm900, its by goto bass distortion plug. Its getting old tho, gotta freeze the tracks i use it on or it crashes my stuff but its worth it.

Kurt wrote:They get pretty hissy at high gain too, I would rather record a little quiter than optimal and make it up in the box.

b3#^!&63^ - they're whisper quiet....... I can hear them going ssshhhhhhh every time I walk past

Every track on the album went through them and it's not audibly noisy.

Drumstruck wrote:

Kurt wrote:They get pretty hissy at high gain too, I would rather record a little quiter than optimal and make it up in the box.

b3#^!&63^ - they're whisper quiet....... I can hear them going ssshhhhhhh every time I walk past

'tis a joke Kurt - no offense meant ;-)