Strongbow

[Diocletian]

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7374780

Tried some new things tonight to record this wee thing - it's nothing more than two basic riffs, with some melodies over them.
I tried doing one rythm/lead track with the "mic" (virtual) against the "amp" and one track with it recording the "room".
I don't think it worked. There seems to be far too much reverb or echo and it really detracts from the overall sound.

Any thoughts?

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Strongbow

Nice riff! It could be 88's thrash! I dig it!

 

[everdrone]

Re: Strongbow

cool dude! I like the 1 or 2 riffs you got there. for tone you need to back distortion down; and add compression. Not a fan of the octave notes bit - used sparingly its cool but too much is too much, solos could use some work, meaning more technical, faster runs, whatever the death metalers do. or just back off the solos. In all it sounds good, could use a few minor tweaks for a wee thing.

 

[ex-250]

Re: Strongbow

the octaves thing sounds really cool, i think.

tone is really fuzzy though. what are you recording through?

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

Thanks guys.

I'm recording using my Toneport - it does have a thing with fuzz and also things always seem to sound like there's too much reverb. I wish I had time to learn how to get the settings right cos I know it could sound great if I knew how to do it!

Daemon, yeah - I recorded it with my Kelly so I had Megadeth in mind (although it's probably closer to second or third rate thrashers like Atrophy than MD!)

The reason I use the octaves so much is simply because when I record a lead, if I only do it once it it seems to sound thin - so I either try and just do the same thing twice or, for more interest, go up or down an octave or whatever.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Strongbow

Hmm.
I Use the toneport too ,but i hink you have to tweak
a) Your hardware settings. This Reverb feeling might be latency
b)Your gain settings. If you use any boost ,you have to dime the Gain knob of the amp sim
c) The right cab/mic combination. Check the cab distance to mic and get it closer to avoid the reverb.

Cheers!

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

Hmm.
I Use the toneport too ,but i hink you have to tweak
a) Your hardware settings. This Reverb feeling might be latency
b)Your gain settings. If you use any boost ,you have to dime the Gain knob of the amp sim
c) The right cab/mic combination. Check the cab distance to mic and get it closer to avoid the reverb.

Cheers!

Thanks for the tips, this is good stuff.

I've tried messing around with the hardware settings, but nothing seems to change no matter what I do. The most annoying thing is when I want to record something quiet and it keeps making popping noises - it totally kills it.

For future attempts I'm gonna try turning the reverb pedal off, and use the mics hard against the amp. Maybe use a different amp for each rythm track.

You got any recommendations on good tone settings to download? I've found the Hotel California Solo one to work best with my JB equippped guitars.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Strongbow

I thought it sounded great. The first lead may have been back a little too far in the mix for my tastes, but I really am not a metalhead so what do it know

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Strongbow

I never use patches from other or presets actually.
I am more a tweaker ,and I have fun with it.
If you have popping noises etc you have to check your driver.
Download the latest version of podfarm via Monkey .It's very stable now and I have no problems with it!
If your computer is too old or your ram is too low ,you have to upgrade your computer ,since it DAW + gearbox/ampfarm is a ram eater.

Try to use the virtual fader on toneport hardware settings. Left is lower latency ,but more Ram intensive. Right is the opposite.

If you have Metal-pack ,us the 5150 (Criminal) as your main amp for rythm. If you don't have it ,stick with spinal puppet. Those are the well saturated but tight amp models.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

I thought it sounded great. The first lead may have been back a little too far in the mix for my tastes, but I really am not a metalhead so what do it know

Thanks man.

Daemon, I never bothered buying the metal pack, I just use the stock stuff. In fact, I don't think I've ever used the Spinal Puppet amp for anything, I'll have to look into that a bit more.
My computer isn't that new, but it's powerful enough and I have about a 1.5 Gb of RAM so it should be able to handle this stuff easy enough.
I'll update it with the Monkey, see how that goes.

I don't really think it's a hardware or driver thing, more just that I don't really know how to get the most out of it, and don't have time to figure it out. I only really get a couple of hours on a Thursday night, then Sunday afternoon to myself. But feedback like I'm getting here is exactly what I need to help me improve my recording.:headbang:

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

Hey Daemon, you rock! I don't think I've ever updated Monkey since I got the Toneport about a year or so ago - I assumed it would tell you when a new update was available.

But, following your advice, I've tried running Monkey and it's already updated itself three times in the past five minutes and still isn't done!

I've learned a couple of things I never knew on this forum since yesterday, this, from you, and a wee thing about pots from Super Rad Ska. This forum is great.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Strongbow

well, spinal for the rythm and insane for the lead then. Good luck dude , you have cool ideas ,and hope the technical part of recording won't hold you back for a long time. Cheers!

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Strongbow

Hahahah. With the new amp-farm ,you can run 2 amps simultanously ,so you can tighten-up or put some crunch as your tone with minor tweaks.
:beerchug:

 

[DankStar]

Re: Strongbow

fun stuff, I like the harmony at around 1:20! watch the gate on the left guitar - it acts a bit strange on some stops (might be set too sensitive).

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Strongbow

Ultimate first pint refreshment.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

'Twas indeed an ode to, and from, the cider.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Strongbow

Hahahah. With the new amp-farm ,you can run 2 amps simultanously ,so you can tighten-up or put some crunch as your tone with minor tweaks.
:beerchug:

Amp-farm? Is that part of the Toneport GX software updates? I haven't noticed anything like that since I applied the updates?

As for Riffworks - I downloaded it, but they wan't $99 for it! I managed to find the free "T4" version, haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it seems pretty cool. The Instant Drummer is a good tool.

 

[everdrone]

Re: Strongbow

I like the idea of ampfarm too where you can record a dry signal then put the amp and effects and settings on later. But they want me to pay more money for that stuff so I just go with my ToneportGX for everything cause its cheap and I know how to use it. Cool riffs dude! Your playing and guitar is great, now gotta figure out the frequencies...