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A DIY recording journal. 
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Thank you, big homie. :huzzah:

Regarding GBV-ish band most of the gear stays the same besides the auxillary stuff. I brought some pedals in too to get some different tones from song to song but its pretty much the same amps and guitars for the two geetar players. I also brought in my 12-string Dano that pops up all over the place. Drums are the same drums but get mixed a little different for some songs. This one was really weird for me to mix because my instinct is kind of always punchy and loud drums and it sounded really wrong in this application (duh). Def still working on context and stuff like that and hearing without so much stylistic bias.

And thank you about the Big Pop Rock compliments. :huzzah: The goal on that one was basically to ape the mix of Celebrity Skin as best as I could. I mean that shit smokes my mix but it was cool to get something that sounded legitimately polished. A lot of that stuff I'm realizing is just cleaning up your midrange and purging the gunk and mud. It is kind of funny that I've believed in the recent past that my ears were getting pretty keen about frequencies and all that but that area is still something I'm pretty wonky on.

Screamer for screamy band is extremely screamy. He has a very excellent voice for the style, IMO. I've actually recorded this band before:
https://valtielscreamo.bandcamp.com/album/human-error

Still feel weird about the way this one came out and intend to improve greatly on this next mix. I kind of really hate how obvious the snare sample shit is and just sort of how I mucked up the tracking and had to compensate on the back end. Really not the most ideal situation. :red:



Thank you though, dawg. :huzzah: I too am pumped on it. It is good for my mental health I think to just be sort of constantly buried in shit like this. Does not really give my brain any time to do as much bad stuff as usual. To have a constant goal in mind, and to be able to quantify my improvement and shit too is a good and purposeful pursuit I guess.


I gotta post some pics of the studio soon. It's been looking shabby as shit for the months we've had it but we've been working on some aesthetic improvements the last week. Live room is a really fucking obnoxious hi gloss creamsicle theme now, I love it.

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Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:21 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Hands down the most fun I've had recording a hardcore band:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/czwjllhra780w ... 1.mp3?dl=0

No shit, these guitars are both Big Muff into HM-2. Very excited about this one. Gotta trim some low mid shit and brighten the top but these tones came in pretty hot out the gate which was pleasant surprise considering the circumstances.

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Thu Jun 13, 2019 3:10 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
my love of Thin Lizzy has finally made its way into the realm of recorded music:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k5wk0m8p8h3k7 ... 9.mp3?dl=0

Local punk turned hotshot session drummer guy ive befriended came in the studio and played the drums. Gotta figure out vocal b.s. still.

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Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:03 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Broseidon wrote:
Hands down the most fun I've had recording a hardcore band:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/czwjllhra780w ... 1.mp3?dl=0

No shit, these guitars are both Big Muff into HM-2. Very excited about this one. Gotta trim some low mid shit and brighten the top but these tones came in pretty hot out the gate which was pleasant surprise considering the circumstances.


Don't remember this one for some reason, but i dig its scuzziness. So many scuzzes layered on top of each other. :huzzah:

Broseidon wrote:
my love of Thin Lizzy has finally made its way into the realm of recorded music:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k5wk0m8p8h3k7 ... 9.mp3?dl=0

Local punk turned hotshot session drummer guy ive befriended came in the studio and played the drums. Gotta figure out vocal b.s. still.


SLICK. Whats the geetar jibs? Especially on the harmony bits. Though the rhythms are swell too. Some kinda fuzz?

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Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:25 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Here is what became of that release for that band, who amusingly maybe to you are called Video Prick: https://videoprick.bandcamp.com/releases


Guities on the Lizzy song are my "modded" semi-hollow Tele. Left guitar is the "The Creamery" Wide Range bridge pickup, the right guitar is the Fralin strat pickup of unkown model in the neck. Both are running into OCD with the gain at 0 and hitting the front of the amp pretty hard, tone is all the way to the left for the bridge sound, and bumped up a bit for the neck sound. Also getting some clipping at the old Fostex mixer preamps. Mics were a Beyer M69 and Cascade Ribbon mic, both quite far off the grille. Maybe like 9 inches? Been trying to move back quite a bit lately on cab things. I think the combination of things slightly shitting themselves in multiple stages is where the soft velcro fuzz kind tone is coming from.

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Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:36 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Broseidon wrote:
Here is what became of that release for that band, who amusingly maybe to you are called Video Prick: https://videoprick.bandcamp.com/releases


Voice is pretty fucking Rad.

Broseidon wrote:
I think the combination of things slightly shitting themselves in multiple stages is where the soft velcro fuzz kind tone is coming from.


It is a good flavor.

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Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:44 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Some shit I've been working or have completed the past couple months that I'm stoked on (which all are funnily some kind of post-hardcore):

Band called Cut Out: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gcgvszx8khgx ... 2.mp3?dl=0

This one actually we tracked just this past weekend but has come together real quick:

Band called Lawyers:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v2mvn66ddcf9f ... 2.mp3?dl=0

Homie who I run the studio with plays drums in this band.

Band called Proofs: https://proofsseattle.bandcamp.com/albu ... particular

Big homies who I've been wanting to record for quite awhile.

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Thu Dec 26, 2019 4:40 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Starting backwards, Proofs is fucking GREAT.

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Thu Dec 26, 2019 7:38 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Yeah, Proofs is my bag, all the way.

Now on to Cut Out. It reminds me a wicked ton of earlier converge, caring and killing style, but recorded much better, more like the later records. Part of that(the caring and killing vibe) is maybe the reverb-heavy snare, but there are obviously other bits of theirs in there.

Are the weirder sounds guitars mostly? They sound like it? What sort of pedals?

Elements of Botch in here too, always a fan of that. Getting a real heavy late nineties vibe here, and i am into it.

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Thu Dec 26, 2019 7:49 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Dude from lawyers sounds sooo much (to me) like Tim Singer from Deadguy/Kiss It Goodbye.

All three of these projects are fucking awesome, Cam.

You know a lot of folks who are making cool noises, that is massively rad. Even radder to get to work with them and make records!

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Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:02 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
I am glad you dig them, man. :huzzah: :huzzah: :huzzah: Know you like all the flavors in there so I figured you would.

Converge vibes on Cut Out are 100% where I'm coming from on my end but their influences are a little more modern/a generation beyond them. Definitely bands that Kurt has recorded (Code Orange and the like) and another boston band Vein are their big ones. Other 90's metalcore/metallic hardcore bands like Disembodied too but it seems like Converge is less so on guitarist/vocalists list of influences.

Weird guitar sounds there are actually just digitech whammy on panic chord action. Don't know if folks used to call them that but that's what kids call those dissonant flat second chords now. That band Vein has sorta made that sound relevant again but Daughters was also doing that however many years ago. You should check out Vein's record Errorzone btw, you'd likely quite enjoy them.

This one has been a lot of fun to me in particular because I think I'm most happy with the production on this out of the three already. Also provided a good opportunity to see how hard I could ape the Godcity thing, which while I'm definitely not there I'm finally getting sort of in the ballpark.



Honestly feel spoiled working with these fools because it's been such a pleasant experience from front to back. They're not always gonna be like that but I'm hoping these projects might bring in similar folks to the studio in the future. I am kinda tired of working with the couple dozen of folks I started with by accident who have been cycling through the "what's hot" retro hxc trends and starting and breaking up a band every 6 months for the past 6 years. :red:

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Fri Dec 27, 2019 3:36 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Big homie Jack who I run the studio with drums in this two piece looper and a billion guitar pedals band. Been jamming this shit all morning since mixing it last night.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8m0ymupaa50ud ... 1.mp3?dl=0

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Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:04 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Hopped in the studio yesterday with Alex and long time bud and collaborator Colin. Knocked out a couple of songs live and fucked about with one today: https://www.dropbox.com/s/244aljgd9zu0d ... 2.wav?dl=0

Aside rant that does not pertain directly to this session, but it is kind of insane how different it is mixing a consistent, solid drummer who hits the shells with authority versus a drummer who is only slightly less competent on paper. The exponential rate of result of just going from pretty good to good to really good is kind of wild. Recording two different drummers on the same exact kit, same exact mics same everything within moments of each other, it is crazy how different what the mics see is.

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Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:59 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
That's so true, isn't it? Amazing how much difference there is in the sound that comes from the hands and feet and maybe just from the mind of the player.

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Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:26 am
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Absolutely. I think what you said about the mind of the player is particularly pertinent and maybe most often overlooked. Intention and all that rather than something that's perceived often as just "instinct" or an innate result. This is such a convoluted aside but it's interesting to me how much is attributed to "that's just how it comes out of them" in regards to human performance, I think it betrays the value of meditation and focused evaluation.

Like I said, its some convoluted nerdy shit but it's been interesting over the years seeing how much what separates the bands that I've recorded who were "bad" and who were "good" just came down to intention more than it came down to raw talent.

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Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:31 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
It would be interesting i think for me to ask some of the drummers i have recorded that sounded the best(with no studio "trickery" or such), just how much they really thought about it.

I am thinking of one dude in particular who just sounded amazing, even playing a legit trash setup in a legit trash setting recorded through legit trash equipment, but i really kind of doubt that he gave much thought to it. Or rather, i think i would be surprised if he could elaborate on what/how he was doing/trying to do.

I have always wondered what i would have sounded like if i was better too. Once upon a time i tried to test it in a band where we were looking to move me from drums to guitar, but the (arguably better) drummer we brought in wasn't feeling it. I would have loved to see how he played it if it had gone further, and how the sound of that band might have changed.

I have pretty much always been fascinated by the concept.

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Wed Apr 15, 2020 6:38 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
Also: this sounds rad, obviously.

I don't even hate the chorus pedal.

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Wed Apr 15, 2020 6:39 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
chris_d wrote:
It would be interesting i think for me to ask some of the drummers i have recorded that sounded the best(with no studio "trickery" or such), just how much they really thought about it.

I am thinking of one dude in particular who just sounded amazing, even playing a legit trash setup in a legit trash setting recorded through legit trash equipment, but i really kind of doubt that he gave much thought to it. Or rather, i think i would be surprised if he could elaborate on what/how he was doing/trying to do.

I have always wondered what i would have sounded like if i was better too. Once upon a time i tried to test it in a band where we were looking to move me from drums to guitar, but the (arguably better) drummer we brought in wasn't feeling it. I would have loved to see how he played it if it had gone further, and how the sound of that band might have changed.

I have pretty much always been fascinated by the concept.


Ya know, I guess that that might be very true about the not being able to elaborate on it thing. Depends on the type, I guess.

The drummer you're referring to I think is a hardcore guy I recall you posting some mixes and a funny little saga surrounding the vocalist some years ago?

I've definitely met some of those types of "I'm just a punk and I've only ever played in punk bands" dudes who are just sort of machine like but with no traditional training just lots of bashing it out in practice and at gigs. I think there's gotta be some amount of unconscious recognition/reaction to what they're hearing and feeling over long periods of time at the very least that has led to those habits of ideal kit balance, proper ways to strike a drum and shit like developing efficient mechanical techniques to get the most out of their playing.

I have also though, met the counterpart character who has also played countless gigs and been in countless bands and has picked up some tricks and flashy shit along the way but lacks that quality of consistency and kit balance. This is mostly just personal experience, but I've seen a lot of *these* players plainly display a lack of self awareness and unwillingness to own up to any of their shortcomings, something which really I think only becomes so apparent in the studio. Shit Like: Claims to be able to play to a click (they're a human metronome after all) but clearly can't, unwilling to retrack or punch in drum parts that are clearly wonky, isn't willing to raise or swap cymbals (motherfucker who uses two goddamn hi hat bottoms and insists that they help him "cut through" the mix.. I think we're good on hi-hat man), isn't willing to do much in the way of accommodating the means to (potentially) improve the quality of the recording and all that. (Granted, an engineer shouldn't be asking a drummer to completely fuck up their whole thing just to make them happy.) See a lot of these drummers also being toted in their band as the best player and stuff like that by their own bandmates, which breeds it's own complacency and sort of unjustified confidence. Supporting your bandmates and showing appreciation not being a bad thing at all of course, but most of the worst bands I've recorded were the same ones who thought their shit didn't stink (every "keeper" take I'm mixing invariably having someone at the end saying some variation of "we fucking killed that").

Most of the best drummers I've worked with have constantly talked about the need to get better, some kind of beat that they wish they could play, some way to improve what they're doing. They also tend to hate themselves, and so that helps us get along as well, lmao.

Should of course include, this obviously pertains to every instrument, I just find the drums to be the most exaggerated example because of the physicality of the thing. It's also my favorite thing to mix, so I start to get a little cranky when things are not up to my dickhead standards. :red: The two drummers I've worked with on my own music have really spoiled me on that level, and I am forever grateful for that.

Hard to for me to focus any of this into a meaningful or coherently paced blurb that doesn't sound like me being a ranty recording fascist dickhead but it's something I think about a whole ton.

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Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:46 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
chris_d wrote:
Also: this sounds rad, obviously.

I don't even hate the chorus pedal.


Thanks, mayne. :huzzah:

:lol: I think for the past 3 or 4 years Alex has ALWAYS had on her Earthquaker Rainbow Machine, which makes crazy fucking noises set to an extreme setting, just set to do some really subtle slapback delay/chorus/reverb.

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Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:51 pm
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Post Re: A DIY recording journal.
I would say that the differences are definitely way more apparent with drummers, once you start really hearing drummers. Shared drumsets at shows were always one of my favorite laboratory demonstrations. Never got as much from all the other shared equipments, too much of a guitar or bass sound can be heavily equipment-based.

With a guitarist, when problems with this exist, IMO it often has a lot to do, with not being able to hear realistically what they are doing. I do it all the time with guitar, have absolutely no idea how to set an amp correctly, am continually become convinced that i really like sounds, which, actually can't really be recorded/mixed, and/or probably *shouldn't* be recorded/mixed. I can be extremely stubborn about it too.

Same thing for sure for me with drums. Today, i have been listening to a bunch of shit i recorded in like 2012 or something and holy fuck it is brutal.

It is easy for a musician to listen back to something and HEAR what they THINK they recorded. I have run into this an awful lot, because most of the bands i have recorded are not very good. :lol: The first step to not sounding bad, has to be realizing when you sound bad. As a longtime old band tyrant, this is soooo difficult for me. I usually can't hear it until YEARS later. So the first trick is to hear it faster, ideally in real time, which is kind of a self-analytical thing where the person is not too fragile to accept that what they have spent time on might suck. But not so willing to find what sucks that they stop hearing what doesn't.

And then the second bit is more i think what you are talking about, which is to sort of analyze what the fuck you might be doing wrong, kind of go to school on it, be able to accept advice for how you could do it right, and/or just start the continual grind of playing, listening, fixing, playing, listening, fixing, playing, fixing, listening... while not getting so immersed in the technical processes of doing shit, that you forget how to write music... Or what your actual personal tastes are.

Which is why like many things, i think the balance between extremes is the true key. As you are saying, it is for sure as much a personality thing as a physical thing. And yeah, probably more.

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Thu Apr 16, 2020 4:04 pm
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