But I think it's pertinent. My band Step Stevie Step recently released an album called Love is Your Favorite Weapon, and as it's indie pop/rock as well, I thought some of you might be interested.

http://cdbaby.com/stepsteviestep
http://myspace.com/stepsteviestep
http://purevolume.com/stepsteviestep

are all places you can hear songs off the album. You can purchase it at the CDBaby.com link and in the iTunes music store.

Thanks, guys!

Kill your vocalist. And yes, you are in the wrong forum. Good luck selling that filth.

It's not that bad... it's kind of good actually. I think you need to get some different mics, or record somewhere else or something, though.

I'm wondering about the "piano", too. It doesn't sound like a real piano... it sounds very midi/sound font-like. If it is real, then maybe I'm crazy... but it just sounds really stiff.

That's your answer for everything.

Well, I'll give a more critical answer then.

The room that the guy is singing in has is reactin too much so it's making it sound a little less clear than it could be...especially when harmonies get involved, because at that point it just sounds muddy. The piano is definately fake, I won't try to be polite about it. It sounds fake, and it doesn't mix well with the other instruments, which are generally real minus the fact that they sound like they are all recorded with direct input, which means that they won't be getting the reverb that they normally'd have... plus they're suspiciously clean and mixed a bit too quietly (they don't sound hot enough, if that makes sense). I also wish that it was a bit more on time, too... while some of the instruments are really tight, there are others that are a bit off which creates this off sound that isn't like a natural sounding off-beat... but a "recorded over a midi track" type of off beat. I do it all the time, so I'd know.

The folk song is the best sounding recording. The acoustic guitar needs to be EQ'd though. Usually on acoustic guitars, you've got to roll back on the lower registers in order to give it a sound that resembles what you'd hear if you're sitting next to someone who's playing a guitar.

I just realized something, too. When you're recording, it's probably a pretty good idea to have the same amount of reverb, or to emulate the same amount, on every track (except vocals). It sounds unnatural to have everything sound as though it were recorded in a different room... that's what lends to the overall disjointed feel.

I only recognize these things 'cause it's stuff I do wrong all of the time.

You've always been such a sweetie, sphclick.

@ultra: Yeah, I understand exactly what you're saying. There are definitely major botches in the recordings as well. The thing is, we went to a profesh studio for the recording, but we really got ripped off. Thankfully, we weren't paying for it, but, regardless, the recordings are definitely far from amazing.

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean by the piano being fake. It's not synthesized, if that's what you mean, and it's not a keyboard. I played on a grand. Yes, we recorded everything DI, which I protested. I understand what you mean by them not sounding hot. Honestly, I much prefer live recordings, where the entire band is in the same room. Even if it's less practical for editing and etc., I much prefer the integrity of that sound.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen:
You've always been such a sweetie, sphclick.

@ultra: Yeah, I understand exactly what you're saying. There are definitely major botches in the recordings as well. The thing is, we went to a profesh studio for the recording, but we really got ripped off. Thankfully, we weren't paying for it, but, regardless, the recordings are definitely far from amazing.

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean by the piano being fake. It's not synthesized, if that's what you mean, and it's not a keyboard. I played on a grand. Yes, we recorded everything DI, which I protested. I understand what you mean by them not sounding hot. Honestly, I much prefer live recordings, where the entire band is in the same room. Even if it's less practical for editing and etc., I much prefer the integrity of that sound.

I'm honestly shocked that that's a real piano... did you EQ the hell out of it or something??? I know something was done to it because it has a different sound in each song (I guess it could've been miced differently on each song, but I didn't think it'd change the sound THAT much).

About recording digitally, there are ways to get the instruments to sound a bit more hot, you just have to add certain effects to it such as reverb or else it just sounds too stiff I think (thats for direct input stuff).

What kind of recording equipment do you have? I'd almost reccommend recording the drums separately, then record everything else (minus vocals) at the same time on top of it (if you have the means to do that). If you guys are a band, you should be tight enough to get it over a few takes. Otherwise, if you're going to record everything separately, you should definately make sure everything is pretty much exactly on beat or else it's just gonna sound like everything was recorded separetly.

It must have been the recording engineer. I agree that it doesn't sound real -- even a keyboard sounds more acoustic than that. The problem is, as decent as our drummer is, he has a difficult time playing to a click track (he's a drummer by vocation and doesn't have professional training and doesn't play to a metronome, which is a huge mistake).

We definitely had the means to do that. Would you recommend micing all the amps (even though they would pick up sound from the other amps) then, recording it live?

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen:
It must have been the recording engineer. I agree that it doesn't sound real -- even a keyboard sounds more acoustic than that. The problem is, as decent as our drummer is, he has a difficult time playing to a click track (he's a drummer by vocation and doesn't have professional training and doesn't play to a metronome, which is a huge mistake).

We definitely had the means to do that. Would you recommend micing all the amps (even though they would pick up sound from the other amps) then, recording it live?

If you really have the means, I would say that micing all of the amps properly would give you the best sound... but that's only if you have the means. If the sound bleeds over, then that's ok, because if done properly, the sound will bleed over and create a new sound. You just don't want to get one thing overpowering another. If the drummer isn't comfortable with playing to a metronome, then don't have him play to one- instead, just use HIM as everyone elses metronome. Just make sure the tempo doesn't change too much (I actually prefer tempo slightly changing between chorus and verse, as it sounds more natural).

Also, if you are indeed recording a grand piano, one mic probably won't cut it. I've never miced a grand before, but I know that a lot of people usually put two mics on an acoustic guitar, which is like 1/50th of the size of a grand piano (physically and acoustically). Another thing, if you are recording digitally, I would try to keep as many tracks separated as possible... that is to say you should probably go out of your way to have separate tracks for those multiple mics on one instrument so you can EQ separate sounds or add effects to just certain areas. With multiple separated tracks of one instrument you can do all kinds of things like slightly offset one track from the other to create a fuller sound.

There are certain things that shouldn't be recorded live with the band (Unless you're super confident). These things are like solos or fills or even some acoustic instruments which you may not want to have the other instruments bleeding into (like if you're playing a ukelele it is probably too quiet to record with electric instruments).

If you want some examples of good recordings like that, I'd recommend listening to Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), The Band/Music From Big Pink (the Band), '58 Sessions (Miles Davis), Aja (Steely Dan, there's a lot of overdubbing, but a lot of the band playing together, too), Early Beatles Albums (Please Please Me, With The Beatles), Old Motown recordings, etc. There are certain DVD's that also kind of hilight that style of recording such as Classic Albums on The Band and on Aja as well as Standing in the Shadows of Motown and probably other ones that I haven't seen. I'm sure you can see some of those clips on Youtube or some site like that.

Personally, I haven't recorded with a bunch of mics at once, and I'm not sure how they would react if you put a bunch in close proximity... but I'm guessing if they're mostly condensor mics and they're placed methodically things will be alright. Another thing that I like to do is to leave acoustic instruments inside of the room that I'm recording in because they give off reverberations that add a nice layer in the background of the music that just seems to kind of loosen things up (so things don't sound too stiff and prissy).

Anyways, if you have the means to do all that kind of stuff, I'd say go for it! I'm jealous of all that~ someday I'll have more mics and stuff, but as for now I'm pretty limited... plus I'm not an octapus.