Trying a different miking technique and new drums

[Code001]

https://soundcloud.com/code001/december- ... edman-test

This took forever to record thanks to all the stupid thunderstorms we've been having lately. I'm just glad it's finally over. I wanted to test out the Fredman miking technique, and I figured I'd pick an In Flames song to do it. I also tried out replacing the snare and kick with samples, although the snare + kick are both only one hit and not multi hit samples, so it's not the most dynamic thing in the world. Still, it sounds better than the standard Drumkit from Hell snare and kick. Rhythm is quad tracked, harmonized lead is dual tracked and the final little lead is single tracked because thunderstorms started rolling in again.

ESP Horizon II w/ EMG 81/85 Combo
EVH 5150 III with Channel 3 on the rhythms and Channel 2 on the leads
Custom Tubescreamer
Mesa/Boogie Traditional 4x12
Dual SM57s Fredman Style
Apogee Duet
EZDrummer Drumkit From Hell with replaced snare and kick
Logic Pro's Stereo Delay on leads
Ozone 4 on Master Buss

HUGE thanks to Habuman for hooking me up with the SM57. I wouldn't have been able to try this out without his help.

 

[Phrygian]

Sounds good. I found the rhythm sound a little narrow and timid, but the tone was still nice. I guess I'd just expect to hear more girth from the rhythm. Sounded best with the harmonies and lead though. Those parts sounded great! Overall very cool.

 

[Code001]

Interesting that you say the rhythm sounds narrow because it's panned pretty heavily. 80% L/R for one set, 100% L/R for the other. Thanks for checking it out.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I did some reading up on this technique and understand that it was used on some In Flames albums. I'm a big fan of their older work. I think Clayman is where they peaked. Sounds pretty good to me! It does have a spacious "distant" feel to me but it makes it sound like it was recorded in a much bigger space than it likely was. It would certainly save me money as I wouldn't have to buy more mics! I have 6 57's for my guitar and drums already.

BTW, your lead playing is sweet.

 

[Code001]

Clayman is In Flames' last good album, in my opinion. After that, the rest are either mediocre or pure shit. Thanks for listening. It's not a miking technique I'd use often, but for this era of melodeath, I think it's pretty cool. The playing isn't "super tight," and it's creating a bit of a reverb effect in the rhythm. I'm way too lazy to keep up this quad tracking bs with this miking technique though. I ended up with 22 audio tracks, 8 busses and 4 MIDI tracks with one of the MIDI tracks multi-expanding to like 8 expansions. And that was only with a replacement kick and snare. If I had a fully replaced kit, it would have way more MIDI tracks. Too much micromanaging for someone jamming in his bedroom.

 

[roadifier]

Sounds good, I will have Try this technique once I get home from orlando tomorrow. I really like the lead tone your getting, but I agree that the rhythym is a little hollow, but I like the grind it had.

 

[snowdog]

I didn't care for the intro part much, but from 0:29 on, it was great.

 

[roadifier]

Can you post up a pic of your cab and where your mic's are?

 

[Code001]

Sounds good, I will have Try this technique once I get home from orlando tomorrow. I really like the lead tone your getting, but I agree that the rhythym is a little hollow, but I like the grind it had.

Can you post up a pic of your cab and where your mic's are?

Thanks for checking it out. Not sure what to do about the hollowness. I'm doing everything with headphones, so keep that in mind. Here's my miking position. It's not dead center because the center mic receives wayyyyyy too much high end. I have it moved slightly off center to help thicken everything up.

I didn't care for the intro part much, but from 0:29 on, it was great.

Not my song, so there's not much I could do about the beginning. Thanks for the praise on my favorite part of the song, though.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Wait did you drum that as well? Good job if so... my feet are horribly sloppy these days. They just don't go fast

 

[Code001]

MIDI drums

 

[Digital Jams]

Damn Tom you have really improved over the years, I thought overall it was fantasic sounding!

The "verb" is timing but quad tracking takes freaking time to do and you will never nail it 100% imo without investing stupid amounts of time. I liked the rhythm track very much and your lead tone was hip.

Nice work man

 

[Code001]

Thanks for the complement, Scott

 

[Code001]

Updated the mix a little bit. Maybe it won't be be as distant, or maybe it'll be worse. Who knows!

 

[vultures]

Trying to let an In Flames clip get past the biggest In Flames fan on the east coast? No bueno.

If you listen to the original song, after the opening riff and goes into that rhythm, there's that fizz if you listen hard enough. It sounds good, but that always kinda bugged me about it. The guitars sound a lot more open, and that tone on the 5150 III is just insane, no fizz. The only problem I hear is that some of the cymbals seem too far in the background or too low in volume. If the guitars were brought down just a tiny bit and the drums brought to the front a little. Ah, but idk shit, so whatevs

 

[David_kessler]

Sounds good, I will have Try this technique once I get home from orlando tomorrow. I really like the lead tone your getting, but I agree that the rhythym is a little hollow, but I like the grind it had.

Can you post up a pic of your cab and where your mic's are?

Thanks for checking it out. Not sure what to do about the hollowness. I'm doing everything with headphones, so keep that in mind. Here's my miking position. It's not dead center because the center mic receives wayyyyyy too much high end. I have it moved slightly off center to help thicken everything up.

I didn't care for the intro part much, but from 0:29 on, it was great.

Not my song, so there's not much I could do about the beginning. Thanks for the praise on my favorite part of the song, though.

From the look of that pic, it seem's like your mic's are not in phase. That's probably what is causing the hollowness in the sound.

 

[JTyson]

Sounds great Tom, I'm finding out the hard way that it takes a lot of patience to get all that stuff just right
The song we are working on is pretty straightforward, but we have spent a lot of time editing and making sure the tracks are lined up because of the way we had the cabs miked (phase cancellation) It does make all the difference in the end though.

 

[Code001]

From the look of that pic, it seem's like your mic's are not in phase. That's probably what is causing the hollowness in the sound.

Very possible. I was going by this pic:

 

[nevusofota]

I am really digging it. The dual guitar lead is kickin!

I would be curious to hear what it would sound like using channel 2 for rhythm since it has less saturation and it's more in your face. Also, I have found that with quad tracking turning the gain down for each track gives it a more organic, up-front sound. More tracks, less gain (if thats what your going for of course).

 

[Code001]

I am really digging it. The dual guitar lead is kickin!

I would be curious to hear what it would sound like using channel 2 for rhythm since it has less saturation and it's more in your face. Also, I have found that with quad tracking turning the gain down for each track gives it a more organic, up-front sound. More tracks, less gain (if thats what your going for of course).

Thanks man. My next clip will be a quick Obscura cover, so that'll be Channel 3, but after that, I'll probably do something a bit less metal and experiment with Channel 2 some more. I have a Channel 2 clip here, if you want to listen:

https://soundcloud.com/code001/80s-5150-test-clip