Darkworld ensemble

[THIEF]

-original upload- http://picosong.com/c76x

-update 1- http://picosong.com/9nkZ

I have another song I've been working on alongside the others I've been throwing out. This one is one I've wanted to play for years, just never had a mic. A Link Between Worlds used a lot of the same instruments that I've always wanted to use with this song, especially my doumbek, so I guess I'll try to keep it from sounding too similar in the long-run, but for now I'm just getting an idea of instrumentation, and just how to record these instruments in general, then I'll play around with melody variation and solos.

In this piece I'm playing guitar, ukulele, the C major bamboo flute I made, ocarina, copper doumbek (with a brand new head, so its still a little rough sounding), and cajon. I also have some other percussion instruments I'm going to use here and there.

There are a few places I'm going to through in Hilda's Theme from A Link Between Worlds, probably plucked on ukulele, and a few other themes, most likely including Song of Storms included.

ANY feedback is more than welcome as I hardly know what I'm doing, and advice from someone who does would make the whole process a LOT easier on me! Thanks for listening!

Edited September 1, 2014 by THIEF

[APZX]

Good playing!

The biggest thing I noticed is the extraneous noise from the recording. Have you tried noise canceling out some of it? Also, do not be afraid to get a little heavy handed with the EQ to make the instruments more distinct and stronger sounding. Also, rather than utilize delays try recording two separate takes. One which will go into the left channel and another which will go into the right. I personally like the percussion quite a bit. Though the kick and snare could definitely use some help. They are pretty anemic sounding honestly. Also, be more forceful with that flute. If it is too dynamic to control in the mix there are ways to cope with that after the fact which you'd barely even notice.

[THIEF]

Good playing!

The biggest thing I noticed is the extraneous noise from the recording. Have you tried noise canceling out some of it? Also, do not be afraid to get a little heavy handed with the EQ to make the instruments more distinct and stronger sounding. Also, rather than utilize delays try recording two separate takes. One which will go into the left channel and another which will go into the right. I personally like the percussion quite a bit. Though the kick and snare could definitely use some help. They are pretty anemic sounding honestly. Also, be more forceful with that flute. If it is too dynamic to control in the mix there are ways to cope with that after the fact which you'd barely even notice.

Thanks!

I actually haven't tried any noise cancellation, since I'm using Audacity. Unfortunately I'm recording in the living room of my apartment with a USB mic that pics up EVERYTHING. I can't even record when my upstairs neighbors are doing laundry....

I'm not sure what you mean by "delays". If you mean the flute melody at the beginning, it actually is 2 different takes. I like the idea of throwing them left and right though, I'll definitely give it a shot when I record again!

The "kick and snare" are actually a cajon, which I've had trouble recording. If I have the mic too close, the bass "pops", or whatever its called when it picks up too much and sounds staticky/scratchy. I also tried moving the mic to the front of the drum, but the bass doesn't pick up nearly as well, and it picks up too much of my foot when I bend the pitch. One solution might be to just record another take with only the main "bass and snare" grove, leaving out the filler, and layering it on top to bring it out some more.

I agree about the flute, now that you mention it. I'm not a flautist, or at least I was never taught how to play. I was a percussionist through high school, but realized I would never be able to afford a marimba or set of marching tenors and started making instruments, and trying to learn them... Something I've been meaning to do though is record some staccato accent notes, to mimic the sound of a panflute, so that might help with- at least the allusion of- forcefulness, lol. I'll also just record more flute parts of course.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!! I've been eager to hear from someone and from what I can tell I've gained nothing but awesome advice here!

[APZX]

If you're having issues with the percussion coming in too hot then the solution would be to to put a pad between the mic and the pre. However, since you're using a USB mic I have no idea how you would go about it. Also, if you're having issues with too much "pop" for lack of a better word then a pop filter might be of use. However, those are typically utilized with vocalists to mitigate the issues caused by plosives.

Two different takes and hard panning is a classic mixing technique. Go listen to honestly most any rock song and you'll hear it. Even useful in the digital domain with synths. Two similar synth sounds hard panned can create an interesting timbre and widen up the mix a bit. Granted I was more talking about the guitar, but you know how things go.

For noise removal I'd suggest you actually leave like 10 - 30 seconds before you actually start playing completely blank or at the end. Then you can use that time to create a noise profile and Audacity has a noise removal tool in it. Just be careful with it as it can cause unwanted side effects. So, just be a bit careful.

[THIEF]

http://picosong.com/9nkZ

I was able to get rid of the noise, at least as far as I can tell. I also played with some of the gain levels on some of the instruments, and panned the ukulele more to the right, and guitar to the left, just until I am able to to record again anyway