The WIP Thread

[Blox]

Who knows what has once been going on behind the mask.

[Project_Hellbane]

Experimenting with some brutal techguitar sounds for use in my musical projects.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bcw468

I'm extremely satisfied.

WOAH! What program did you use to make this, if any? I've been looking for a program to make music similar to that but have found nothing, in my price range which is free

[.+:icytux:+.]

I use Fl studio 10. But basically one can do this with almost any DAW, and a couple of free VST's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60G9C09UnE This for example works well for guitars. you just need a real guitar and a soundcard to record. Or you use sampled distortion guitars. I use this ampsim for distortin synths and stuff too. (the poulin le456 is probably better for that, its free too. and check this guys channel for Cabinet impulses to get that real guitar amp sound.)

Then experimenting with some really basic oscilators, simple hipass/lowpass filters and distortion. and just some layered drum sounds to get the fat drums.

It really is a lot about experimenting and experience. I've been mixing metal music in my studio for awhile and one learns by time what sounds good and what doesn't etc. I know this sounds booring but its true ;D

[Nash]

Love the Lepou plugins and Catharsis impulses, used it for this band's 10-song full length album (released a few months back; I engineered, produced, mixed and mastered this band):



Also used some experimental impulses and Lepou plugins on the following singles (also recently released, again produced by me at my studio):





Lastly, not exactly Lepou 100%, layered 2 more additional guitar tracks with guitars recorded through a Line 6 Pod X3 (for a total of 4 rhythm guitar tracks, 2 left and 2 right)... and also a shameless plug of my band. :P

[Zombieguy]

Sweet tunes man.

Experimenting with some brutal techguitar sounds for use in my musical projects.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bcw468

I'm extremely satisfied.

That is an epic sound.

[Blox]

I pretty much stop listening once the vocals kick in. Otherwise that's pretty cool, I guess.

[Nash]

Yes pretty much 95% of my clientele comprise of bands, as in, bands that perform live, with vocalists, so no surprise there. The Malaysian metal and hardcore scene is pretty thriving, there's a good demand for this kind of music here (and demand == $$$$$$)...

[Blox]

Well that's good to hear.

Though those lyrics make me cringe. (Though how to improve that is a good question.) :z

[Ribo Zurai]

Obnoxious, Demon of Greed.

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Still extremely WIP.

[Arch]

Booty Market

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at Booty Bay

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[.+:icytux:+.]

@Nash: Are you using some kind of drum machine for the drums? Obviously the drums are super-tight and I'm guessing its midi controlled? And which one in that case?

I've been using one and to me it seems like the bands that come in and record really don't want to use it. It kinds works well for the really heavy stuff but really once you get a little less heavy, the drum sims just don't cut it.
Aaand I have to do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3YsWickhRk

D:

[Nash]

Any kind of metal record requires meticulously tight and precise playing on all instruments and over-edited production values. I normally charge extra (like a lot) for live-tracked drums because slip editing and/or quantizing live drums takes more time and effort on my part than just sequencing the drums in my DAW...

... which is exactly what I did with all of the 4 songs I posted above. These are the drum VSTis I used, in this order:

EZDrummer
Superior Drummer 2
Superior Drummer 2
EZDrummer

Mind you, the drummers of these bands are VERY good and are very capable of playing this stuff live. But they/we chose sequenced drums at the interest of production values and to save time and money.

For softer music, SD2 can sound very realistic. I have also worked on non-metal records where the drums are fully sequenced with SD2 and have gotten ultra realistic results.

SD2 sounds better than EZD generally because the size of its sample library: around 40 gigs VS 7 gigs. SD2 captures a shitload of subtle sounds that add to the realism (less samples = less realism). SD2 also has stupidly complex routing options (individual control of sample bleed in each and every mic, room samples, etc) so that helps too.

For softer music, it's all about humanization: every note's velocity has to be tweaked to simulate what a real drummer would do, and also sequencing slightly off the grid helps with realism. The most common mistake people do with drum VSTis is that they sequence things which are physically impossible to do for a real drummer, and stay on the grid too much.

I am fortunate enough to have some basic drumming knowledge so I know exactly how to program drums to sound realistic.

[Nightfall]

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I'd be damned if that ship banner isn't from Rayman 2.

[Blox]

->
Hm..

Edit: Behind the scenes (AKA gradient map):

[janiform]

Any kind of metal record requires meticulously tight and precise playing on all instruments and over-edited production values.

I understand that this production style is popular, but "requires" is the wrong word entirely. "Over-edited production values" are not at all what I desire as a listener, and this paradigm is hardly the gold standard for all metal: plenty of bands would rather their albums sound like Paranoid or Butchered at Birth or Transilvanian Hunger or etc. I do agree that if you want a totally quantitized drum sound you might as well just sequence the drums to begin with instead of wasting both your and the drummers' time.