Trying to make a rock song on computer

TrippBeats

TrippBeats

New member
record 2 guitar tracks pan one to the left not all the way though and to the right not all the way, turn down the bass, make it match the volume of your guitar, but a little bit quieter. and tone the drums down a bit, and when you record both guitars, i found it sounds alot better if you use one guitar recording with a neck pickup, then the other with the bridge gives it more atmosphere, I dont know how correct I am but I'm trying.
 
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dvyce

New member
seven1 said:
Hey.. I know there's only so much you can do without a band, but I reckon you should get pretty close with the sounds you can get on the PC.
View attachment 29321
The inauthenticity seems to stem from the guitar sound.. So I was wondering if somebody could give me advice on how to make this little clip here that i've made, sound more like the style of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1fQxKveZ0

Thanks
Click to expand...

Your problem is a combination of a lot of things:

Bad drum sounds

Bad drum programming ("machine gun" effect when you play multiple snares/drums in succession, unnatural wooden sounding programming)

Bad sounds overall

Performance does not sound "human"

Poor mix





The song you linked to is raw sounding... the players are good... their performance is emotional... their performance is energetic...


If you are only going to use sounds on your computer (i.e., programmed drums, synth bass/guitar) you need to use good sounds... you need a variety of nuance sounds for the guitar (and the bass, but more so for the guitar)...

you should not over quantize...

You should really listen to the music you are trying to emulate... listen to the instrumentation, There is more going on in the track you referenced than in your track. Listen to the performance... hear how human, loose and raw it is...

the guys in the song you referenced are actual "players"... you need to be a "player" to play music effectively... this does not mean you cant achieve this with a sequencer and a computer only.... but you still have to "play" the music. That is what this style is.
 
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Little Raabe

New member
It sounds good but If you used toontracks ez drummer (3rd party plugin) for the drums it would sound 2x more authentic.. I downloaded ez drummer off of thepiratebay . org and whenever I record my guitar and I need digital drums i Always use it.. there are many different kits you can download and each drum is recorded in different frequencies thus giving the playing of the drums a real feel and sound. There is also a library of fills and etc..
 
jackhzrd

jackhzrd

Bring it!
The problem is that it can't be done. Well, it CAN be done if you want to settle for crap, but do you really want to spend hours trying to humanize shit and end up with just that??

I spent a lot of time trying to make good guitar tracks with workstations and guitar software etc...I really did, and I came up with a hypothesis:

If you want to play rock 'n roll, you need to pick up an instrument and join a band....yes I'm sure! I picked up guitar (painstakingly!) about 4 years ago and now i'm getting to a stage where I can finally rock out! My next step is to make THE tunes and form the band. it's your only option, but it's SOOOO worth it so do yourself a favour, go buy a cheap guitar, learn the G and Am chords, and write a song! "But you can't write a classic rock song with just two chords?" Well, Eddie van Halen did, a small, forgotten diddle called 'Ain't talkin' bout love'!!!!

You can thank me later......

Peace
 
IanMathews

IanMathews

Fremen
I used to record solo rock songs. It's tough. It does not compare to when I record with real rock bands. I would say the tracks I made on my home studio were "functional" as demo's, but that's about it. I've seen a guy play live with DAW-made backing rock tracks, and it didn't translate to a "rock show".

I still make rock songs on here, but they are mostly to fill in as a metronome for other singer/songwriters. If they want to keep the track on the final cut, it's fine with me. Using it as a demo is fine. Maybe it will help lure other people into your band.

Long story short & someone already said it - Join a flesh & blood band, if you wanna rock more like Kasabian.
 
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sassyee

Sassy Vee
i like it of course nothing beats real instrument and musicians but, what I do is I lay down my ideas (nothing as good as yours though lol) and then I collaborate with people who play. I am not sure where you are from but, you can meet alot of people at open mics and karaoke places i have met alot of cool people and made some good connections with aspiring artists,musicians and producers sometime you have get out from behind your computer and talk to people in person but I think your headed in the right direction i listened to you other music and I think it's cool you stepping outside of what you usually do I wish you the best and keep up the good work. If you are looking for musicians try posting on craigslist in different cities there are alot of musicians who are open to collaborating and with the internet you can collaborate with people all over the world ok have a good one!

Sassy Vee
 
djdupche

djdupche

New member
Everyone here is right... in order for authenticity you need authentic stuff :P a live drummer can do the drums a million times better than you sitting there and adding swing and such by hand. Just learn everything you can about recording into the DAW instead of making it all WITH a DAW
 
beatsonrequest

beatsonrequest

New member
If the guitar and bass aren't real. I must admit, it was good job of those instruments. in my opinion at least.
Firstly, it sounds like the tracks are clipping. There is alot of harshness. One thing to try would be to take out the lows of the guitar with a Equalizer. Lower a bit of the higher mid frequencies of the bass guitar. And make the drums chill more in the back of the mix(which is how rock normally is).

so yeah, just make sure the tracks don't clip. Thats really the main problem. and i think a lil too much loudness on the bass drum. Try throwing vocals in there too. It'll feel "realer"
 
Stay N Tune

Stay N Tune

This Guy >> Composer
All I can say is...nothing beats a REAL band or a musician no matter how good the program is. It is possible though. I've used guitars on my production. I have a guitar player, who's also my bandmate and I recorded guitars myself. Because I've opened myself to study and enjoy bands such as Linkin Park, 3 Doors Down etc. You can do it, but it will require a lot of work, especially the guitars since you're dealing with many parameters, amps and variables...
 
IanMathews

IanMathews

Fremen
This thread made me experiment with MIDI guitar parts. Made a power chord part left to accompany a quick lead. I was able to get a pretty "ok" sound by using a clean guitar sound, humanizing a bit, and then using an amp modeler plugin. I added a reverb too. Lotsa tweaking. However, what's missing are the fret noises n harmonics (could fake these a bit with the distortion), which is crucial, imo. I fooled a buddy of mine I played it for, though.

Maybe I'll post it up here later, even tho I can't say I'm too excited about it.
 
tyberium

tyberium

New member
Well, I try to make rock music on the computer with only a midi keyboard and a DAW for some years now. Can't actually play guitar (wish I could) so I tried it this way. I agree: there's nothing like the real thing....but, if left without options, convincing computer rock is possible. Just check my website for more info.
 
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IanMathews

IanMathews

Fremen
tyberium said:
Just check my website for more info.
Click to expand...

What's the url?

Well, I said I'd post something up along these lines, and I got it done. A media opportunity came up that asked for rock songs with orchestral elements. I thought, "Perfect! I'll hide my midi guitars behind a sheet of strings." haha! In the future, I will probably just stick to using real guitars. But this was a fun experiment.




Thanks for listenin', too.
 
tyberium

tyberium

New member
IanMathews said:
What's the url?
Click to expand...

Hi Ian. Can't give you the url yet (I'm a newbie poster) but you can click on my nick and visit my website that way. Also on soundcloud/youtube (use my nick).

I also love to use orchestral section. Did so in track 11 called "Excalibur". Hope you like it. I'll check out your track tonight.
 
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mralukard

mralukard
hey guys

I just joined this forum after reading this thread... I too am making some music in DAW (FL studio) as a hobby. I would really like some comments, tips and tricks from experienced music makers if you have some spare time. I've uploaded about a dozen of my "ideas" on youtube (forward slash /mralukard - that is my channel, also there is a link in my profile). I would really appreciate if you guys could help me with polishing up my sounds

Thanks in advance
 
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NateButch

New member
Yikes. >.<

There are some great, but expensive VSTs out there that can make those sounds A LOT better. After you get better sounds, it's all about humanizing it. Playing with velocity (especially on the drums) so it doesn't sound so machine-like.

The reason I moved into electronica and stopped fiddling with live instruments/virtual live instruments is because I was sick of trying to replicate authenticity.
 
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