I just started using Reaper and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4.
So I took the software and the interface for a test drive. This is my first song on the new gear but I’ve been recording on standalone machines for a long time.
Bash this song hard ! Show no mercy.
Rush meets Molly Hatchet
another Reaper/2i4 user. So I can judge my recording by yours now.
real guitars or sims??
Congrats on the new gear!
I felt like the intro was too long. I’m not really familiar with this style of music though. It feels like it could use more filling out as far as the arrangement goes. I think I hear a bass, or am I making that up? Maybe it needs to be a bit louder, or have more mid-high frequencies come through to cut through the mix. Yeah overall it seems a bit repetitive to me, but I really like some of the lead guitar playing, like around 1:42. I might give it more of the center stage. Maybe that main guitar riff just happens to many times for me.
gets slightly repetitive. for instance there is some harmonic variety shown in the first 50 secs like where it drops to the different chord at :26 and :34 but then when the riff comes in at :52 it essentially doesnt change for almost 2 minutes. yeah it goes from the I to the IV version (I think) but its still basically the same riff
you’d have to pay me good money to repeat a long riff 4x lol. I might have repeated it 2x then went to the IV version.
Id rather have heard that long section from :52 ish to 2:45ish broken up with a whole different tonality thrown in somewhere. for instance do like Satriani might and go to a pseudo minor key change even something somewhat “out” like an F chord or even a Gm chord for a while just to give the ear more candy.
Or maybe start soloing with the riff in E with the sort of major/minor blues vibe but then go to a C chord and switch the soloing to pure e minor while on the C chord etc. Otherwise its just a bit much on like 2 minutes of Mixolydianish vibe
Great sound and playing though
maybe a tiny bit of guitar hum on headphones in the holes where the drums etc drop out…mainly in right channel
yeah, a bit repetitive. even the intro I might have went thru the whole riff once or twice but then id have added a higher harmony or variation or something before repeating it again
I would agree with Cristina at this point the lack of bass guitar is an issue. Otherwise good as far as the quality of recording.
compare with Joe S
0 - :24 intro rhythm riff
:24 - :48 main melody theme over rhythm riff (BUT there is a turnaround in the riff for variety)
:48 - 1:12 melody theme repeat but an octave higher for variety
1:12 - 1:44 B section different key or chords
1:44 - 2:32 solo section, different chords/key and also the feel changes WITHIN the solo section
2:32- 2:55 restatement of main theme
2:55 B section again 3:34
3:34 - 3:46 breakdown feel
3:46 - out. intro theme to fade
point being, he never leaves u with the same feel for too long. Basic song theme is sort of Mixolydian but then he gives u several other flavors thru the song
Me personally, I almost always take some sort of left turn on the bridge lol
Haha, I was thinking something similar. RUSH, Kansas, and southern rock.
I used Amplitube 4 (the free version) and BIAS Amp (the free version). I would prefer to have a bigger sound but those sims seem to be lacking. Maybe I just have to work on the settings.
I WISH I could get a sim to work properly. So far no luck, there is ALWAYS lag. I recently upped my RAM to 16G but i still cant get my Mercurial Spark to work in real time without lag. I guess one has to have some sort of monster computer??
Thanks Cristina!
Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from. It takes almost a minute for the song to finally kick in. I could see how shortening that part might be useful.
Yeah, I have a walking bass line in there. I added some low end to it and some frequencies around 1500 - 1600 Khz. It seemed to be cutting well on my speakers…maybe even too well, so I turned the bass down a little. I should have another good listen to it. Very possible that I reduced the volume too much. I’ll probably do a remix and bring the bass line up. I’m glad you mentioned it !
Yeah, I agree.
I had originally planned to start the lead guitar earlier so that the main guitar riff didn’t seem so repetitive but I was dreading the sound of my guitar solo sound (I’m using Amplitube and BIAS amp sims) so I wanted to reduce the length of my lead guitar wanking. By doing that, I created an even more repetitive feel. 
Other than a very minor lag when I’m loading the BIAS amp sim I haven’t had any problems (I have 16 GB of RAM). I haven’t had any lag while recording yet. My biggest issue with this song was the thin sound I was getting when I played the lead guitar. It didn’t sound bad on it’s own but in the context of the mix it sounded really thin and weak…(You’re going to laugh at what I have to say next, knowing that you and I have been discussing this recently)…I had to double the lead ! Haha:scream:
cheater!
probably with the parts u have etc, the song could have been like a minute shorter and it would have been okay
I didnt notice the lead sound being weak etc. if it is it didnt stand out to me
Yeah, that sounds about right. I wonder if I could edit it in Reaper without mangling it too much. Hmmm, I might try that.
That’s good to know. The doubling probably helped it sound thicker.
Yeah, for sure. I might try to edit the song. Maybe I can cut out a minute or so.
Some good ideas!
That must be coming from the guitars. I have a noise gate on them but maybe it’s not kicking in quick enough. Might be better to just cut those spaces out in Reaper.
omg, u just gave me a flashback to the time I had terrible finger squeaks on an acoustic and I couldnt stand it and knew no better way to fix it but to manually cut the volume of each squeak using Reaper envelopes lol
Good to know that you’re hearing it similarly to Cristina. I have to go back and check that bass in my monitors. Looks like it will probably have to be turned up or EQ’d differently.
Hi wicked Lots of folks commented so I didn’t know if I should. Not my style, but I like it. I like the riff, but it got a little long. Kinda tricky playin that I bet. Worked much better when she really got rollin. ha ha Yup, it’s just that long intro that was hard to get thru. Love to hear this with some vocals and then that great guitar work in between:)
Sincerely
Paul
could do:
or, better yet
another possibility for variety might be to cut at like 2;19 where it switches chords and go back and throw in one of the riff parts from the intro just to give the soloing a break, then come back in at that point
I mean, its digital, its not like u lose anything by experimenting lol