5

[jgro002]

Really nice track once again!

The drums sound really good, I’d say they are convincing for sure. I’m surprised how good the ‘swishes’ (don’t know the technical term sorry) sound. I wonder though if they would only sound right in tracks within a limited tempo range. I.e. if you played at a tempo 10 bpm faster than your ‘When Does It End’ track would it still sound like the drummer was making the circle on the ‘swish’ (lol) at the correct speed? Or would they sound too slow?

Just out of interest, how do you find the Jazz library for genres other than jazz?

Cheers,
Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Nice.

I actually really love the sound of the close mics in this library (more than the other NY libraries). They seem to take processing very well, allowing you to really mold the drums into different sounds. I find it more versatile than Avatar for instance in terms of how much you can alter the tone of say the kicks just by using eq and compression, which means this library could lend itself to being used in different musical genres. Just my impression of it anyway.

And the room definitely has ‘a sound’. It’s cool that it really works for you. Just out of interest, what sort of genres do you see (hear) the Hit Factory room working the best for? Because I think even if you mute the room mics (and just have the overheads and close mics) you can still hear the room alot. It probably wouldn’t be the best library for a close, up-front drum sound but would be good for rock, punk etc or anything where you wanna hear the drums more at the back of the mix (once again just IMHO)

Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Brilliant, brilliant sound. That is by far the tightest recording I’ve checked out in the ‘User Demos’ (but this sounds totally pro to me, nothing ‘demo’ about it). Stunning playing btw, the guitars and bass sound really nice. And of course the drums sound KILLER! C&V is my favorite library of the bunch, but I’ve only been using it in really mellow tracks so it’s great to hear it working well in something rockier. Did you use one of the mixer presets for the drums or mix them yourself?

Also, do you have a website where I can check out more of your tunes?

Cheers,
Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Very cool man. I gave it a couple of listens actually.

I think the guitars and drums sound pretty good mix-wise, definitely in the ball-park for the genre you’re working in.

I wouldn’t have said the playing needed to be tighter (but maybe that’s because I don’t have the skill level to be able to play metal so it sounds great to me already). The only constructive criticism I would offer would be to maybe simplify some of the drum parts. For example, those opening riffs would sound really cool with a really simple slushy-hats quarter note ‘rock style’ drum beat and then going into the more busy metal style drums after that. I think that might make the whole track a bit more dynamic maybe? But really, who am I to comment on someone else’s music, so ignore me .

Loved the bit with the (vocal?) pads and double-kicks at the end. Any plans to put some vocals to this? I think you have a cool sound, I’d definitely like to hear it again when you’ve finished it.

Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Excellent…something’s already in the works .

I guess I’ll just be patient then

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

+1

I just got EZMix, and I must say I am really impressed with it. I’m only just getting into recording and it’s pretty daunting to say the least trying to figure out how to use compressors, etc when you are first starting out. So EZMix is like the perfect product for me to get up and running quickly.

I don’t have any specific preset requests (yet) but I would definitely be up for some more if you guys at Toontrack have them in the pipeline…

Awesome product guys.

Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Cool sound. The song’s cool and the production really suits it – I like the ‘rock meets electro’ kinda vibe if I can describe it that way, it sounds really modern.

Would you care to elaborate on how/where you used EXMix? Reason I ask is I just picked EZMix up a couple of days ago – haven’t had a chance to really use it yet as the project I just started is in the tracking stage, but the quick muck around I had with it made me think it’s going to be a very useful tool for the mix-challenged like myself…

Anyway, good job on the song man.

Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Wow, this is REALLY fantastic…

My thoughts:

It’s great that you dialed back the vox delay – I think that was the thing that stood out most for me as being ‘wrong’ in the first mix (‘wrong’ being only MY personal preference of course). The vocals sound very in your face now which is great.

The new mix sounds really good. On the panning – I personally think it’s great the way it is. It kinda sucks that modern rock tracks have guitars triple or quadrupled tracked on both sides (playing the same thing) because it ends up not sounding like a band anymore. I think it makes for a much more interesting mix if your ear can focus in on a sound that’s only coming from a single spot in the stereo spectrum. And on this track there are lots of things coming in at different points in the track, it makes it really interesting to listen to.

Actually, that brings up another point – the arrangement on this track is fantastic (as in the way you’ve written all the parts and how they relate to one another). If you pan this like a ‘typical’ modern rock track it’s going to detract from the arrangement. Incidently, the acoustic intro is great the way it is too, don’t change it!

So seriously awesome job man. I was blown away by the playing, and the mix.

Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Thanks for that.

Yeah I love the sound of C&V and, contrary to what a lot of people seem to feel, I actually love how dry it is too. It makes it perfect for some things; not right for other projects.

If Evil Drums is a rockier version of that I’ll definitely have to pick it up. Incidentally, Joe Baressi has been involved with some of my favorite albums, particularly the more recent Bad Religion records, so I guess it’s sort of a no-brainer for me.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Cheers,
Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Thanks for your reply.

It’s funny that you used ‘organic’ because that’s one of those hard to define terms, but it is a word I would use to describe what I’m looking for for this particular project. Kinda like I’d say the Custom & Vintage samples sound more organic than Avatar (those are by far my favorite and most used samples, just not of use for this particular project)

It’s also nice to hear you say that the Evil Drums samples sound a little less obviously processed, because that would be my major complaint with the New York libraries – they sound amazing, just a little too ‘produced’ for much of my music. I like things to sound a little ‘dirtier’.

I thought about trying a plug-in like PSP Vintage Warmer on the drum bus to warm them up but it’d be nice to just get the right samples for the job to begin with.

It’s nice to have so many options now. Keep it up Toontrack!

Cheers, Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

[jgro002]

Cheers for the response Rail. I’ll check out the links.

Cheers, Jeremy.

iMac 3.06 GHz 4 GB OSX 10.6.5, Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Logic Pro 9.1.3, Lacie D2 Quadra

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