Does anyone like this sort of stuff? Mogwai-type composition

Modellista

I'd like opinions on whether or not this direction would be worth pursuing.  Personally I quite like the contrast between acoustic and big electric guitars.  Not quite certain about the arrangement.  

https://martinsharman.bandcamp.com/track/first-day-of-second-spring

octatonic

Sounds great.
I would make the drums less modern and clicky, particularly the bass drum.
Keep going.

Modellista

octatonic said:

Sounds great.
I would make the drums less modern and clicky, particularly the bass drum.
Keep going.

Appreciate the feedback, thanks.  Honestly that's the first time I've ever used EZDrummer, with whatever the default settings are.  Took a while to find a pattern that fitted but I didn't give a second thought to the sounds, in fact I was impressed with how it sounded right out of the box.  I might have a fiddle around with different kits with the same pattern to hear the difference.

octatonic

Try some high frequency roll off between 2k and 4k- that is where the click lives.
The basic tone is fine, it just has too much attack.
You want a more 'pillowy' sounding bass drum- less metal, more vintage sounding.

octatonic

All IMHO btw.

Modellista

Will give that a shot.  Mucho gracias.  The guitars are all fairly straightforwardly recorded, how's it sounding your end?  I was wondering if the final solo was a touch loud.  Plus there are the occasional bits of mistake in there which I haven't bothered to fix, hopefully they get lost in the mix.

octatonic

It is a touch loud.
Some of the bends are a bit flat, which is better than being sharp, but if you wanted to be bang on then another lead take might be worthwhile.

phil_b

go to be better than Tuvan throat singing

Modellista

octatonic said:

It is a touch loud.
Some of the bends are a bit flat, which is better than being sharp, but if you wanted to be bang on then another lead take might be worthwhile.

That's called artistic licence

It was a one take first take job so if I have the time I could compose a solo properly, although the emotion of a first take can be tricky to reproduce.

Fretwired

I like it ... enter the FB Composition Challenge ...

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/168403/composition-challenge-28-chat#latest

TheMarlin

Big thumbs up from me. 

Bron_Yr_Aur

I really liked it. Another thumbs up here.

JAYJO

Sounds ace to me I really like it.Cant give you any advice though i think your already getting the best.

Snap

I like it, sounds great mate. Nice playing too.

Brad

I like it too. What is your recording setup here?

Modellista

Thanks for all the comments guys, really encouraging to carry on coming up with stuff like this. 

@Brad - this is a fairly straightforward setup. The acoustic is an Eastman E20 slope shoulder with a little SE small diaphragm mic that clamps
onto the guitar. It ends up being triple-tracked and I managed to play the long riff from beginning to end on all three takes. 

The drums are a pattern from EZ Drummer - the first time I’d used it in fact. I tapped in the rhythm in my head using the mouse and it suggested this built-in groove which was exactly what I wanted. 

The electric guitar is an R8 with three different Hx Stomp amp sims for the two hard-panned rhythm tracks (high gain L, lower gain R) and the lead in the centre. 

Bass is a £25 Westfield through a bass amp
sim on the Stomp. 

The interface is an Audient Sono which does have its own valve preamp and Torpedo cab sim but I hardly ever use those, the Helix is an easier way of getting a good recorded tone. 

DAW is Cubase, there’s compression to even out the acoustics and the main bus, and I love the free Arturia plate reverb which is all over this. 

Simple really. The bit I was most pleased about was getting the oomph when the whole band kicks in, so I made sure I pared everything back for the moment before that happens. 

Brad

Thanks for the info @Modellista ;

Great sound and playing man. That’s no mean feat doing those acoustic parts in one take either! 

Out of interest, how do you find the Audient Sono? I’m interested in one of these myself...