Need Help In Understanding Effects

[Greeny]

Nice work.  The tempo and vocal range really make this standout as an original arrangement.

Only suggestion is to bring up the vocal or bring the band down a touch.

Regards,

Michael.
\o/

Thanks - we're working on a new version in a different key. It'll mean I can (hopefully!) sing it better and bring the vocals up further in the mix.

[vibedog]

Hi,
Great guitar, vocals, and nice addition with the keyboards. 

I have a few suggestions to try, and please don't take them as criticisms as I think you sound great and it is really interesting how the collaboration occurred in this thread.

Okay, so here are some comments.
I think the guitar is panned right too hard.  I'm listening with headphones which could be part of the problem.  I think the panning on the vocals and keyboards worked better, I believe the keyboards were also slightly right while the vocal was slightly left.  Also, as a previous poster commented, the volume of the guitar could be turned down a tad.  I think there is just one guitar here, so a couple of things that could be tried leaving the current guitar track panning untouched are:  1) copy the guitar track to another track and then pan it left and add some chorus and/or delay.  This would hopefully still provide some separation you are after with the panning but having this duplicate track with some effects would make it a little fuller.  The volume level on this duplicated track with effects would be less than the clean track that is panned right.  2) I think I understand what you were going for when you added the keyboard and I think it works well.  You may want to try this with guitar as well, during the chorus add a background guitar chord progression (again, perhaps lower volume and panned left).  3) the guitar sounds very good but might be getting clipped at the higher volumes as there is a tad of static or crackling- could be my imagination.  I have never figured out if this is due to sensitivity being too high or input level being too high or some combination of both. 

[Ronniejm]

Hi Vibedog thanks for listening and for your comments.

Tim and I have done another version of the song posted in "post your work". this one was very much a first time suck it and see how it goes kind of thing.

https://songcrafters.org/community/post-your-work/fields-of-gold-cover-by-ronniejm-and-greeny/0/

Have a listen to that one and let us know what you think, all comments are appreciated.

thanks again for listening

Ronnie

[vibedog]

Sounds great.  To me it sounds cleaner and the voice meshes with the guitar better.  I find when I lay down separate tracks they still sound like they are "separate" and it is tricky to make both (or more) tracks mix well and sound like they were originally played together.  So in addition to some fine musicianship, you seem to really know how to get the most out of the micro.

[Ronniejm]

Hello  Vibedog, Thanks for the comments, that version does sound a lot better. I wish I could take the credit for achieving the final mix. but truthfully all I did was press record and play my guitar. Greeny  (Tim) as well as doing the vocals, did all the mixing and effects stuff, and I agree with you that is a skill in itself to get the "right" overall sound.

As you can see from my very first post in this thread, this is something I struggle with myself, I  do try but it's all by trial and error, and somehow always seem to make it sound worse than what I started with, I 'm envious of the guys on here who have an understanding of effects and mixing/mastering.

thanks again for your comments

Ronnie

[Ronniejm]

Got A favour to ask:

I am still strugling with the effects side of the MBR.

I was wondering if some of you guys, could take the time to download the little verse of Fields Of Gold I posted at the start of this thread, recorded with all effects switched off, and apply whatever effects that in your opinion improves the sound, and post back here, with a brief explanation of the effects and effect parameters applied.

I know its a fairly gentle sounding track, but if you want to make it sound heavy metalish thats fine, I'm more interested in the process of getting from one sound to another, rather than the actual result. it's how you got there that matters.

I know its a big ask, but it would be really helpful to me to hear others peoples, take on the sound, and more importantly understanding what they did to get there. I would then try to re-create that sound, using your explanation, hopefully gaining understanding of the process along the way.

I am sure you would be helping a load of people, I can't be the only one out there who is struggling with this...am  I???

I really appreciate all time and help given here.

cheers

Ronnie

[64Guitars]

I have absolutely no idea of the whole effects thingy.

I mean I know how to switch them on and adjust them around, but it's all guess work as to what the outcome will be, I have no idea beforehand why I'm adjusting any effect I have selected.

I follow discussions on here with interest and someone will comment for example "could do with a bit more compression", my thoughts are whats compression? and why? what difference would you expect?.

so does anyone know of a website that will give me an idiots guide to effects, one that rightly assumes I know nothing.

Effects are really a matter of personal taste. You need to experiment with the effects one at a time to get familiar with them. Then, when you're trying to get a particular sound, you'll know which effect to use. Don't rely on the preset patches. You'll never learn about effects that way. Instead, select a patch from the Song bank and switch off each of the effects in the algorithm. Then turn on just one effect and experiment with its parameters while playing your guitar.

You should also read about effects to learn more about what they do and how their parameters alter the sound. The best place to start is the Micro BR manual. Read pages 67 to 73 for descriptions of each effect and its parameters. You might also find the Boss Guitar Effects Guidebook helpful. And this WikiPedia article offers a good introduction to guitar effects with links to more detailed information.

Here are some other sites to check out:

http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/guitars/guitar-fx-basics-video-lessons-156745

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/fx.htm

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/effects-explained.html

[Ronniejm]

Thanks 64, you are a star. a quick scan of the websites, looks like what I've been searching for, lots of reading for me to do over the holidays then...

thanks for your comments and for finding these sites for me, and I'm sure they will useful to others as well.

cheers

Ronnie

[Oldrottenhead]

wow just heard greenys version on the on this day player bump.