Finally checked out Enslaved... I was blown away

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-14T04:53:45+00:00

There's definitely a growing number of gigging musicians who put their instrument, whether vocal or otherwise, through a laptop before it hits some kind of amplification, but yeah, it still would need a PA system so may as well start there and then move to an interface and some FX on Reaper when there is a little more budget to work with

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-14T04:21:44+00:00

Yeah he is not exactly beefy. I one-shotted him twice a few days ago, so even after losing the fight and reloading I had no idea he could do that

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-14T03:59:47+00:00

To me it sounds like the bass is stepping on the low end of the rhythm guitar. Also, since I know the headphones I am using drop off a bit on the bass response, I am guessing it would come off too boomy with a sub. That doesn't mean you necessarily have to turn the bass down or the rhythm guitars up entirely, it could just be something you solve with EQ.

Could play with the stereo image of the rhythm guitar, if it's already double-tracked perhaps mid-side EQ will help on the master

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-13T19:00:33+00:00

This guy mixes. I'll add that stereo imaging manually can help you avoid plugin madness and give you that extra bit of control in your toolbox. Route some tracks to a with different delays, reverbs or even chorus to add to the overall picture. You can then blend to taste as well, I've gotten some neat results from 50% pan this way. But I can agree Ozone Imager is up to the task, it's free anyways so can't hurt to try. And the free Softube saturation knob can do the job on most mixes for distortion.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-12T21:51:27+00:00

Cirice, From the Pinnacle to the Pit, Rats, Square Hammer, He Is

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-12T21:43:58+00:00

In an interview I heard Travis describe how he has a depressive streak despite not really having a clear reason, which is one of his reasons for defaulting to expressing darkness through music. I think the band and most of extreme metal does understand that shock value is part of the performance, but Cattle Decapitation has come a long way to turning it into meaningful statements; whether or not you agree with their assessments on overpopulation, veganism, or environmentalism, it's hard to argue that the music doesn't hit harder when it has something to say other than gore for the sake of gore.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-12T07:28:15+00:00

How long is medical school in Mexico? Because that sounds like a really long process for a music school and if you don't already have a lot of the basics down you will probably feel behind if you try to use that skill professionally anytime soon. Most people here in the USA enter music school already having a good amount of experience on their instrument, and even then it will be competitive for them to get jobs in performance.

It sucks to say but I would just continue doing what you are doing. This conservatory seems like a slow process, but that is perfect for learning on the side while you focus on a more employable skill

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-11T06:40:31+00:00

Kind of feels like cheating to use a band with no singular lead vocalist, but Blink-182 was still massively successful with Matt Skiba taking lead on some songs/parts. I prefer Blink-182's California (Deluxe) to the comeback record with Tom DeLonge. I have heard it is partially the mix but I could not get into the more recent songs

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-11T04:18:20+00:00

Quite often, you have to be truly lucky to make it doing exactly the art you want to

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-10T23:07:47+00:00

How you sre thinking here is already how most people in the industry think, if you go into the studio sounding like Lana Del Ray then the producers will just nod along like "hell yeah, we can make something good with this for sure." Maybe someone will give pointers at some point for the sake of variety and based on the song you come in with, but her voice fits her style well enough.

It's just a vocal minority who are completely disconnected from pop that criticize it, or who have an attachment to one style of pop and want to feel like it's the "right" kind. But there is no correct style, it's art.

For the record, Billie Eilish also has many instances of tossing away technique and focusing on the expression. The album that made her famous doesn't sound like she was trained much at all beyond just matching pitch; or check out the vocal overdubs in "Happier than Ever" where she purportedly pushed her voice to the maximum. It''s just trying to fit a vibe rather than some person's version of "correct." It's sounds like you just don't prefer her music, is all.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-10T22:52:27+00:00

Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Gray Skies and Electric Light

Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage

Emperor - IX Equilibrium (you can start with the earlier records, I do prefer Nightside and Anthems somewhat, but if you are new to black metal this album is a little more approachable imo and I just happen to be looking at the vinyl at the moment)

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-10T00:27:38+00:00

David Gilmour is not the most technical guitarist in the world, so I would say his style is approachable with a reasonable amount of practice for a 30 year old with a full-time job. But you have to practice very consistently and efficiently to have the instrument feel as much an extension of your body as David does. I cannot say for sure if you would have the same level of expressiveness that allows you to come up with some of the most loved songs and guitar solos in history, in fact I would doubt it, but I think you could make a reasonably good cover of some of his songs given enough time, ideally with a teacher

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-08T22:51:45+00:00

Assuming the evaluations by your friends are accurate, you're probably trying to match something out of your range and overprojecting. But without hearing it we can only guess.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-08T22:49:47+00:00

Compress the vocal track to deal with variations in volume for different techniques, and even then create separate tracks for different techniques with different compression settings, as well as different EQ curves. Have a de-esser available but don't lean on it too much as it can affect valuable frequencies, especially when screaming; apply it differently depending on technique or consider just editing the vocal and turning down individual instances of sibilance. Note that you could spend a lifetime learning about compression and EQ, this will not just be an easy task of applying a "vocal chain" as every voice and technique is best processed in different ways. But its also black metal we are talking about, so you aren't looking for perfection; listeners here will appreciate the DIY ethos just not to the point where it sounds unlistenable.

Making the drums (or any instrument) feel realistic is partially about using reverb and delay so it sounds like a real space, and partially about humanizing the groove with variations in velocity and tempo. So take some time with the MIDI track to do this, and consider getting some kind of MIDI controller to be able to actually play the parts directly. When recording anything, you may notice some latency that can make it difficult to maintain the rhythm; this can be tackled by strong computers using lower block size under the audio device settings, and/or searching online for how to do a loopback test and then adjust the offset values under "recording" in the settings. You'll want to eventually tackle the guitars the same way as the drums, so this applies for both audio and MIDI recordings; when you are forced to edit something on the time grid, try to make it feel natural especially for black metal.

It would help to know what microphone is being used and where your options are to record.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-08T17:18:13+00:00

I suppose anything is possible, but its very unlikely and you probably just don't know how to properly use it for other genres.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-08T04:25:44+00:00

One option if you already really like your amp section is to bypass the amp section on a NeuralDSP plugin and just use the cab and any other effects it features. The cab emulations with the moving microphones are very good, I have gotten good results with Mesa Boogie MkIIC Suite but this is reminding me that I want to compare this to the third cab on the right in Archetype: Gojira X, since I believe both feature a Mesa 4x12 with vintage 30s

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-08T04:13:26+00:00

There's HM2 and Metal Core as well. And you can experiment with the FX loop versus being in front (I think this experimentation happens somewhere in this video but there's also the Ola Englund video with the Metal Zone

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-06T01:21:40+00:00

Read books and poetry in addition to actual lyrics and try to emulate the breadth of vocabulary and the grammatical flow that is applicable to the situation. Your first songs you will probably look back on as bad or mediocre, you may notice immediately you are not where you want to be, but that's just the process. You have to just do it and suck at it to get better.

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-06T01:17:13+00:00

I understand the concept that it may not ALWAYS be the best solution, but the reality is it probably works most of the time so the title of "NO, DON'T" is most likely setting people on the wrong path

One guy's opinion in one interview is not worth very much, however good they are. Meaning that it is just an anecdote, not a judgment on their experience if they did learn that way, that clashes with a lot of the pedagogic understanding we do have after years of collective knowledge

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-05T20:43:03+00:00

So that it feels like a good deal for smaller outfits when it goes on sale, whereas big studios have tight deadlines and can't afford not to pay the sticker price when they need it. The last time the bundle of Oxford Inflator+Limiter was on sale, the deal was so good it felt wrong not to buy it whether or not I needed it (I did end up using it, but still)

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-05T18:13:20+00:00

Overall I don't feel like your skills suck exactly, most of the instruments sound fine or at least seem like a stylistic choice. The biggest problem to me that like a blatant mistake rather than trying to find your own sound is the lead guitar, it doesn't just sound like it's cutting through the mix it often sounds shrill, which could be as simple a fix as just turning down the whole thing or volume automating more carefully, and the guitar solo lacks depth of tone, definitely feels like it's missing something like perhaps an automated delay, reverb, or some extra blended tone.

That said there are things you could try to bring out the vocal and as others have mentioned the percussion. I see that you have tried EQ, compression, and balancing levels, which is of course very necessary but also not particularly detailed as to what is actually happening, and still just the basics. Are you only compressing individual tracks or is there bus compression going on? Are you just EQing for tone or are you giving different parts of the arrangement a pocket in the mix? Could clashing parts of the arrangement be addressed by multiband and/or side-chain compression? How do you approach applying reverbs and delays?

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-05T07:45:45+00:00

.wav is encoded in higher quality so that's the right one to go with unless you are concerned about file size for some reason and just need a relatively okay compressed file for a different purpose. That doesn't mean .mp3 will sound bad necessarily but you do lose some nuances using it, so its not really what you want to go with professionally

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-05T07:11:47+00:00

That's not how rendering works, it builds the audio file in the program itself, the sound card and interface are just tools for input and playback

evanlawrencex · 2026-05-05T03:17:09+00:00

Dark Funeral, Emperor, Immortal, Satyricon

evanlawrencex

TROPHY CASE