Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Show off original scores and recordings made with Linux!

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tkmusic
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Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

I am still in the process of learning how to record music in Linux (JACK and Ardour have given me some hiccups, plus I've been too busy with work and school to really take the time to dive super-deep into it), but I wanted to show off something I made in Linux. I took a song I made a few months ago, then used OBS Studio to capture visualizer footage from Cava and Project M while playing it. Then I merged the two videos together using Kdenlive (with some chroma key on the Cava layer) and added some subtitles.

Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Lyric Video)

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by lilith »

The track is very good and I like that kind of raw blackened thrash metal. The mix can be improved a lot imo. It sounds quite thin and I miss a wider stereo field. First I would try to tame the high end (especially at around 3 kHz) and put in more bass. I know that such a sound is common for e.g. black metal, but here it does not sound good. Vocals are great, especially the Celtic Frost Ughh :mrgreen: . Maybe other people that record rock music can comment on the mix and how to improve it. I do in the box music mainly. Music wise I would buy it. Keep going!

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by bulevardi »

The song itself is good.
(although I get a headache by the screaming on 2'07" ;) )
But the sound can be a bit wider in range indeed. Don't know how technically, but some mastering to get the tones a bit fatter would make the song fit more. Now it sounds more old-school like on a cassette, which is charming too...

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

I've taken this advice to mind, did some remixing, and I've completed the album that it's on. Link is below.

Buskers - Mr. Petersik (And Other So-So Selections)

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by Impostor »

lilith wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 3:48 pm

especially the Celtic Frost Ughh :mrgreen:

Recognized right away which Ughh you mean, even though I haven't listened to CF in decades!

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by Impostor »

tkmusic wrote: Tue May 23, 2023 5:11 pm

I've taken this advice to mind, did some remixing, and I've completed the album that it's on. Link is below.

Buskers - Mr. Petersik (And Other So-So Selections)

Nice shirt! (I'm a Voivod fan.) The mix in hellhole has improved, bass is more present, but it still sounds a bit thin. Good music though! I'd like maybe a bit more variation in the snare and kick sounds (velocity variation or round robins maybe?).

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

Impostor wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 6:42 pm

Nice shirt! (I'm a Voivod fan.) The mix in hellhole has improved, bass is more present, but it still sounds a bit thin. Good music though! I'd like maybe a bit more variation in the snare and kick sounds (velocity variation or round robins maybe?).

Thanks. Voivod has been one of my favorite bands since college. I saw them live once years ago at a show in Milwaukee, so I got to see them collab with Dan Kubinski of Die Kreuzen to play "Man in the Trees".

As for Celtic Frost, they're another one of my favorites. I especially love the guitar tone they used on Monotheist, and have tried to replicate that many times in my own music.

I don't just listen to metal, though. I've listened to a lot of different genres over the years, and try to incorporate them in my own stuff. It's why I try not to classify Buskers in a specific genre. Heck, Killing Joke was the band that inspired me the most in making my own music, as they could pull off these epic soundscapes while only playing a few chords.

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by forestandgarden »

I'm not saying mix it another time and then another until it's dead, but voice sounds much more prominent than the rest of the track, and both do not fully blend. Doesn't matter, it's a fun track with stuff happening in it ;)

Things you could do: look at analyzers/EQs with analyzers, listen on a a variety of other things than your 'good monitors': car, mom's HiFi, transistor radio, cheesy mobile, bluetooth speakers.., A/B listen with reference tracks or that count for you

some of my stuff is ending up here https://alooshu.byethost17.com and here https://clyp.it/user/i4p5dng1 , and you can love me at https://liberapay.com/aloo_shu
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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

I don't want to sound like a jerk, ungrateful, or defensive when it comes to the production advice regarding this song or album, but I'm not putting any more work into it now and here's why:

A lot of this material was recorded about a year ago on an old Mac a friend of mine gave me, and I had not started using Linux yet. During that time, I exported multiple rough mixes to sample to other people I either know or interact with around the internet or real life to get an extra pair of ears regarding volume, EQ, or any other production that needed work. I would get very little to no advice regarding that, so I'd also listen to the songs myself on multiple different speakers (headphones, bluetooth speaker, phone speaker, etc). Basically, for the longest time, I had to rely on the best advice I could get or use my best judgement in regard to production. Plus, this album cycle exhausted me: one song in particular took almost that entire year time to record because I had trouble finding some guests to record for it as otherwise I was doing everything myself, and that can be very draining.

I never shared my stuff here before because I was still using non-Linux methods to record. I am slowly starting to learn how to make music in Linux, though, so if I make something new and want some advice on production for it, I'll gladly take it then. I could always use a second pair of ears while working, but it's a little less frustrating when the mix is still fresh.

Thanks.

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by forestandgarden »

eh, frustrate peopple is the last of my intentions, I kinda tried to say it's ok and I would not mix it more in your place. MacBook also potentially explains a bit: for reasosn unknown, at least GarageBand has always been giving me a 'thinner', more transparent & 'HiFi' sound than what I'm doing on Linux. If this was your first post: Keep them coming :)

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

Not a problem. To be honest, I kinda regret posting that. It's not my style. I used to have a friend who would help with production tips, but we had a falling out a while back and he left some really nasty, personal-attack-type comments on that video in my OP (Youtube's spam filter blocked them, so the only person who saw them was me). It has kinda colored my perceptions regarding my own material, and I'm sorry that that came out. I know there was nothing personal regarding the production.

Yeah, I've been meaning to move on from Garageband for a while now. A lot of it has to do with that Apple ecosystem crap, which I've grown so sick of. That and that old Mac is a desktop, which tied me down in one location. I like trying to record with others, and I like open-source software, plus I've wanted to try a different OS for a long time, which is why I gravitated toward Linux on a laptop. I'm giving Ardour and LMMS a test run right now just getting familiar with everything, but hopefully soon after I do some test recordings I can get back to making actual songs again.

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by Impostor »

tkmusic wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:44 am

I'm not putting any more work into it now
[..]
if I make something new and want some advice on production for it, I'll gladly take it then. I could always use a second pair of ears while working, but it's a little less frustrating when the mix is still fresh.

I think it's best to just finish something to your best ability, only then post it, and take any advice/criticism on it with you into your next project. Rework the current project only if you still feel it's not finished yet. That's how I'd do it anyway.

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

Impostor wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2023 12:43 pm
tkmusic wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:44 am

I'm not putting any more work into it now
[..]
if I make something new and want some advice on production for it, I'll gladly take it then. I could always use a second pair of ears while working, but it's a little less frustrating when the mix is still fresh.

I think it's best to just finish something to your best ability, only then post it, and take any advice/criticism on it with you into your next project. Rework the current project only if you still feel it's not finished yet. That's how I'd do it anyway.

I'll keep that in mind. The other guy mentioned that part of what might be the issue of it sounding thin could be the DAW I was using before. Another reason to switch to Linux, eh?

Not gonna lie, I was kinda having a bad day when I posted that originally. Doesn't help I got a message like this from an ex-friend of mine regarding this song:

Former friend for a reason

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by Rainmak3r »

Good first effort, as others have said do keep them coming! :mrgreen:

Since you mentioned being new to JACK and all that, I thought I'd give a link to a talk I made at the last FOSDEM on how to "become a rockstar" using just Linux. The title is very much tongue-in-cheek of course, as I'm definitely not an authority on that (or JACK, or Linux in general), but I tried to share my experience from when I first dipped my toes in that world to get where I am now:

https://fosdem.org/2023/schedule/event/om_music/

If your distro ships Pipewire, for instance, then using Pipewire's JACK is MUCH easier all while keeping the same benefits JACK brought to the table.

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Re: Buskers - Hellhole in the Sofa (Video made using Linux software)

Post by tkmusic »

Rainmak3r wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2023 9:35 am

Good first effort, as others have said do keep them coming! :mrgreen:

Since you mentioned being new to JACK and all that, I thought I'd give a link to a talk I made at the last FOSDEM on how to "become a rockstar" using just Linux. The title is very much tongue-in-cheek of course, as I'm definitely not an authority on that (or JACK, or Linux in general), but I tried to share my experience from when I first dipped my toes in that world to get where I am now:

https://fosdem.org/2023/schedule/event/om_music/

If your distro ships Pipewire, for instance, then using Pipewire's JACK is MUCH easier all while keeping the same benefits JACK brought to the table.

I'll look into Pipewire, but I have questions about it. I'll ask them in a different topic though.

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