Joshua's Creed

The first release from the recording project Joshua's Creed is getting closer to reality!

Alive is the first song sample being made available: http://joshuascreed.bandcamp.com/album/alive-sample

Please stop by the Facebook page and give a like: https://www.facebook.com/JoshuasCreedRocks

Thank you!

I was able to play the sample!  Good stuff!

I like the vocalist, but there is something there that I cannot put my finger on that needs to change.  I don't know if the EQ on his voice needs to change or if there is too much reverb.  That's just me.

Are you doing your own mastering, or will you be doing that yourself?  If you are using someone else, I would volunteer to see what I can do for free.  I need the experience so I can do it better for myself.

Thanks!

I just listened to the sample compared to what's in my mp3 player and the sample is a bit muddy.  I'm pretty sure I know why and will upload a better sample tonight.

As for mastering, I actually haven't had anything mastered. The vids I've watched to that compare a mastered track next to an unmastered track show the difference as being so slight that I'm not really sold on it.  Now, on old demos and things where they clean up and re-master a crappy recording, the difference is huge.

I've uploaded a cleaner version of the sample and added Buried in the Womb.

Quote :

As for mastering, I actually haven't had anything mastered. The vids I've watched to that compare a mastered track next to an unmastered track show the difference as being so slight that I'm not really sold on it.  Now, on old demos and things where they clean up and re-master a crappy recording, the difference is huge

Then the people doing the videos were not doing listening properly.  A proper mastering job takes a good sounding project and makes it sound huge.  My last album sounded "good" after it was mixed.  After Brad Windlan finished with it, it sounded much more like a pro recording.  It is the difference between sounding like a great demo and being radio ready.  It adjusts the dynamic range, boosts quieter parts and levels louder ones, and just adds more power/volume.  If done properly, mastering just makes everything sound better over all. 

Think of it as having a master painter do a portrait for the most beautiful woman in the world.  The painter works and works to get every detail right.  When he is done, the painting is perfect.  Without mastering, you would put this picture in a darkened area where you couldn't see all the details.  With mastering, you would find the perfect wall in the woman's house to showcase the painting with proper lighting and furnishings to draw attention to every nuance of the painter's techniques.

In recording, you do the same:  you work and work to get every note the way you want.  It sounds good but still just doesn't sound like the big boys.  So, mastering polishes what you've done and highlights everything so that nothing is missed if done right.  If done wrong, you end up with  a loud project that causes ear fatigue and you stop listening to it but you never really understand why.

I've been adjusting things and listening on my home computer (decent speakers), work computer (cheaper speakers) and my car which has a Bose system.  I also send off tracks to a few different folks to get their opinion which has helped get a good quality sound.

Listening to it here, I fully agree.  You've done a great job with this!  With mastering, all I can really do to this because of all the polish you've already added is really widen the stereo field just a hair more.  Also, with a little compression, I can make the guitars stand out just a teeny bit more.  Overall, though, I don't think that you actually will hear the difference.

With your DAW, have you added any mastering effects to the final mix?  If you have, then you will probably not need more if all your songs sound this complete.

Really looking forward to this album.

alldatndensum wrote:

Listening to it here, I fully agree.  You've done a great job with this!  With mastering, all I can really do to this because of all the polish you've already added is really widen the stereo field just a hair more.  Also, with a little compression, I can make the guitars stand out just a teeny bit more.  Overall, though, I don't think that you actually will hear the difference.

With your DAW, have you added any mastering effects to the final mix?  If you have, then you will probably not need more if all your songs sound this complete.

Thank you!  I've been working very hard to get this recording to sound the best that I can.

I'm using Audacity and here is my process:

I record all my tracks with how I want them to sound in mind.  For instance, once I lay the guitar track down, before any mixing or tweaking, it already has the sound I want.  Then I run single pass with the compressor over it and declip it.  Once all of my tracks have had the same treatment I mix them.  When I have my mix to what I think is sounding good, I export it as a WAV.  I open the new WAV in another instance of Audacity.  Then I run a Bass/Treble Cut/Boost which basically leaves the bass and boosts the treble about 4 decibels while bringing the whole volume down 1.  The compressor gets run again and then the overall volume gets a 4 decibel boost.  Last comes declipping.  I listen to the track and if something is too loud or quiet I go back to the first instance of Audacity with all of the tracks and adjust the offenders accordingly.  Lather, rinse repeat until the desired satisfaction is reached.

Staybrite wrote:

Really looking forward to this album.

We're really looking forward to it being ready.  Looks like we're still on schedule for an April/May time frame.

alldatndensum wrote:

Are you doing your own mastering, or will you be doing that yourself? 

lol - I knew what he meant.

This sounds very good- looking forward to hearing more!

Candlemass wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

Are you doing your own mastering, or will you be doing that yourself? 

I should probably hire a proofreader! 

Sounds really good dude!  I'm looking forward to hearing more!!!

Two more samples have been added:

http://joshuascreed.bandcamp.com/album/joshuas-creed-samples

Yep Xid, it's good stuff.

Thanks!

I have the distinct feeling that the new, virtually unheard of Joshua's Creed band is going to make quite a few people's favorites for 2016 list.  These songs are amazing, dude!

I haven't uploaded them yet, but I have my mastering done on the three new songs.  I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  It was just me and my headphones for a few hours.  I did your three songs plus Arsenal and Scarlet Red.  It was a productive lack of sleep, anyway.

Thanks for the encouraging words!  Marketing is the tough part.

I'm looking forward to hearing mastering job you've done!

After nearly a month of silence we have a new sample: God Must Be Crazy

5 down and 5 to go.  Halfway there!

Since I am attempting to do the mastering for this project, I can say that this album is going to be awesome and should end up on a lot of people's album of the year list.  If it does not, it would seriously surprise me!

Thanks, Chris!

alldatndensum wrote:

Since I am attempting to do the mastering for this project, I can say that this album is going to be awesome and should end up on a lot of people's album of the year list.  If it does not, it would seriously surprise me!

I know I am really looking forward to it. 
And quite frankly there isn't a lot coming out this year in the Christian market that I'm looking forward to.