Current song - A bit different.

Steenamaroo

Steenamaroo

...
Here's another tune I'm working at right now.

We're doing the proper vocals tomorrow; I'll probably regret posting before the proper vocals go down but I'm kinda excited about this mix.

This is going to be the big closer on an acoustic/pop ten track album.
Warning in advance - It's 6:00 long. First 3 minutes are subdued ballad, last three are a build up section currently minus vocals.
If you wanna skip, please skip to 2:00

It's really the build up and transition that I'm interested in.

Here it is. (link is direct to mp3 on my own server)

Would love to hear what anyone thinks.
Hopefully a full vox version will be posted tomorrow night.

PS: While the vocals aren't staying, I'd be interested to hear what you think of the tone/sound.
I tried a different mic from the usual.
 
Sounding great.

Dude sounds sad here, which I think is good given the subject matter.

Guitar is pristine. Yeah, the vocals do sound different a little bit. Maybe more emphasis on the mids of his voice. A little less smooth sounding, which to me, suits his voice.

I liked the restraint you showed in the first section. Just some occasional percussive sounds or a little BGVs here and there was very subtle and effective.

Getting to the fuller sections now which sound, uh...well...full! I have no helpful suggestions as usual. Good job.
 
heatmiser said:
Dude sounds sad here, which I think is good given the subject matter.
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Yeah, I believe his baby's gone. :p

Aw man, that's fantastic.
I expect there'll be nits here and there but that's a hell of a great start.
You know those projects where it just builds and builds and you totally lose sight of whether it's working or not?......


Cheers Heatmiser.
 
The guitar sounds great and I do like the build. I think you should be excited about the mix : ) I know the vocals are going to be replaced but there is a "fullness" missing from the vocal if that makes sense. Just my opinion though. I listened to this and then listened to James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" to compare vocals. It was just the first thing that came to mind to compare. Other than that, I think you're off to a really great start.
 
I'm listening on cheap shit headphones with one ear but I have to say it sounds mint! I dunno about a lack of fullness in the vocals. They sound nice and raw to me, can here the feeling and he meant every word he sang, for me.

Is it the same man as before? DD? Sounds like his voice in places but not, in others.

Anyway, as it stands it sounds really good. I'll follow this thread and look forward to hearing it develop further.

:thumbs up:
 
suddy818 said:
The guitar sounds great and I do like the build. I think you should be excited about the mix : ) I know the vocals are going to be replaced but there is a "fullness" missing from the vocal if that makes sense. Just my opinion though. I listened to this and then listened to James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" to compare vocals. It was just the first thing that came to mind to compare. Other than that, I think you're off to a really great start.
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Ok great Suddy. Thanks for listening.
Vocals are always a chore with this guy. Well actually that's not true.
Recording them is fine but getting the sound we want at the start isn't always easy.


Mr Clean said:
Is it the same man as before? DD? Sounds like his voice in places but not, in others.

Anyway, as it stands it sounds really good. I'll follow this thread and look forward to hearing it develop further.

:thumbs up:
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Cheers Clean. No this isn't Dan. That was a different story. I pretty much just threw an sm7b at him and it was beautiful.
He has a very very strong voice and a great technique though. No lack of confidence there.
Pete sorta clams up at the mic.

That works great for the first half but really for his buildup vocal line I need to hire Springsteen or something. :p

(PS.Doing a bit more with Dan soon. His project got held up for a few reasons.)
 
Hey steenamaroo! I have a couple comments but I guess they are just personal preference. I normally LOVE your acoustics, but these almost sound too 'present' to me, and there is a frequency range that makes them sound a little DIed. I also think the intro goes on a little to long, but LOVE what you did when everything kicks in. The last is just an observation - I listened on KRKs then AKG cans. In the cans this thing opens WAY up and has a beautiful WIDE stereo spread. Sounds seriously cool. Did you do something different with this one?
 
Hey Chuck. Thanks for chipping in pal.
Yeah, maybe you're right there - I know I have a tendency to overdo it with HPFs sometimes. Maybe I've just gone a touch too bright?
I mean that's a lovely full sounding Taylor micd up with sm81s. Should be plenty of body there!
I'll take a look at that later.
Thanks man.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Hey Chuck. Thanks for chipping in pal.
Yeah, maybe you're right there - I know I have a tendency to overdo it with HPFs sometimes. Maybe I've just gone a touch too bright?
I mean that's a lovely full sounding Taylor micd up with sm81s. Should be plenty of body there!
I'll take a look at that later.
Thanks man.
Click to expand...

There is plenty of BODY in there. Don't get me wrong - I didn't say they were thin. Maybe just to much bite in the upper mids ?
 
Hey Steen. Really great full-sounding mix here. A lot of depth and nuances.
So this is a scratch vocal take? :confused:

Your acoustic sounds great. I wish I could get mine to sound like that.
Weird little fade around 5.10-5.14 made me think the song was ending but I guess ya got me. Sounds good so far!
 
fat_fleet said:
So this is a scratch vocal take? :confused:
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Yeah, I just threw up a PL9/DO54 at the end of a guitar session to see what it sounded like.
I'm not completely sold. It took a lot of eq and I still wasn't really happy.
Nice mic all the same.

(fade out)
Ah yeah, I know the bit you mean.
When the vocal's done he'll sing a line at the end of that fade and it makes it more obvious where the song's going.

Guys, I'm really really encouraged here because there have been nits and suggestions; That's great, but none of them have been about the big build up (yet). :)

Sadly we didn't get these vocals done today. We approached the album chronologically because the guy rehearsed tracks 1+2, so I guess we'll all have to wait. Sorry. :(

If anyone's following, the tracks from today are here and here. (NO EQ so far! Quite pleased with that!)
 
Man, this is a very powerful song. Well recorded and performed. Don't obsess about a bit of EQ on the vocals or anything else for that matter. Just my opinion. I wish I had written and recorded this.
 
He's got a damn nice voice, it's got a bit of the 'Ryan Adams yearn' to it and the percussion sounds great as the song builds. It adds a great texture to that section, which sounds pretty excellent.

I agree with chuck that the vocal does maybe sound a little too boosted around the mids.

What's that lowish frequency part that comes in at the change up by the way? It sounds kind of like a backing vocal, but I'm not 100% sure it is? It the ayee-um-bam-ba part if that makes any sense. I think that works really well.
 
robgreen said:
What's that lowish frequency part that comes in at the change up by the way? It sounds kind of like a backing vocal, but I'm not 100% sure it is? It the ayee-um-bam-ba part if that makes any sense. I think that works really well.
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Hahaha. I genuinely tensed then relaxed reading that.
I knew immediately what you were talking about. It's me singing a handful of copies of a low E drone.
Ayee-um-bam-ba is a pretty accurate description. ;)

I don't know why, but something in side me was just pushing towards Graceland meets Lion king. :p
There's a didge buried in there somewhere that has a similar rhythm. I suppose it makes it hard to be sure what's what.

Thanks Rob.
PS, the links in post 12 are almost certainly final vocal takes. Different songs, but still.
I went back to the SM7b in the end.
 
I think it all sounds fine mostly. The build up is thick and rich but clean and clear. I love the big huge kick drum. Very clean all around. I don't like the vocals. They seem really hot and lip-smacky. But I think you said you're gonna redo em, so no big deal. Very well done so far.
 
Greg_L said:
The build up is thick and rich but clean and clear.
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Thanks a lot Greg. That's great to hear.
It was really stodgy sounding for a while there.

I've really tried to shy away from fake drums on this record. I'm guilty of using their kicks and cymbals once in a while, but where possible I'm going with natural percussion of some kind.
I just don't have the knowledge or skill to program convincing patterns.

In think it's gonna end up suiting his style much better too!
 
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