instrumental thing

Stratomaster

Active member
Recorded this over the last 2 weeks. I got out the autoharp and and came up with this little tune. I've been struggling to get it sounding right, i've totally scrapped twice and started over with different tempo, guitar tones, arrangement etc. Still not sure if it's working, as of now it's an instrumental, a self indulgence, almost like a cowboy/psychedelic mixture.

Using addictive drums played on my cheap yamaha kit and fixed up after the fact. They sound a little off to me on mp3, transparent sounding in a bad way, using room sound makes it appear more real but seems to smear the sound.

Recorded autoharp using a mic and direct at the same time, so i had 4 tracks to spread out a bit. Tuning an autoharp takes patience.

Telecaster into a marshall for guitars, having the right amount of sustain without resorting to distortion was a challenge. I had to restring and intonate, overtones really had to be right. Any tuning issues with the autoharp make both sound off. I used the line6 dl4 for the echoey parts, it has a nice spongey sound. Once again there's a a guitar on the left in the end section that is popping out, i did not notice this on my monitors, anyone else notice that?

Mix is straight out of daw. No post effects.

Any suggestons/comments welcome, thanks for your time.

harpy by NovaBasa | Nova Basa | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
Heya Strat!

I don't know the first thing about an autoharp, sounds interesting though. Sometimes there's some kind of harmonic information coming off of it that does sound out of tune. Doesn't sound bad though, kinda neat actually.

The Tele tone sounds great, a few of those high notes sound a little piercing around the 1:30 mark though.

Nice accent change around the 2:00 minute mark, interesting.

Snare sounds good, a little boxy though, might be missing a little low-mids?

Kick could use a little more thump I think.

Definitely a cool, unique piece you got in the works here, I actually listened three full times to let it all sink in. I was listening on Beyer Dynamic DT-770 headphones, btw.
 
This sounds great, all sounds cohesive and well structured. Some feedback for you:

The kick does need more thump, and some of the high end needs to be cut a little. Snare sounds good to me. The autoharp is simply awesome :P

It sounds unique and I enjoyed listening. Listening on KRK Rokit 8's. Keep up the good work!
 
I had to google what an autoharp was. For me the jam doesn't really flow until the change up around 2 mins. The tempo in the early part is not grooving enough but I like that main melody in the 2nd half
 
Most of the mix sounds pretty good. I don't know that the autoharp is really working tho.
It's all click. Almost as if the pick noise is louder than the strings themselves. What are you picking it with, and how are you micing it?
 
I actually like the autoharp rhythm - it adds a nice texture. I think the guitar sounds awesome too. I do agree it needs more kick. You could even turn up the hi hat a touch. I think the bass might benefit from a little more clarity on this song, whether it's achieved with volume, EQ, distortion or copying the track and extreme hi passing and then turn the volume up or whatever. It would be cool to hear vocal harmonies in stereo behind all of this... just ah's or ooh's... but that's more arrangement than mix.
 
As a musician I can't comment on drums/percussion (still too much to learn).

Food for thought: I like the autoharp but not as the main rhythm. I feel it is a bit thin and too quirky to be allowed to stand out for long periods, particularly like you do in the first few seconds. I feel this song could use a primary rhythm track with the autoharp supporting it.

The melody guitar feels a bit thin too when it gets into the higher register around 0:40s. The final section of the song around the 2mins does have a more cohesive sound to it.
 
Thanks everyone for your time and good comments. I'm a little surprised to see this song back as it was posted two months ago. I was hoping it would go away quickly and quietly but here it is near the top of the page again...

JohnnyA-and Vomithat-very good comments regarding the sound of the autoharp-when i pulled it out of the case after a while many of the bass strings where perma-muted so i had to focus more on the mid and high part of the autoharp. Also correct that as you strum it sometimes there will be 3-4 notes muted between notes so there is a bit of off notes that are part of the sound. I didn't help matters by simply playing with a guitar pick rather than thumpicks on both hands.

Jochicago-yeah i was trying to do something different and honestly i wouldnt have come up with a chord progression like this unless i was goofing with the harp-it's a good way to come up with something and a good sound to backup other instruments but sounds a little off trying to carry the tune, plus my playing technique and the instrument itself leave something to be desired. Thank you.

Bull-thanks for the honest opinion and i agree i didn't hit what i was aiming for with this

Dude and grn-thank you and it seems to be the concensus that the kick drum could be brought up, that is easy enough to try-i was unhappy with the way the drums translated from my monitors in general-and i like the background oooohs ahhhs idea maybe a hammond sound...

Vikash-thanks for listening and for somehow digging up this two month old post.
 
Back
Top