CCM Love Song

[Lt. Bob]

Don't you dare tighten up that conga backbeat! The percussion is the cool thing about this tune. A very loose groove just like we do down here in the delta and that conga is key to the whole thing. It's not late......it's on the backside of the beat and that's a different thing.........

I think the vox should be recut for sure.....this isn't as good as you can do........use a different mic if you have one.....try to get the elusive 'sparkle'.

What key's this in? Might need a sax on it..............

 

[dafduc]

Bob, you da man!!!! It's not quite as loose as, say, "All on a Mardi Gras Day" (wow!), but yah, that's why I thought it was okay. I started second guessing myself, thinking that maybe something was incompatible with something else. But the rhythm stays the way it is. And sax would be very cool on this!

Here is version 4:

1) sub bass -2db
2) string bass +2b
3) new voc takes (more on that below), +2db
4) reduced echo on vocs
5) added light verb on vocs
6) added same verb on guitar solo
7) toyed with some echo on the fade out
8) did a mixdown compression (1.5:1) at the end - finally have volume close to commercial CDs!

The vocal takes were the bulk of the work, of course. I violated my cardinal rule - listen again the next day - and paid the price. The chorus after verse 3 is terrible, I was in a hurry and didn't notice. I actually have a good take for that chorus, or I could have pasted one in from another spot.

But these 2-song CDs are for handing out at the anniversary party this weekend, and I couldn't wait any longer. So they are what they are.

I'd still love to hear what you guys have to say about this. One more thing about the vocs - overall, they're an improvement, but I started coming down with something yesterday - it's worse today - and so the new vocal tracks are still not what they could've been. I kept the last half of the last verse and the final chorus from the previous version.

Bring it on!!!

Daf

 

[MC Gitarz]

Well I'm surprised this one slipped the first page without a reply. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and let you know how I hear this and maybe what you can do with the vocal. I might get a lambasting from the pros out here but that's what it's all about.

I'm a rule breaker - if I know the rule and understand the reason for the rule I feel I'm now in a position to break it for the right reason. (Bach did it - it's gotta be OK!) The backing track for this song is splendid - I love the groove and that Rhodes (maybe that dates me!) But I also hear a verb on some of the rhythm instruments that's not present in the vocal. I also hear a lot of harmonic variation across the spectrum of all the instruments - from the sub-bass to those maraca-sounding doohickeys. Why not start by tossing some of that color into the vocal with some radical EQ? And then I'd start playing around with the compression setting on the vocal. It takes me hours and hours of tracking and knob twiddling to get a lead vocal that I can live with. I think your voice and mine both suffer from a lack of 'color.' All of the color you hear on my voice is added after the fact. I don't soud like that without a PA system or recorder!

The emotion is much better on this take - there's more energy in your voice so there's more moving air. I think the mising link is color in the vocal. And you can get there from here. The tune is worth it - cool concept. Break the rules - go nuts with EQ and compression and verb.
And, as a final note, the sax would be soooooooooooo cool - I can hear it noodling throughout.

OK - I'm ready for the assault of purists telling me to "lay off them knobs" - take a shot - they'll get over it.
(another final note - of all the tunes I've posted out here, the only one that got really high praise for the vocal was so heavily effected that none of you would believe how much crap I had pre-fader, on mix down and then final 'master.' oh yeah, I recorded the vocal through the compressor on that tune, too - how cathartic! Now the whole world knows of my violent recording sins!!)

Cool tune, man!
~Milan