DavidK Helps A Moron (again)

chrisharris

chrisharris

King of Bling
When I originally posted this song a few months ago, somebody (crawdad) told me that it reminded him of something he might hear on NPR. Well, it just so happens that I'm going to be interviewed on NPR tomorrow (Tuesday) for my little space shuttle tune, and they asked me to bring a couple of songs, so I tried to re-record this to take some of the "shitty" out of it, LOL.

DavidK played on the original, but he wasn't ever happy with it, so he recently sent me 3 violin tracks and a cello track he wrote (played by Heidi).

"DECEMBER"
www.nowhereradio.com/honestmango/singles

If anybody is interested, the original is on my album page: just go to www.nowhereradio.com/honestmango and click on discography, then my album page.

(My wife just broke my heart by telling me that she likes the original better, b/c I "sang it like I cared," lol...well, crap.


Oh, and for everybody who thinks I should be drawn and quartered for starting another thread, I agree with you. I've tried to throw this together in a VERY short amount of time b/c I wanted to be able to have it for tomorrow, so if it's salvageable, I'd appreciate some input. DavidK hasn't heard it yet, and the strings were a lot more diffic...oh, nevermind. Just tell me what I can do to make this better TONIGHT.
 
Hi Chris,
listening now... sound quality is greatly improved from what I remember. Nice arangement ... but maybe the background vocals a little too wide (panning). I think I know what your wife means about the vocal... it's the timing.. your having to pace yourself so the vocal rythm is coming out too straight. This song has almost a conversational style so singing so tightly gives it an artificial feel. Mind you everything else sounds really good. It's not at all easy to re-record vocals months later... it's very hard to recapture the emotion. And it's a very slow song so this is not at all easy to do.

All the best for tomorrow.

dres
 
on second thought ... I doubt very much these people will run with your original recordings ? I think sound quality is a mute issue really ? wouldn't they be far more likely to re-record in their own studio ? I dunno .. I've got zero experience in this area. Maybe give them both versions and explain why ? Just a thought.
 
Thanks for listening dres. As for NPR, naw...they play all kinds of horrible recordings...so I hope to fit right in...LOL. Anyway,...I hope things'll get saner after tomorrow. Take care
 
Its great, Chris. Vocal, strings--all cool. Different than the original, but equal in feeling and communication. Maybe even better. Don't buy into anything else. Top drawer all the way here. Yeah, those strings are fabulous.
 
This version is better... but the strings get a little "busy" sometimes... well...... most times... :p They kinda overtake the vocals a bit too. This is a storytelling song. The worst thing you can do on a storytelling song is drown the vox in a bunch of subordinate extras. :p Maybe it's just that the vox aren't as loud as they were in the first mix. They sit back in the mix a little more... and I'm thinkin' that they should be the most prominent aspect of the mix at all times, and that's not always the case.

There's a bass line around 3:45 that really jumps out... like,... a lot... You should prolly take that back a little. It's noticeably hot.

But I dig the BGV's on this one... very appropriate.

Honestly,.. if I personally was gonna present this to a broader audience... I'd just clean up the strings a bit... you know... apply a little of the "less is more" method. Pick one of the tracks during each of those little "solo" parts and go with that... cause they end up walkin' on each other pretty often.


WATYF
 
I think the quality is pretty much there. I agree that the strings seem a little buzy, but the sound of real strings really stands out, imo and really add. Seems like one violin might have done the trick...or at least parts that didn't have so much counterpoint. I'm not sure I'm really hearing the cello in there also. It would be neat to have the whole band drop out, especially the acoustics... 'cept maybe a string track to add some dynamics. More of an acapella section.
 
yeah... I'll second that... I think you got a lot of good material here.. but I think you need to take a more (*gasp*) professional approach here.. :p

For each phrase, you gotta decide what stays and what goes... you can't just throw it all in the mix and hope people can pick out what's what... try dropping out certain gits here or there, or cutting down on certain strings during certain measures... you know.. stuff like that. You've got all the colors you need... now you just need to paint something elegant with them.


WATYF
 
Cool...now that mix has posted, I can finally delete this thread.

Seriously, you guys are helping. I'm trying some different stuff. Dropping some parts out, etc. (also lowered the bass lick and brought the cello up some).

In the meantime, DavidK has informed me that he wants to send new tracks, lol. I love what I have from him, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna' turn him down. :D (God, I DO love the TSO "off-season").

I'll post another one sometime tonight before I go into a coma.

thanks again WATYF, Mixmkr, &...hrm, who was that other guy?...dammit, I'll remember...lol.
 
chrisharris said:
Thanks for listening dres. As for NPR, naw...they play all kinds of horrible recordings...so I hope to fit right in...LOL. Anyway,...I hope things'll get saner after tomorrow. Take care
Click to expand...

One more thought chris ... if your including extra tracks I hope you have "Bottle of wine" included ... from listening to "Third Engine's a Charm" I think this is the other obvious radio friendly song of yours I know.

Hang in there :)
 
WATYF said:
For each phrase, you gotta decide what stays and what goes... you can't just throw it all in the mix and hope people can pick out what's what... try dropping out certain gits here or there, or cutting down on certain strings during certain measures...
Click to expand...
Just to show you that I actually did SOME of this before I unleashed it on ya'll...LOL. This is a pic of one of the violin tracks. The wavey green line is a volume envelope.

Regardless, I tried to do some more, and the last mix I can do tonight is up now. Thanks for the quick help, guys. I'll be back to offer my own unique brand of amateur opinion soon...I hope.

dres - yeah, I was telling Jamal earlier, they told me to bring "a couple" of tunes with me...


I have 23, lol. Rest assured "Bottle Of Wine" is near the top of the list, though. thanks.
 

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Chris - I looped to this for about 2 hours while I was installing my wife's new printer. Very nicely done. I don't have anything really useful to add mix wise. I think this is a great song. Sounds very good. Your voice sounds very good. I wouldn't think twice if this came on the radio while I was driving (I mean that in a good way - like it wouldn't stick out like it didn't belong there).

This is a great song and it's getting dragged straight into my keepers folder. Much luck with the NPR interview tomorrow. What time? Is it just local or National? (I know the N stands for national, but maybe they have local segments - I don't listen to it much). I would love to hear the interview if possible.

Erm...one point now that I'm sitting directly in front of my computer speakers (AKA my monitors :(). It sounds like there was a splice in the lead vocal at 4:28 between "that" & "I'm" in the phrase "Now that I'm somebody's Dad". Hmmm...maybe not? Doesn't sound smooth there. I don't know if there is anything you can do about it or not at this point. It's really not that bad considering I've been listening to it for about 2 hours and just now noticed it.
 
i agree with your wife! your previous vocal performance was more convincing. anyway you could mix the old vocal track with the newer other tracks? if not, i'd go with the first. i know everyone else thinks differently but i personally think that a better mix and better tracking does not necessarily make a better overall performance.....so don't listen to me but i like the first much better than this. it just sounds more authentic.

best of luck chris. so is it live? will i hear it on NPR tomorrow morning or something?
 
Hey guys...thanks for checking it out.

Jagular - I know there's not an edit there, but that's not to say that there's not something else weird going on. I can't hear it right now, but I'm sure I will on the way to Dallas in the morning when it's too late to fix it, LOL. Anyway, the loop comment gave me a much needed boost of confidence, so thanks. NPR info below.

erichenryus - I just can't, man....LOL. The old vocal track is the reason I redid it instead of just adding the strings. It had this middy, almost a.m. radio quality to it that I can't EQ out without turning it to mush...plus, there are a couple of flatties in that old one that have always annoyed me. I totally appreciate your honesty and your opinion, but this one's going with me.

As for the interview, I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know. We have a local NPR station here, but I've been instructed to drive to Dallas for the interview. Maybe that's a good thing??? I mean, Dallas is bigger, right? (yes, it's bigger than WACO), lol.... I also don't know if it's live or taped. I just know I'm supposed to be there at 11a.m. (CST) and give them :30 minutes and the Shuttle song - they asked me to bring some other songs too, which I thought HAD to be a good thing. REGARDLESS of whether it's live or taped, I'll get a copy and make an mp3 out of it so ya'll can mock me if you get bored enough to listen.

Anyway, thanks guys...I'm going to sleep...lol.
 
the strings sound pretty sweet.........i don't think they're too busy........they add alot...........mixed well too

good luck on the radio play.......congrats
 
oh...and this remains an "autotune free" tune; but I love autotune, lol.

Thanks Drew: Really...going to bed now. :D
 
I enjoyed this piece greatly. Good mix, and the strings are really fine in there, there's a lot going on. The voice melody is pretty unique, I like that. I could hear everything pretty well throughout the piece. I did notice a bit of hiss in the few seconds before it started. It might be from the stream.
 
As Ive said before, Im going to have to find a site with amatuers like me so I dont get overwhelmed. VERy VERy nice. strings, vocals, mix are all great!!
 
Hey Chris,
I cant give ya a good direct comparison right now 'cause my cd's at home.... As memory serves (and it doesnt serve well:D ) this is definitely much slicker. Im gonna check the lead voc opinion that your wife mentioned... .but as memory serves, i think she might be right. Very clean recording man. (....dont gimme that shit about not being into the recording side of this, you do very nicely:) ) I'll hit this again. The strings give it a big radio presence, so for the occasion, I think they are a good thing. You too have an "epic" style about you.... and you know I like that.

gw/5
 
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